For social, cultural, ecological and economic sustainable development, it is of utmost importance to learn and do things together. Social and societal learning can happen only when different learners and actors come together to share ideas and experiences with others in an open, productive way. The resiliency needed in the face of a complex, volatile environment can be achieved only in a society where diversity is understood to be a seedbed for the future success (Dyball et al. 2009). To be successful in the future, we must redefne the concept of us and thereby build a new identity of us that consists of all the diverse cultural, language and ethnic identities we see in our classrooms today. It is a process where we learn together in a fruitful interaction and discussion in an atmosphere of trust that recognises the value of all people.

What is the future for our schools and our societies? It is impossible to predict—but we can build it! There are problems and challenges that must be conquered—but at the same time, there are more opportunities and underutilised resources (witness the sharing economy) in our communities than ever before. The question now is, do we have the courage to take the right decisions and actions today to build a better future for our children? The actions for the future are never objective. Our values defne our visions for the future, including and perhaps especially the future school. I believe that the role of the future school should be to create social cohesion in societies and promote well-being and participatory communities. This school will work to empower not only those who are working or learning at school but also the society as a whole.

Winnie the Pooh once said a very clever thing to Christopher Robin: "You're just in time for the best part of the day!" "And what time is that?" asked Christopher Robin. Winnie answered, "When you and me become *we*" (Geurs 2006).

## Notes

## References

Bauman, Z. (2000). *Liquid Modernity*. Cambridge: Blackwell.

Bernelius, V. (2013). *Eriiytyvät kapunkikoulut. Helsingin peruskoulujen oppilaspohjien erot, perheiden kouluvalinnat ja oppimistuloksiin liittyvät aluevaikutukset osana kaupungin eriytymiskehitystä*. Tutkimukisa 2013. Helsingin kaupunki. Tietokeskus.

2005: Erkki Savolainen ja Kati Ranta. SOKL:n verkkokirjoja. http://sokl.uef. f/verkkojulkaisut/tutkivaope/sisallys.htm.

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# Climate Change Education: A New Approach for a World of Wicked Problems

*Anna Lehtonen, Arto O. Salonen and Hannele Cantell*

Pursuit of a Good Life on a Finite Planet

A rapid growth of population and more materialistic ways of life have given rise to what many geologists now call the era of the Anthropocene.1 In the Anthropocene, it is human activities that are the main factor determining the future of civilization. Climate change is a wicked problem2 that threatens the continuity of life. According to the analysis of 11,944 scientifc papers, written by 29,083 authors and published in 1980 journals, there is over a 97% consensus on anthropogenic global warming (Cook et al. 2013). The importance of climate is clear for humans as we need food, fresh water, fber, timber and protection from hazards to survive and thrive. Climate infuences crop productivity, disease, water scarcity or availability, and vulnerability to hazards (Sachs 2015).

A. Lehtonen (\*) · H. Cantell University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

A. O. Salonen Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland e-mail<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
H. Cantell e-mail<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
© The Author(s) 2019 J. W. Cook (ed.), *Sustainability, Human Well-Being, and the Future of Education*, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78580-6\_11

339

The effect of human activities raises signifcant questions for societies and their education systems. Increasing signals of ecological, cultural and social crises provokes questioning about current thinking, learning and behaviour. In the context of the Anthropocene, we need to learn what is necessary and what is possible in order to build a sustainable future. The key issue for education in the twenty-frst century is how 9–10 billion people will be able to make life dignifed on a fnite planet. As John Dewey said, 'The conception of education as a social process and function has no defnite meaning until we defne the kind of society we have in mind' (Dewey 1915).

Our traditional world view is human-centered. Since the 1600s, people started to understand the Earth as a giant reservoir, which secured energy and raw materials for human consumption. It was the beginning of a misunderstanding: people thought resources were limitless and inexhaustible, and thus began an alienation from the web of life. In recent decades, social harmony has been pursued by increasing consumption. Infation, public debts and private loans have enabled us to increasingly use resources that do not exist. With the help of these resources, we have taken natural resources from the mines, forests and felds to make more and more commodities for human consumption. Together with cheap fossil energy, mass consumption has become a new normal in order to pursue a *good life*. Due to globalization, the consequences of mass consumption have not been very visible. Climate change is a symptom of severe unsustainability and an alarming signal: there is an urgent need for a change.

Our acts have socio-ecological impact. Every act matters, whether we see it or not. The thoughts, words and acts construct the social reality we are living in. The cultural norms, values and taboos are all implicit in culture. However, we can choose what we think about climate change. We can choose what kind of life and social reality we want to construct. The collective apathy and despair can transform to hope through collective experiences.

In this article, we defne features of climate change education. We consider climate change as an example of the wicked problems in the era of the Anthropocene. We ponder what kind of societal and cultural transformations, thinking and learning are needed. Our main question is, how could we educate people for transformation towards a sustainable future? The following questions for education have also guided our thinking:

(a) What kind of holistic change in thinking and action is needed for the construction of hope and of a sustainable future? (b) What kind of pedagogical approaches do we need for the construction of hope and of a sustainable future?

We start with illuminating the critical illusions of western culture and to where we need to step forward towards a sustainable future. Then, we offer practical approaches for climate change education to support the holistic thinking and learning we need in the Anthropocene. We end with pedagogical recommendations and a summary of the basics of a holistic approach to climate change education.

## Towards a Sustainable Future

In the Western world, the progress of society is measured by quantity of capital fows. Financial goals are often put ahead of life values. The pace of life is getting faster and faster because the common assumption is 'more is better.' This has negative impact on both life satisfaction (which is one's cognitive appraisal of one's life as a whole) and climate change.

However, what humans require for happiness is life satisfaction as well as the health and well-being of our children, families, communities and natural environment. This is possible to realize in sustainable and resilient societies, comprised of personally fulflled people, who use their potential fully for individual and common good and create sustainable solutions based on a socio-ecological understanding (Fadel et al. 2015, p. 7).

Combating climate change requires critical analysis of the reality we are constructing, and refection on the roots of the problem including human—nature interdependency, individualism and consumerism. The perception of the problem frames possible solutions. We argue that there is a need for systemic thinking and widening the modern concept of knowledge to different ways knowing and holism. Apart from ecological, societal and cultural aspects, there is a need to address the issue of social change and the wicked problem of emotional and cultural denial of climate change. Emotional, somatic and embodied knowing are crucial aspects for mobilizing and engaging people for social change.

#### *From Materialism to Post-materialism*

Consumerism is a global trend and is strongly linked with climate change. However, mass consumption is widely considered a desirable goal, because it promotes economic growth. People rarely try to defne how much is enough or how much is too much—they simply want to get more. This is an irresponsible search for short-term benefts without concerns for long-term consequences.

In the bigger picture, transforming societies from consumerism to sustainability is a more important issue to address than the control of population. For instance, a child born in the Western world will stress the Earth, causing as much environmental damage as 15–150 children born in developing countries (Ehrlich and Ehrlich 2004, p. 115). The global population is projected to reach 9–10 billion in 2050, but is projected to remain approximately the same in 2100 (UN 2013).

Ambivalent materialism:

Citizens of industrialized countries have reached material individualism that poses a threat to their own subjective well-being as well as environmental, economic and social sustainability. In these overdeveloped countries, people who pursue happiness through material gain tend to feel worse, which is related to negative appraisals of their life satisfaction (Roberts et al. 2015). Unprecedented consumption levels are problematic in overdeveloped countries, where the culture of 'having' is dominating and consumption is based on desires and wants instead of real needs. For example, consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions per person in Finland are the highest in Scandinavia and 9th highest globally (Caldeira and Davies 2010). Poorer countries, however, must have the right to develop fast to fulfl their citizens' basic needs.

Material prosperity is already becoming a barrier to the subjective well-being of people living in high consumption societies. People who prioritize prosperity and goods tend not to be satisfed with their life (Boyle et al. 2008). They experience less happiness and life satisfaction, have fewer pleasant emotions such as joy and contentment, and more unpleasant emotions such as anger and anxiety. They also tend to be more depressed and anxious. Even physical problems like headaches, stomach-aches and backaches as well as use of substances are associated with a strong focus on material values (Dittmar et al. 2014). Thus focusing on material wealth tends to neglect well-being problems, such as stress and fast pace of life, depression, loneliness, and ecologically destructive behaviour. Furthermore, weakening social relationships drive people to work and consume more (Bartolini 2014; Pieters 2013). Paradoxically, increased opportunities to spend more causes an inability to enjoy things obtained with money (Quoidbach et al. 2010).

Post-material well-being:

Universal basic needs are fresh water, food, shelter, healthcare and education. What do we need more of and what less in order to increase our life satisfaction and subjective well-being on a fnite planet? What should we pursue, when our basic needs are already fulflled? The importance of material things decreases, when people reach more social capital—a form of capital that cannot be traded in markets and is not captured by monetary measures.

Shifting from materialism towards post-materialism means fundamental thinking and behaviour changes. These changes have multiple benefts as they improve subjective well-being. Yet what is most important is that they are necessary for human survival on a fnite planet. Ronald Inglehart (1977) called a re-orientation from materialism to post-materialism a 'silent revolution' which is already occuring in Western societies. This paradigmatic shift towards full humanness was also described by Maslow (1954), Allardt (1976) and Schwartz (1992). See Table 11.1.

Post-material values emphasize human relationships and the meaningfulness of people's unique lives, including trust, community resilience and participation in the life of society as well as establishment, and fourishing of civil rights and personal expression (Inglehart 2008; Jackson 2009, pp. 143, 181–182; Nevarez 2011, p. 39). In everyday life, post-material behaviour means that the importance of ownership has decreased, services are used instead of owning goods and renewal of goods is motivated by real needs (Salonen and Åhlberg 2013, p. 385). Post-material values are growing in the countries where "a given generation grows up under conditions that permit it to take survival for granted" (Inglehart 2008, p. 145). Their basic needs are easy to fulfl.

Activation of post-material values has wide-ranging positive effects. Increasing post-materiality might not only result in the stability and

**Table 11.1** Value shift from material values to non-material values

recovery of socio-ecological systems but also increasing health and happiness of people. At best, post-material values produce a culture of trust, which supplies future generations with opportunities for a good life (Dittmar et al. 2014).

#### *From Segregated Knowing and Cultural Dichotomies to Holism and Understanding Interconnectedness*

Our situation is not comparable to anything in the past. It is impossible, therefore, to apply methods and measures which at an earlier age might have been suffcient. We must revolutionize our thinking, revolutionize our actions…. (Albert Einstein 1948)

Climate change is a *wicked problem*: it is a huge, complex and systemic challenge and diffcult to clearly defne (Incropera 2015). Climate change is scientifcally apparent, but it presents great scientifc, economic and social complexity and uncertainty; solutions have unforeseen consequences. Different stakeholders provide conficting information related to climate change, its relevance and impacts. Climate change produces profound ethical issues and lack of agreement on what the problem is, what the causes and consequences are and possible solutions that might exist. As a global issue, the implications and solutions need to be refected both locally and globally. In addition, the challenge of maladaptive behaviour, the cultural and emotional aspects of climate change make it diffcult to fnd effcient solutions or predict the results (Incropera 2015).

Climate change is a hyper, super wicked problem that cannot be solved with scientifc knowledge, linear, mechanistic or analytical thinking alone (Kagawa and Selby 2010). Previously, the environmental problems people faced were much more local in character. If one factory runs its wastewater into a river, the river and lake nearby were polluted. The cause and the consequence were easy to recognize. Today's global environmental problems are complex mixtures of global, local, ecological, political, economic and social dynamics (Incropera 2015). Understanding and identifying the global and local perspectives and other interconnected phenomena demand new strategies of learning and thinking. Linear, fragmented modern thinking is not working in the context of wicked problems.

Modern dichotomies as roots of wicked problems:

Today's prevailing thinking has origins in modernism. Modern thinking is based on dichotomies such as nature-culture, human-animal, global-local, subject-object, mind-body, ration-emotion and individualsocial to mention the most problematic dichotomies fostering unsustainability. These modern dichotomies guide our problem solving strategies and management of life, how we relate with the world and how we perceive relationships between things. Dualistic thinking has resulted in linear, atomistic, fragmented thinking, ignorance of holistic relations and the exclusion of opposites from mental frames. We used to think our daily lives and the world around us ft into separate silos, which allowed us to solve our problems with fragmentary knowledge. This thinking has resulted in the geological era of the Anthropocene.

Awareness of interconnectedness has been missing at societal and academic levels. Natural and social sciences are inspecting the world from totally different perspectives, with distinct methods and concepts. Thus transdisciplinary research is almost impossible as researchers speak distinct languages. At the societal level, environmental, economic and cultural affairs are separated into different institutions. At schools organized into subject-oriented structures, teaching environmental issues is traditionally the domain of natural sciences and the human perspective and societal understanding is missing (Aarnio-Linnanvuori 2013). The holistic, systemic understanding of the world has thus been lacking.

Advertising, globalization and digitalization are accelerating separation from our vital web-of-life. Globalization has distanced us form the Earth's ecosystems; we can't perceive the eco-social consequences of our behaviour. Technology has created an illusion of boundless material and digital opportunities in 'any' world, virtual or real. The capitalist mode of mass production and consumption of technology is boosting unsustainable development (Snaza et al. 2014) by provoking effectiveness, competition and product-thinking. But we are not driven to sell nature as a product in the same way, preferring to sell ourselves and our identities. Neoliberalism, capitalism, globalization and digitalism interfere in our lives, our schooling and education and have impact on how we see, value and name things arising to ideologies that intensify modern dualisms and segregated thinking.

The problematic modern dichotomies and climate change (Fig. 11.1).

#### *Global*—*Local Dichotomy*:

Climate change is an issue without borders, yet the impacts vary locally. The relationship between global and local is thus complex because the relationships between causes and consequences are dynamic and unstable

**Fig. 11.1** Problematic dichotomies of modern thinking

and the question of responsibility is politically sensitive. There is a need for new kinds of theoretical concepts and knowledge about the interactions and relationships of various elements. What is especially needed is sensitive and empathetic understanding of people's perspectives in different localities. This means that in order to manage our own society and economy, we need to account for other societies and economies, as well as our actions that have global consequences. What people do, for example in the periphery of Finland affects individuals in other areas, even in other peripheries.

So, how are the local and global are connected? The global economy is a clear connector. For instance, a supply chain analysis by the researchers Womack and Jones followed a can of cola bought in London to illustrate the complexity of global markets. Bauxite, an aluminum ore is a key ingredient of the can was mined in Australia. Ore was transferred with trucks to a chemical reduction mill where it was cleaned. After that, ore was shipped to Sweden in a journey across oceans that took two months. Once in Sweden, 10 meter long aluminum rods were processed in a smelter. The rods were sent to Germany where they were heated and pressed into a thin sheet of aluminum. Coils of aluminum were shipped to England, where the aluminum sheets were formed into cans. The cans were then washed, dried, coated, and transported to a bottler. Meanwhile, sugar canes, farmed in French farms, were refned to sugar and shipped to England. Cola also contains phosphoric acid derived from a mine located in the United States. This mine uses energy equivalent to 100,000 people consumption of energy because food grade phosphoric acid requires a high degree of processing. Cola also contains caffeine that originates from a chemical factory nearby. Cans flled with cola are packed in cartons which are made of cellulose in a paper mill. The paper mill sources trees from Siberia, Sweden and Colombia. Finally, the cola cartons were transferred to the supermarket in which they were sold to consumers, usually within in three days. The average consumer drinks a can of cola in a few tens of seconds. The manufacturing of the can is more expensive than the liquid inside (Womack and Jones 2003).

#### *Nature*—*Culture Dichotomy*:

Climate change is the frst radically systemic environmental problem humans have encountered and one that proves that social and ecological systems are interconnected. All ecological and human systems are implicated and are being or will be affected by the consequences of climate change in the short, medium or long term (Gonzalez-Gaudiano and Meira-Cartea 2010, p. 17). The illusion that humans are apart from nature is no longer tenable. It has led to a belief in human superiority and the subsequent right to control, use and beneft from nature which enables overconsumption. The binary opposition of human and biosphere is threatening to destroy human existence, for it not only allows the exploitation and destruction of fora and fauna, but it also sets humans against nature itself—nature is a resource waiting to be mined and exploited without regard for sustainability or the quality of life on the planet.

The future of coral reefs offers an example of complex socioecological systems and the need for systems thinking. As sea water warms and absorbs carbon dioxide, water becomes increasingly acidic, resulting in damage to vulnerable marine ecosystems. If the current trend continues, the frst full ecosystem—corals—will extinct by the end of this century. It is an ecological problem, which also results in large-scale social challenge as 250 million people receive their daily food from coral reefs (Sale 2011). Without food, life is impossible and people will be forced from their homelands. Environmental migration affects the structures and stability not only of the countries of origin but also countries where immigration is directed. This poses risks to the peaceful co-existence of people.

Global warming is also one of the greatest challenges to social justice (World Bank 2012) and as a result, many countries have already included climate change in their security strategies.  Food, housing and mobility for the world's richest tenth of people produce 50% of global carbon dioxide emissions (Tukker et al. 2006). It is evident that a shift is needed toward understanding the nature—culture relationship; a new orientation integrating social and ecological concerns (Hirvilammi and Helne 2014; Norton 2005).

#### *Rational*—*Emotional Dichotomy*:

Climate change undermines the modern idealization of human rationality. In the Age of Human (Anthropocene), we are living in a fuid reality of natural conditions and existential threat. From a psychological perspective, human dependence on nature threatens the illusion of human autonomy and omnipotence (Lehtonen and Välimäki 2013). Denial of the existence and relevance of climate change or human, social or individual responsibility is still commonplace. Many deny the fact that consumer-based lifestyles are in crises and need to change (Norgaard 2011). People tend to see a temperate climate as preferable and/or rely on optimistic myths deriving from the Enlightenment: the future will always be better and of our species has known how to overcome other critical moments in the past (Gonzalez-Gaudiano and Meira-Cartea 2010).

The modern idealization of rational thought has led to a restricted understanding of human behaviour. The ideal of pure rationality has isolated knowing from emotions and thus fosters an instrumental attitude toward the world. The representation of nature as a resource is strong even in the feld of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) (Selby 2010). By presenting climate change as curable with current systems and tools limits focus on the human dimension and the crises arising from the disconnect between humans and the biosphere. Climate change education is often focused on developing a scientifc understanding of the phenomenon, technological solutions and a more benign form of consumerism; thus the ethical dimension of climate change tends to remain rhetorical. The critical aspects of our humanity—and how they are threatened by our own actions—are largely ignored (Selby 2010).

The culpability of our behaviour in the looming climate crisis challenges most curricula and pedagogies. Education and schooling has traditionally focused on cultivating rational minds while emotions and the body as a component of learning have been neglected (Selby 2010, p. 38). In addition, despite the imperative to educate active citizens, students are often not treated as individuals with free will (Wolff 2011, p. 99). Educating active agency is often realized only in rhetoric as the need to control has prevented student-centred learning (Rainio 2008).

Climate change is a hybrid theme essentially founded in uncertainty and thus requires the combination of both intuitive and rational understanding. It impossible to control or even identify all the relevant variables and to know how these are linked to each other (Gonzalez-Gaudiano and Meira-Cartea 2010, p. 14). It is almost unachievable to make predictions and move from the global scale to regional and subregional knowledge in the context of climate change. In addition, emotional literacy and empathy are needed to fnd effcient local solutions to a global problem.

#### *Mind—Body Dichotomy*:

Cartesian dualism—understanding the mind as separate from the body is indirectly infuencing our behaviour and is partly to blame for the destructive over-consumption of the Western world. The bodily connection of Western people has weakened because marketers, whose tools are enhanced by digitalization, strengthen the confusion between needs and desires. We are affected continuously by advertisers working through all medias and the net effect is individuals don't know what they need or what is good for them.

Scientifc knowledge built from a tradition of objectivity and empiricism has also furthered the neglect of embodied knowing (Gonzalez-Gaudiano and Meira-Cartea 2010). People are told not rely on perception, senses, embodied, intuitive or emotional knowing but, scientifc research-based information. The predominant belief is that scientifc knowledge is the sole source of the truth and those empowered by science tend to know better what is needed than the average citizen.

The positivistic ideal of objective, value-neutral knowledge has dominated the natural sciences which rely on a materialistic ontology everything is understood to be measurable—in the pursuit of stable and generalizable knowledge. In the social sciences, the ideal of objectivism stable, objective knowledge generated from positivistic research—has enhanced the gap between theory and practice. Objective knowing has been isolated from and independent of the experiencing subject (i.e., the person observing and knowing). The modern ideals of objectivity and rationality have disconnected us from values, embodied and emotional knowing. How we perceive, receive or reject the messages of our environments, our bodies and emotions should have focus in education.

In this section, we have looked at the modern dichotomies of nature—culture, rational—emotional, mind—body, and local—global. The following section "From Knowledge and Rationalism to Holism, Intuition, Embodied and Emotional Awareness", deepens the discussion of the interconnectedness of rational—emotional, and mind body. The rest of the modern dichotomies not yet clarifed, but crucial from the perspective of climate change education are opened and analyzed in later sections. Individual—social is critically evaluated in the context of individualism ("From Individualism to Creative, Collective Collaboration"). Art's relationship to science is discussed within the section about Art-based education ("Art-Based Learning"). And in the end of our chapter, our pedagogical recommendations reveal our meta-model of interconnectedness—the ultimate aim of climate change education.

#### *From Knowledge and Rationalism to Holism, Intuition, Embodied and Emotional Awareness*

Facing crises like climate change promotes existential questions and critical refections such as: do we have a future? Why are we here? What is the meaning of the life? Climate change could have a great potential for transformative learning and promote reevaluation of value-hierarchies. But refection on climate change naturally evokes intense feelings (Naess 2008, p. 35), which are not easy to manage. Nevertheless, emotions, embodied and intuitive knowing have remarkable value in our search for vital knowledge for survival.

How we react and handle our emotions and listen to our bodies, is largely a cultural question. Eco-anxiety might explain indifference and other diffculties coping with climate change and imagining the future, which might result in the denial of climate change. Instead of not caring, people might in fact care too much, and resort to psychological defenses or paralyzing anxiety, apathy and helplessness (Weintrobe 2013; Pihkala 2017).

Emotions link the inner and outer reality; they are signals, connecting us with values (Nussbaum 2003). There are no good or bad emotions, but the diffculties of coping with challenging emotions easily leads to becoming disconnected from the source anxiety. Nevertheless, by listening to emotions and our bodies, we can know what is good for us and what is not and we can connect with our needs, emotions and values. Ignoring the signals of our bodies and suppressing emotions leads to stress and illness.

"What is good life, goes primarily through emotions" (Naess 2008, p. 23). Information becomes alive and meaningful, if we experience it with our bodies (Snaza et al. 2014). The experience of our existence being alive—is located in our body. Our identity is strongly embodied in our bodies: how we see, react and feel; our emotions are manifest in our bodies. Through sensory experiences, we can sense the connection with other people and with nature.

How can we engage learners in processes that is both liberating and empowering? We need to develop emotional literacy in education that helps pupils face anxiousness and emotions in a constructive way. In order to do this, we need to fnd ways of facilitating learners' abilities to name and frame their own ideas and concerns about future, and their positionality and potential for change (Wayman 2009, p. 95).

Emotions need time and space:

Challenging emotions can have functional value. Positive feelings and emotions activate us while negative, challenging emotions can stop us or prevent action. Aggression and other negative feelings are necessary to motivate behaviour change and action. Expression and refection on challenging emotions such as sorrow, grief and anger can promote consciousness of crisis, awareness of the borders of sustainability and the need to change. When given space and support, facing challenging emotions and using them in a constructive way can result in empowerment, motivation and activating feelings of joy (Naess 2008, pp. 78–79).

Climate change presents a peculiar problem for our emotions. In order to cope with shock, uncertainty, change and then adapt to a new situation, individuals need social support and should not be left alone when facing crises. However, there is a real danger of emotional manipulation or transference when teaching about climate change (Österlind 2012). Becoming worried about cynical and careless attitudes toward the environment can threaten an individual's sense of security and frighten them with visions of an apocalyptic future. However, it is important that an emotional response to climate change should not be forced or coerced. The emotional response must have time and space for expression and critical refection either individually or collectively.

Empathy promotes caring and awareness of connectivity:

Ethical thinking and behaviour is strongly linked with empathy. We care for the things to which we are personally connected. We need to experience this connection with other people and nature in order to become motivated to take care of them (Martusewicz et al. 2014). Empathy promotes understanding about external realities and, therefore, enables the possibility of greater connectivity. Global awareness and collective solutions for climate change require empathic understanding of people's need in different localities and caring for people especially vulnerable to climate change.

Empathy builds on self-awareness. The more open we are to ourselves, the more we are able to understand other people's experiences (Goleman 2006, p. 96). Having emotional connectivity with other people and other living creatures can increase one's awareness of purpose and meaning in life. Caring acts and taking responsibility, building initiatives for sustainability all enforce positive feelings, a sense of identity and, therefore, subjective well-being. Thus, a value-oriented life marked by contribution can be highly satisfying and motivating, and deepen one's sense of purpose. Understanding interconnectedness with nature and other people can promote hope.

Hope is a virtue, a habit of fnding meaning and resilience, and not giving up (Orr 2009, p. 182). Constructive hope is the ability to see something meaningful and promising after encountering a challenging situation. It is based in part on trust in other people working toward the common good and trust in one's own ability to infuence problems in a positive direction (Ojala 2012; Pihkala 2017). Educators and leaders have an important role in promoting constructive hope by demonstrating a caring attitude, and manifesting caring in practice, even in the face of collective denial about the criticality of climate change (Lehtonen and Välimäki 2013; Pihkala 2017).

To conclude, the whole spectrum of emotions and feelings, caring and careless attitudes—the entire emotional range—should be given space for expression. All opinions and taboos, the questions not often asked and even denialist attitudes should have the right to exist and be expressed. One way to foster emotional expression is the experience or production of art. Arts-based learning situations naturally offer a space for sensory, bodily experiences for emotional self-refection and expression. The transformation towards empowerment if often enabled by connecting with challenging emotions explored through art. Listening, being present and in dialogue, emotional expression and small acts of caring are the most effcient assets of climate change education; they help combat apathy and denial.

In a broader sense, this means that rational ways of thinking need to be enriched and guided with intuitive, embodied and emotional awareness, the direct knowing of the vital conditions for human existence. Nowadays rationality is seen as 'instrumental and interpreted in relation to technical considerations, within a strict economic framework, related to short-term not to ultimate values' (Naess 2008, p. 88). Arne Naess (2008) suggests that the goals of rationalism should be deeply examined. Rationalism should correspond with the fundamental values and aims of our lives. Spinoza describes 'ratio' (reason) as an inner compass that points in a direction that is consistent with the active emotions and in harmony with humankind's nature or essence (Spinoza/Naess 2008, p. 86). Conscious rationalism can drive humanity towards constructive hope and sustainability in the Anthropocene.

#### *From Individualism to Creative, Collective Collaboration*

Increasing individualism is among the most signifcant cultural changes society has faced in the last few decades (Hofstede et al. 2010, pp. 414, 473). More individuals have attained possibilities for self-expression and choice than ever before in modern history. Increasing individualism is related to the pursuit of one's self-interest and material life goals (Kasser 2011, p. 207). It is linked to the disintegration of society and a lack of solidarity. In industrialized countries, people no longer require assistance from their community to ensure their basic needs are satisfed; independence is easier than ever.

According to some interpretations, the roots of individualism and pursuing self-interest originate as early as the Middle Ages. In the thirteenth century during the confrontation between the Christian and Islamic worlds, the elites within the church debated the nature of the soul; whether it was individual or social, possessing free will, with self-interest and ethics. Not until the eighteenth century did a deeper understanding of human subjectivity emerge, redefning the relationship between people and nature around notions of desire and self-interest (Yrjönsuuri 2013). The debates initiated in the Middle Ages are again relevant nowadays in the context of climate change.

Capitalism necessitates and provokes competition between individuals. Our current mode of capitalism, neoliberalism, drives for maximum proft above all other considerations, which leads to ever greater individualism and competitiveness. A competitive global culture that works toward economic effciency and productivity works against pursuit of the common good (Marglin 2008). Individuals are driven to compete for power and ownership and are expected to *sell* everything, even their thinking and identity. When valuing things mainly instrumentally or with money, even meaningful things such as relationships become meaningless; joy becomes diluted as nothing is suffcient.

Living communally, working for the interests of other people, giving and sharing makes people happier than receiving, sparring and living in isolation (Helliwell 2014, p. 81; Minkov 2009). Humans are on the whole social animals, and thus want to share their lives with other people. This necessitates connecting people with each other. For instance, helping other people by donating money for charity makes people more happy than using money for their own purposes (Dunn et al. 2008). Subjective happiness increases by actions for solidarity.

Climate change is a common problem that connects people locally and globally:

Who owns the solutions and knowledge needed for mitigating global warming? Encountering climate change necessitates collective thinking and collaboration. The solutions to this common global problem lie in supporting connections, not competing for benefts or controlling others. Increasing individualism has induced counter-forces to commons-thinking and open-access principles.

Individualism is often seen as problematic from the perspective of climate change. Climate change is a social problem, a problem of communities. The problem lies in the interpretation of individualism and the perception of individual beneft. Combating climate change works towards both individual and common beneft. Paradoxically, individualism pursuing individual needs and interests over the long term leads to thinking about the common good; caring for the self is necessary to be able to care for others.

Collaboration develops and broadens thinking:

Our reaction to climate change is socially constructed. Apathy is a rational and common reaction to climate change, if there is nowhere else to turn. We need real solutions and options to act. To break through the prevailing culture of denial of the existence, meaning or obligation of climate change, collaborative action and participatory problem-solving and learning through dialogue is needed. We need to refect together, how we see the problem and its possible solutions. The rationale and possible answers are dependent upon collective recognition and emotional reaction (Norgaard 2011).

We need collaboration to fourish and enrich our thinking, to have more alternative visions that can be challenged from different perspectives. Sharing the experience of crisis, motivation for change, joint action towards and belief in a better future promotes hope (Ojala 2012). Real, authentic hope becomes embodied in collective action, which enables us to experience our connectedness and explore the meaning of life. Education for transformation towards sustainability should be a collective process where people working together create stories about a future with hope.

To conclude, the common good is good for individuals as well. In the Anthropocene, education must be aimed at increasing understanding of the common good and human interdependencies. Successful solutions will require discovering, respecting and responding to people's real needs (Kenrick 2009). We must cope with the illusion of autonomy, individual freedom and the psychological denial of interdependence (Weintrobe 2013) to encourage social learning and empower collaboration. We must transform individualism towards a focus on the common good because awareness of connections deepens and widens meaning and our perspective on life. However, individualism matters still: framed by postmaterialism, individualism may lead to personal empowerment and an increasing sense of responsibility on personal, social and societal levels.

## Climate Change Education in Practice

How should we educate people for society's transformation toward sustainability? In this section, we describe the pedagogical aspects of changing in thinking and behaviour. We consider how the needed change in thinking and behavior can be supported by learning and teaching, and what kind of pedagogical solutions can be found in order to build a future that will inspire confdence and trust. We present practical solutions for climate change education starting from an eco-social approach to education, which is has been introduced as a foundational value in the new National Curriculum of Finland (2014). Then we move on to art-based education which we believe has great potential for climate change education as a holistic, embodied, student-centered approach which enables the integration of rational, emotional and intuitive ways of learning. In the end of this section, we explore the debate about a holistic approach to teaching and learning—phenomena-based learning which integrates knowledge of different school subjects together with art and science, and which necessitates collaborative learning and student ownership.

## *The Eco-social Approach to Education*

Society cannot be constructed on short-term economic requirements. After all, a fnal breach of planetary boundaries means destruction of the economy. If natural resources, ecosystem services, and human beings are the only instruments for market growth, our debt to future generations will grow, and our ethics will be undermined. Thus, there is a hierarchy between ecological, social and economic elements of human well-being. It forms a science-based framework for human activity (Salonen and Konkka 2015):

The above hierarchy is the foundation of the eco-social approach to education. It does not deny the possibility of economic growth, but it determines two conditions for the growth: taking care of ecological boundaries and profound respect for human rights (Salonen 2014). Eco-social education has been introduced and implemented in the core values and overall framing of education's purpose in the new national curriculum of Finland that became law in 2016. The eco-social principles will guide the integration of instruction and the implementation of cross-curricular themes within the Finnish curriculum. According to the curriculum, eco-social principles should direct the development of the working and operational culture of the school. The transformation of value principles; the implementation of eco-social thinking necessitates trust, respect, and open, integrative and interactive discussion within the school communities (Finnish National board of education 2014).

Modern societies are characterized by fexible, creative, adaptable, well-informed and inventive communities, which are able to respond generously to each other (Wilkinson and Pickett 2010, p. 270). According to Abraham Maslow (1960, p. 118), the ultimate goal of human growth is fully realized humanity which highlights altruism, dedication, and the ties to other people and society. To solve the wicked problems of the Anthropocene, we need education that revolves around sensing and actualizing the good and full potential in students. Simultaneously, we will reach life satisfaction and subjective well-being because true abiding happiness cannot exist while others suffer. It comes from serving others, living in harmony with nature, and realizing our innate wisdom and the excellence of our minds. The teacher's role is to act as the conductor and orchestrator of the highest creativity and goodness found in their students. She or he aims at providing learners with the chance to achieve their highest future potential as human beings, to have access to their best sources of creativity (Scharmer and Kaufer 2013, pp. 211–212).

What we want to see is nothing less than transformative-graduates who are genuine human beings, realizing their full and true potential, caring for others—including other species—ecologically literate, contemplative as well as analytical in their understanding of the world, free of greed and without excessive desires; knowing, understanding, and appreciating completely that they are not separate from the natural world and from others in sum manifesting their humanity fully. (Thinley 2009)

Eco-socially educated people understand that human beings are part of a fragile planetary entity. They question consumption and ownership-oriented lifestyles in the pursuit of a *good life*. They recognize planetary boundaries and replace material goals with immaterial elements that produce long-term satisfaction, enhance the quality of life and provide experiences of happiness. They are aware of the fact that once people have met their basic needs, their well-being is grounded in immaterial capital (Kahneman and Deaton 2010). They understand the value of cooperative relationships and generosity, and the fact that immaterial capital—knowledge, self-expression, freedom, affection and participation—can grow forever without any boundaries. The best experiences of life are not related to goods, but to other people. When a good life is sought by maximizing social capital, well-being is increased without negative ecological effects.

#### *Art-Based Learning*

Throughout history, art has had a strong role in societal and cultural change. Art can provoke, unveil and deconstruct cultural perceptions, hidden norms, and illustrate taboos (Löytönen and Sava 2011). For combatting climate change, there is an urgent need to unleash the artistry, creative potential and emotionally engage every human-being in visualizing and acting out a vision of sustainable well-being. Arts can transform apathy and grief into joy and empowerment and bridge the gap between theory and practice. The concepts of sustainable development or a sustainable future can be re-embedded into the world and the practice of living by art-based learning (Eernstman and Wals 2013).

Arts can offer a space and provide means for the critical issues of climate change education through emotional involvement, personal meaning making, critical thinking, active agency and creative visioning (Lehtonen 2012; 2015a, b). Arts widen the traditional ways of knowing as the rational, intuitive and embodied knowing are naturally co-operating and integrated in arts-based learning processes. Rational thinking can be enriched with imaginative, un- and preconscious material and, vice versa, scientifc knowledge can serve as inspiration for artistic learning and investigative processes. Different artistic approaches and art-based methods can play an essential role in enabling education to support the cultural transformation necessary to achieve sustainability.

Contrary to objective, infallible, generalizable knowledge, art's way of knowing is subjective, embodied, emotionally loaded and engaging (Anttila 2011; Rouhiainen 2011). Appreciating one's experiences, emotional excursion and subjective processing of things is at the core of art education. Making art can have a positive impact on self-consciousness, identity construction and can strengthen empathy. Empathy and creative thinking are needed for understanding the world in its multiplicity. In the aesthetic world of art, especially in drama, participants put one's soul into other people's experiences allowing them to try out different conditions in different contexts (McNaughton 2006, 2010).

Arts aim at widening perspectives, seeing things differently and exploring alternatives. Art's perspective to the world is dynamic. Even when watching art, not only the artist but the spectator participates actively, thereby constructing and imbuing meaning in the art. Transformations and transformative learning can take place on many levels during artistic processes. Participatory art challenges the norms of roles and identities; the idea of normality itself transforms. Individual perspectives can transform: they are enriched through dialogue and encounters with other people and their context. Evocative images and ideas are refected in artistic action, and transformed into artistic products or performances (Lehtonen 2013). When there is an open space for expression, humour and dialogue, even social transformation can happen—resistance can be transformed into active agency (Rainio 2008; Lehtonen 2015a).

Climate change is a wicked problem that suits artistic learning:

Conficts and tensions are optimal starting points for creativity. Emotional response can serve as inspiration for artistic expression and is involved in learning (Österlind 2012). Openness and uncertainty can be faced and managed through artistic processes. Art provides a pathway towards transformation in practice: an artist, thrown into wonder, de-familiarized and shaken up, open to the familiar becoming unfamiliar (Boeckel 2014, p. 380). Learning via the arts necessitates an ability and willingness to surrender to unanticipated possibilities, which are essential to educating for an uncertain future.

Collaborative art can address the challenging goals of climate change education through building a vital understanding of interconnectedness and the skills to cooperate, employ critical thinking and creativity. Creative collaboration can either focus on one form of art or integrate different forms of art for developing a performance, depending on the group of students or participants. Artistic process offers a space for creative inquiry of the physical and especially social reality created by different ideas, attitudes, opinions and interpretations. The critical questions of our time can be explored through creative action by making a collective piece of art, a play, a performance, dance, flm, or by writing a poem or lyrics for a song, etc. A good sense of humour about tragedy can provide relief and even be empowering assets in the face of ignorance or apathy (Pihkala 2017).

Creative collaboration is a student-centered process:

Collaborative learning is student-centered by defnition because student perspectives are naturally activated and participants' ideas guide the learning process. Creative collaboration can start from anything, but the teacher needs to set the frame for the working process. Integration of art into critical thinking and self-transformation demands concentration and applying effort to collective and individual refection on thoughts, ideas, experiences and sensations. Furthermore, intuitive thinking can arise during the working process.

There are no right or wrong answers or mistakes. Everyone participates on their own level and relates to collaboration with their perspective and their experiences. Every idea is valuable, enriching private and collective thinking (Lehtonen 2015b). Even the phrase, "I don't have any ideas or nothing comes to my mind" is a good beginning for questioning and then embarking on artistic inquiry about prevailing attitudes. Mistakes can be used as source of inspiration as ideas are tested in practice. Learning through art happens via trial and error (Boeckel 2014, p. 365) because different outcomes become part of the exploration process.

To conclude, exploring and refecting through art facilitates refection on interconnectedness that challenges the modern dualistic understanding of the individual and society, nature and culture as segregated entities. We believe that the arts and creative collaboration have unlimited potential for climate change education.

#### *Phenomena-Based, Collaborative Learning*

In the multidimensional world of the Anthropocene, coherent approaches to learning are critical. Climate change and other wicked problems, a multidimensional world and a society in transition all challenge traditional learning methods and ideas about learning. Problembased learning that promotes systemic and holistic thinking is needed in the context of wicked problems because climate change cannot be resolved by individuals acting alone without collaboration. Collaboration is a crucial skill for education for the future and is required of both learners and teachers (Pyhältö et al. 2014).

Towards phenomena-based learning in Finland:

As a case study, we turn to the 2016 Finnish national curriculum which notably breaks from subject-based schooling. Recently, Finnish schools have been criticized for not changing as quickly as the world around them (Berner et al. 2015). The outlook of schools and classrooms might have changed but critics point to the substance and teaching and learning methods which have not been updated in a meaningful way. This is due in part because within the feld of education there have been many '-isms' guiding new practices and reform efforts. In previous decades, constructivism and socio-constructivism have been considered the most trusted -isms generally applied to Finnish schools. Constructivist thinking skills have been one of the key explanations for Finland's good Pisa results. However, as Finland's Pisa results slide, current educational debates revolve around questions about subject knowledge and content.

Finnish schools can be described as subject oriented—structured on the basis of division between various sciences and subjects (Sahlberg 2015). Subject-orientated learning segments phenomena into different silos, concentrating learning according to internal logics, theories and observations. In the context of climate change education for instance, the concepts of atmosphere and greenhouse gases would be studied in physics and the interaction between people and the environment studied in geography and taught by experts of each feld with qualifed conceptual knowledge. A visual arts lesson might create environmental art work while home economics would deal with recycling materials. At best, subject-orientated climate change education gives students a multidimensional picture of a wicked global issue. But without communication between different subject-silos, the critical linkages between different domains that make climate change such a challenging problem might be missed. Fragmented or split knowledge that can result in achieving no deep understanding of climate change is a real concern and limitation when working to develop solutions (Aarnio-Linnanvuori 2013).

Recently, phenomena-based learning has been introduced as an alternative to subject-orientated learning in the new national curriculum of Finland. Although the concept of phenomena-based learning is new to the Finnish system, the ideology behind it is not. Integration of subjects has now become obligatory, but the themes and subjects involved in phenomena-based learning are chosen and planned yearly by each school. The goal is that the students build an interdisciplinary, holistic picture of selected phenomena linked to students' communities and interests. It is thus expected that studying should be both collaborative and take place in real world environments outside of schools. The learners' personal experiences, feelings and abilities to communicate together and respect each other are important enablers of phenomena-based learning (Pyhältö et al. 2014).

Studying themes emerging from student interests:

In the Finnish phenomena-based learning process, students are encouraged and allowed to study themes of their own interest. This does not mean that students are free to do and concentrate on whatever they choose; frameworks and guidance are required for learning projects. The method of phenomena-based learning starts with a student's questions about the world around them. Several questions are likely to emerge that can then be listed in 'question cloud.' For example, questions such as: What is our future? How will we live on this planet? What kinds of innovations will we see? How will climate and vegetation change? Will there be hamburger restaurants in the future? After a collaborative refection and analysis of the questions, the study group together with their teacher select one question to concentrate on. This study question could be related to climate change. For example, 'How will agriculture change within the next decades and what will we eat in 2030?'

After selecting the study question, students and their teacher generate ideas about how to get answers to this question and what kinds of study methods they could use in their study [AR25] process. They could for example study written texts, statistics and previous research, or they could interview farmers or make questionnaires for restaurant owners. The essential aspect of the phenomena-based learning process is that the teacher doesn't prescribe 'correct answers and methods.' Instead, the planning process (i.e., curriculum development) is collaborative. The study question can then be divided into sub-questions addressed by smaller study-groups. Each sub-group of students chooses their methods and design their own working process and schedule within the frame of the overall project schedule (Cantell 2015; Lonka and Mind the Gap Research Group 2015).

Evaluation of phenomena-based learning processes:

An important part of phenomena-based learning is the learning product. Traditionally, learning products are individually written texts and essays or group posters or other forms of presentations. For phenomena-based projects, students are free to create various kinds of presentations and products. These can be videos, art pieces, participatory theatre, portfolios, web-pages, blogs, active project days and so on (a written text can also be generated). The key idea is that new information and knowledge is not only for the sub-group itself but also for the wider public and, therefore, must be communicated. After presenting and publishing their work, students and their teacher together analyze the original study question and the answers they have developed through the learning process. Next they evaluate what was learned, what new knowledge was gained toward building new understanding, was some important information missing, and how did the sub-groups work (Cantell 2015).

Phenomena-based learning is deeply collaborative: it is an active learning process that develops thinking through communication and shared effort. All learners contribute their expertise, thought and experiences to a collective process resulting in an equal learning situation. Ideas are shared and developed in a relational process; every idea is as important as it enriches the collective understanding of the issue. There are no wrong questions and not just one right answer. The learning product itself is not the outcome of any individual's work, but of the group (Hakkarainen 2010). This collaborative learning model requires dialogue between students, which is often a challenge. Learners have different backgrounds, personalities, knowledge and expectations for learning processes. The key challenge in Finnish schools tends to be motivation; how to inspire students through a learning process where all can participate and feel valuable and respected (Hakkarainen 2010).

Challenges to phenomena-based learning:

There are challenges inherent in the phenomena-based approach. One is fear linked to the role and work of sub-groups of students. The teacher's role is essential as they must conduct, guide and mentor interdisciplinary (or better, transdisciplinary) work. Phenomena-based learning demands conceptual and interdisciplinary expertise or it might lead to a narrow and, therefore, limited understanding of the phenomena. For example, comprehension of the concepts of atmosphere and the impact of greenhouse gases is needed to understand climate change, how it might be managed and populations will need to adapt. Teachers incrementally changing how they teach is generally not enough. They must enable collaborative, integrated learning while building an inspiring atmosphere for learning, encouraging and supporting learners through a challenging process.

Phenomena-based learning demands collaboration between teams of experts, including teachers (Lonka and Mind the Gap Research Group 2015) because collaboration is not just about learning, it is also about teaching (Pyhältö et al. 2014). However, in Finland there is a long tradition of individual and autonomous teaching (one of the system's most heralded success factors). Sharing expertise and teaching practices is, therefore, unusual in Finnish schools. However, just as in the learning processes outlined above, teaching processes that are collaborative are critical as is true in many other felds. This fact will require signifcant changes to teacher education to fully realize the benefts of phenomena-based learning.

At best, integrative, phenomena-based and collaborative learning builds systemic understanding of the world. They offer a learner constructive pieces to build a holistic picture of the multidimensional issues facing the world and the interlinkages between them. They give a learner the elements to form her own worldview and learn about what constitutes a good life and well-being together with others. Systemic understanding requires understanding of content areas, but even more requires new learning processes; an essential tool for confronting a changing world.

## Pedagogical Recommendations

The overall aim of education is to create a civilized human being who takes care of himself and his culture, the Earth and protecting possibilities for future generations (Salonen and Åhlberg 2012). In practical terms, climate change education enables students to understand the interconnectedness of planetary elements. Without a well-functioning biosphere, society cannot exist. And without society, there cannot be societal functions, including the economy. The economy is a sub-system of the larger but fnite Earth system (Max-Neef 2010, pp. 203–204). This philosophical principle can be made concrete by creating good maxims such as frst walk, then bike, then ride. Walking and cycling is better for health and climate. It combines egoistic and altruistic goals of life.

A main principle of climate change education is that taking care of the wellbeing of future generations does not constitute a sacrifce. This is because an individual's interests and the common good can be aligned. While it is egoistic to maximize the relevance of one's own life, it can become a *civilized selfshness*, because knowledge, social prosperity, arts, intellectual capital and increased humanity do not consume the planet's limited resources. Egoism and altruism do not require materiality.

Critical refection on climate change promotes existential questions: What does it mean to be a human? What is the meaning of life? How are we related to ourselves, other people, nature, societies and the global community? The goal of climate change education is to fully realize our humanity—a person, who thinks critically with rich information about a wide range of global situations. The person displays an ability to imagine the predicaments of many types of people and think refectively. Climate change education aims at critical thinking about consumerism, human identity as a consumer, and prevailing ways of pursuing happiness pushed by globalization, capitalism and advertising. Climate change education aims at increasing awareness of interconnectedness,3 post-material well-being, clarifying the goals of education and life as to meaning and purpose (Fig. 11.2).

Climate change education applies systems thinking in order to understand how the world works. According to a rational systems view, it is clear that humans are part of natural systems frst, living things second, human beings third, members of society and culture fourth, and particular individuals ffth. Nature and culture should be considered as one, interrelated system. The eco-social perspective helps to understand this interconnectedness and could be applied as the basic principle for all learning and educational practices.

The understanding and response to climate change is socially constructed; each person with a unique view. In order to understand what to do about it, we need to become aware of cultural dichotomies and strive for interconnected thinking and better understanding about how we are connected to each other and nature, how we can reconnect to emotions and our bodies. Active agency can be learned only through

**Fig. 11.2** Interconnectedness—the aim of climate change education

practice. Embodied experiences, awareness and emotions are valuable intuitive resources for improving rational thinking, learning and knowing. Refecting with intuition can connect us to deeper questions of human needs, desires and wishes, values and identities.

 Connections between local and global, between individual behaviour and communitarian practices and climate change need to be identifed and illuminated through social experiences. Climate change education should be developed and enriched with contextual, subjective knowing in practice. The resulting dialogical learning situation offers open encounters where adults and young people can learn from each other and together construct pathways for a sustainable future.

Art-based learning is critical to unleash creative potential because it naturally combines different ways of knowing: pre-conscious, intuitive and rational. Arts should be used aside natural and social sciences to deepen the insight into questions traditionally approached only via scientifc knowledge. Hope, courage and trust strengthen in embodied, shared experiences that explore alternative visions of a new sustainable reality where humanity is fully realized.

Hope is a pillar of the world. Great changes are possible; even wicked problems can be combatted. For instance, humans managed to stop global ozone depletion, lifespans have nearly doubled in the last century, and a universal education system as well as universal medical care have been achieved in many countries. Now there are several positive dynamics pushing towards a sustainable future such as the pursuit of meaning and purpose, stronger connection to other people and nature, the promise of security and solidarity, and the ethics of taking responsibility for others, nature and the future (Raskin et al. 2002, p. 56). Together, society is becoming stronger. As Margaret Mead once said, 'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.'

Summary: Basic Elements of Climate Change Education

• Our understanding and response to climate change is socially constructed; each person with their own perspective.

## Notes

wicked problems are listed as follows: (1) diffculty to clearly defne—every wicked problem can be considered to be a symptom of another problem; (2) defnition and explanations determines the nature of the problem's solution—different stakeholders have different views of what the problem is and appropriate responses; (3) interdependencies and multi-causality there may be conficting goals for those involved; (4) attempts to address wicked problems often lead to unforeseen consequences and even new wicked problems—wicked problems exist in complex systems with unpredictable, emergent behaviour; (5) unstability—understanding of the problem is constantly evolving; (6) having no clear solution, no right or wrong response, although there might be worse or better responses; (7) socially complex—it is social complexity, rather than technical complexity, that is overwhelming; (8) no clear responsibility of any one organization—these problems cross governance boundaries; (9) involve changing behaviour with all the diffculties that poses; and (10) characterised by chronic policy failure—they have become intractable, despite numerous attempts at solutions (Rittel and Webber 1973; Australian Public service Comission 2007; Riedy 2013).

3. For historical perspectives of interconnectedness in environmental philosophy see Nash (1989).

## References

#### 374 A. LEHTONEN ET AL.

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# Case Study: Kaospilots—From Passive Listeners to Global Change Agents

## *Jenna Lähdemäki*

## Introduction

*Designing Your Life* is one of the most popular courses at Stanford University (Kurutz 2016). It applies design thinking to life's big questions like 'what am I going to be when I grow up?' The course gives students tools to understand their own motives and aspirations. For many people, it would appear or seem not very good at answering the question of what would be a fulflling career and life path for them. To that end, many make life decisions based on their own expectations towards themselves ('I have to become successful and successful to me means becoming a lawyer') or based on someone else's expectations (e.g. 'my mother has always hoped I become a dentist') (Fig. 12.1).

Kaospilot answers partly the same question as *Designing Your Life* does. There are too many university students who have struggled their way to the major they think is the answer to their dream career path, and then feel disappointed for reasons they might not know how to explain. This usually has to do with the lack of focus in personal

375

J. Lähdemäki (\*)

The Finnish Innovation Fund, Sitra, Helsinki, Finland e-mail<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
© The Author(s) 2019

J. W. Cook (ed.), *Sustainability, Human Well-Being, and the Future of Education*, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78580-6\_12

**Fig. 12.1** Kaospilot mailbox at the school building in Aarhus, Denmark

development and self-refection, both from an individual perspective and in terms of the teaching given from educational institutions. Students don't know how to articulate what they have learned, or their area of expertise and their strengths.

Furthermore, the job market is becoming increasingly insecure and entry-level positions are relatively rare. Many recently graduated people have diffculties fnding a job that can both pay the rent and give them the requisite meaning and challenges. The Economist article 'Young, Gifted and Held Back' (2016) describes the consequences:

For the frst time in history, the world's youngsters form a common culture, so they also share the same youthful grievances. Around the world, young people gripe that it is too hard to fnd a job and a place to live, and that the path to adulthood has grown longer and more complicated. Today's under-30s will one day dominate the labour force. If their skills are not developed, they will be less productive than they could be. (para. 3)

One part of this puzzle is the question of how higher education prepares young adults to face an uncertain job market and ever more complex societies. There is a clear need for alternative education programs that give students the tools, networks and experience, and then empower individuals, grow their self-confdence and their faith in the future. Having theoretical knowledge is simply not enough.

Alongside Kaospilot, there are many other successful alternative education courses where an underlying theme is nurturing of capacities and competencies that allow a person to create their own job with an installed 'meaning'. One notable course is the 10-week *Global Solutions Program*1 offered by Singularity University, where participants from about 45 countries study the world's biggest challenges, like poverty and climate change, and create solutions to battle these challenges with the help of exponential technologies, like AI and robotics.

Singularity University was founded by research scientists Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis and is located in the NASA Research Park in California's Silicon Valley. The summer course has given birth to numerous interesting companies like Iris AI, involved with the ground-breaking use of scientifc knowledge, and companies focusing on the development of resuscitation technology such as Neurescue used in cases of cardiac arrest.

For this case study, we will focus on Kaospilot, an entrepreneurship and design school located in Aarhus, Denmark.

The Finnish Innovation Fund, Sitra, has been working with the vision of creating a sustainable well-being society. Sustainable well-being refers to the pursuit of a 'good life' within the earth's carrying capacity. This means that well-being is addressed in a holistic way and that humanity is consequently adjusting to the planetary boundaries. The other principles of a sustainable well-being society are in the empowering of individuals and communities, moving to a regenerative and collaborative economy, building competencies for a complex world, and developing inclusive and adaptive governance. When I visited Kaospilot in Aarhus, I was interested in terms of both 'if' and 'how' the Kaospilot education could take these myriad themes into account. For this is a school that teaches students to say, 'I can change the world'.

## What Is Kaospilot?

The world is not short of challenges, or opportunities. What we need are people who can create new solutions and act with empathy within complex and turbulent situations. (Excerpt from Kaospilot mission statement)

Kaospilot is a hybrid business and design school with a strong emphasis on entrepreneurship. The Kaospilot programme is centred on teaching 'change makers' the ability to both navigate their way through uncertainty and to use it to their advantage, and to also embrace the opportunities presented by uncertainty and complexity. There is one other Kaospilot school in Bern, Switzerland that has a similar program and curriculum to the Aarhus school, though both schools have local adaptations.

Kaospilot was founded in 1991 by Uffe Elbaek, Thomas Heide and Gitte Madsen. Elbaek left the school in 2006 to serve as the Danish Minister of Culture from 2011 to 2012. Elbaek can variously be described as an author, entrepreneur, politician and political leader. Currently, he is a Member of the Danish Parliament for the Alternative party. He is the founder and leader of Alternative—a party that states it is against economic growth as the only economic path and instead works towards 'sustainable transition, a new political culture and the entrepreneurial creative power of society and individuals' (What is the Alternative 2017). Following the departure of Elbaek, Christer Windelow-Lidzelius, a former Kaospilot graduate, became the principal of the school in 2006.

Education at Kaospilot is rooted in action rather than theory. Students are evaluated on the basis of four criteria, which also serve as the objectives of education: to create deep meaning with others, improve themselves as change makers, develop and foster their personalities, and co-operate with their local community. Kaospilot is single-minded in its pursuit: to be the best school *for* the world, with a focus on social change, creative entrepreneurship and personal growth.

The school's three-year program, combining leadership, business design and project and process design, is equivalent to a bachelor's degree in scope, but in other respects, is very different from traditional studies at higher education institutions. Kaospilot is a private education institution that is partly fnanced by the state. This means that the there is no accreditation for the Kaospilot diploma. Many universities still consider it a bachelor's degree when students apply to master's degree programs. Admission requirements to Kaospilot consist of written application and an in-person workshop.

The studies comprise working on projects with clients and a four-month study period abroad, during which the students work on a change target chosen together with the local community. The fnal year of studies is fully focused on the individual student's own business idea and personal project.

'The premise here at Kaospilot is not really to help us fnd career employment, but rather that we create our own jobs and perhaps employ a few others in the process' (Anu Paajanen, personal communication, October 2015) says Anu Paajanen, who was the only Finnish student at the school at the time of this writing.

Students are required to pay a fee to study at Kaospilot and only 38 students are admitted each year. Nevertheless, according to the Head of International Development and Education Design, Simon Kavanagh, compared to an average higher education institution, the school has fewer teachers in relation to the number of students. For Kavanagh, this proves that traditional education institutions can and should focus their energy on improving the student–faculty relationships so that students do not feel neglected. That said, the main responsibility with regards to learning and development always rests on the shoulders of the students. Kavanagh stresses:

It all starts with creating a close-knit community in which the students are responsible for their own learning, while knowing that assistance is available, provided by the team leaders and other staff, whenever necessary. We care about every one of our students. (Simon Kavanagh, personal communication, October 2015)

Alumnus David Jul adds:

Most of the educational institutions give you a diploma on the last day of your studies and then you are a graduate and can call yourself an engineer, for example. At Kaospilot, you are seen as a professional from day one and you also work with the clients starting the very frst autumn of studies. It gives you a sense of belonging and ownership. (David Jul, personal communication, October 2015)

## Kaospilot—The Basics

## The Story—Why Was There a Need for a Kaospilot Education?

A project that was totally devoid of realism. (Windeløv-Lidzélius 2012)

In 1989, two years before the Soviet Union collapsed, the founder of Kaospilot, Uffe Elbaek, and his colleagues from the Frontrunners (Kaospilots' predecessor) wanted to do something radical. They decided to organise a rock concert in Moscow's famous Red Square. Elbaek and colleagues wanted to foster solidarity, peace and a sense of belonging between Danish and Russian youngsters. The project was called *The Next Stop Soviet*. The Danish group wished to show that world politics and relationships between individuals were two separate issues, and that young people were similar on both sides of the iron curtain.

However, the Next Stop Soviet project team were not able to organise the rock concert in the middle of the Red Square as planned and had to settle for a more remote and consequently less high-profle spot on the periphery of Red Square. Despite the small setback, the concert was organised and the team received a cheerful welcome home when they returned to Denmark. They had done something extraordinary, something that had caught the public attention. Kavanagh explains, 'This also had to do with bigger trends at the time: hierarchies between adults and younger people were slowly fading away. Now young people were seen as active agents at the societal level' (Simon Kavanagh, personal communication, October 2015).

Even though the rock concert in Moscow was seen as a spectacular success, fnancially the organising group were left with debts of 150,000 Danish Krone (approx. EUR 20,000/USD 23,000). As a result, the group started working with similar kinds of community projects in Denmark in order to pay back the debt. These different projects garnered notable visibility and fnally caught the attention of the then leftist government. Politicians in power thought, in short, that the group's work was valuable and should be supported.

Together with the government backed support and other converging events, in 1991, Kaospilot was established. Incentives that led to the founding of the school included the ideas that in 1991 the founders (Uffe Elbaek, Thomas Heide and Gitte Madsen) saw that the world was moving towards a project-run society and that people needed new skills, competencies and mind-sets in order to fourish in this new global order. Other incentives for starting Kaospilot included much discussed analyses of what could have been done better in Moscow in 1989, and what kind of education could have supported this group in their ambitious project. The group also pondered and analysed how they could have been better negotiators with the KGB and how, ultimately, they could teach these skills to other students.

The rock concert organised in Moscow represented, in hindsight, the start of Kaospilot. The organising team faced considerable obstacles with the local authorities as well as numerous other organisational challenges. Areas of discussion turned to the fact that that there was no school or education program that would prepare you for an experience like organising a rock concert in Moscow during the Soviet Union era or taught you skills like negotiating in diffcult situations or organising an event in unusual contexts. These were some of the guiding ideas at the time of Kaospilot's founding.

The school has been built to embrace change and to facilitate the fnding of skills needed to act successfully in an always evolving environment. The school also has a strong societal focus. One bold slogan proclaims, 'we want to be the best school for the world'. Simon Kavanagh explains the premises and targets of Kaospilot thusly, 'I mean changing the whole game, not just parts of it. Holistic and systemic solutions are core to everything. Systemic means to me that the system is made selfaware of the challenges it is dealing with' (Simon Kavanagh, personal communication, October 2015).

There must have been some kind of signal with respect to the decline of the Soviet Union when Uffe Elbaek and compatriots were organising the rock concert two years before the December 1991 dissolution. The group, however, did not see this geopolitical earthquake coming and Kavanagh says that training Kaospilot students to recognise weak signals both in society and in the markets is an important part of the education. This is called *Listening Louder* in Kaospilot language. According to Kavanagh, 'It is important to analyse what is the arising need that the weak signal describes. With the right competencies, recognising weak signals can be catalysed into action' (2015).

Kaospilot grounds its business thinking in the widely used 3P Model (People, Proft, Planet) originated by John Elkington in 1994.2 According to Kavanagh:

We are a social entrepreneurial school, but we don't force students to be social entrepreneurs. Ironically, being sustainable and responsible also improves your businesses bottom line. So even if a student comes to the school with a corporate business mind, they might notice that purpose-driven business creates more money. (2015)

At the time of this writing, the school is hosting its 23rd class of Kaospilot students. Each year, a new team of 38 students begin their learning journey. While visiting the school, it became evident that the students had a remarkably strong team spirit. It seemed that the students also identifed themselves strongly with their designated teams. 'I am from team 22' was, for example, an expression heard several times during the visit.

Naturally, the school has both changed and evolved across the years. Nevertheless, some fundamentals have remained stable. Founder Uffe Elabek attested to this continuity, 'although the curriculum has changed radically today—luckily—from when the school was founded over 20 years ago, in my eyes some things have not changed; not least the special professional and cultural mind-set that is unique to Kaospilots' (Windeløv-Lidzélius 2012). Alumnus David Jul agrees:

The way the community is built is one of the fundamentals. It is part of the tradition that we nurture our community and take responsibility for it. (David Jul, personal communication, October 2015)

## An Alternative for Academia—Educating Change Agents

Kaospilot has ambitious achievement targets and during the visit, the interviewees were asked what being a change maker meant to them. There were some similarities that were present in most of the answers. These oft-repeated statements included building of self-knowledge, having a vision of the kind of change you want to see take place, the ability to start working even if you cannot envision the full picture of the project in hand, and fnally, having a strong trust in one's ability to act successfully towards a grand overarching goal.

During the visit, Kaospilot alumnus Jul reiterated that it is more important for the school to keep trying to fgure out what being a change agent is about, than in actually fnding the answer. The following quote from Kaospilot principal Christer Windeløv-Lidzélius describes the teaching philosophy of the school and also reveals what is expected form students and what kind of qualities are considered important in order for the students to build their career as a change agent:

Our fundamental understanding of how we teach people is to help them to teach themselves. There are certain things you can teach, but only so much. What we do essentially is to curate the learning journey for each person individually. The belief is that our students are already creative. They bring their talents and their ideas with them. Besides, we strongly believe the people who come to our school are self-motivated and selfdriven, and that they need to be that, in order to pursue their goals and their values.  Our students who enroll at this program are not empty vessels in which we pour certain things and thoughts in their heads. (Kerstin 2015)

First-year student Paajanen stresses here the importance of having the skill to get other people engaged and motivated when working towards a change. It is important to have a strong vision, but in addition '…there is the action part. You need to actually get people working towards that change' (Anu Paajanen, personal communication, October 2015).

Pete Sims, team leader and curriculum designer at Kaospilot, in pondering the question of change agency, points out two components and notes that having a vision of change does not grow in a vacuum:

One, is to have personal agency and two, is to connect to something bigger than yourself. Sometimes the trap is that people think that 'I have to frst focus on myself', 'fnd myself', and 'then I can go and change the world'. If you have something you need to work on, some issue, then that makes sense, but I don't think you become yourself until you get beyond yourself. Doing something that is bigger than yourself is the key. (Pete Sims, personal communication, October 2015)

Kis Jakobsen, Head of Studies, adds that an 'enterprising leader' knows their place in the community they are living and working in. Likewise, they also have language, networks, meaning and direction, in addition to the necessary skills and competencies.

So, what then are these skills and competencies? David Jul proposes that it is necessary to have knowledge about how the system or organisation you are trying to change actually works. Jul further emphasises that learning from the past is important in the sense that sometimes, in the midst of the innovation hype, we forget to look back and learn from what has already been done.

From the author's perspective, this all sounds quite demanding. Are Kaospilot students somehow untouched by the anxiety that uncertainty causes people? The answer must be 'of course not', but Jul considers that maybe they are a little bit better with coping with and even embracing uncertainty. To that end, the Kaospilot program has been built so that it causes anxiety in terms of approaching and analysing the big philosophical questions in life.

Kis Jakobsen adds his weight to this argument and explains that often during the third year of their studies, when a sizeable portion of the year goes into students' fnal projects, students enter a phase when they start asking themselves existential questions and questioning their choices:

We even congratulate the students for that because we see it as a very natural phenomenon and it also means that they are going through a personal growth period that many people end up facing only in their forties or even later in life. These students ponder the big questions at an early stage of their life: what do I actually want to do with my life and how do I want to spend this life I have? (Kis Jakobsen, personal communication, October 2015)

Raising the ambition-level and capacity of students is considered to be an important part of the Kaospilot pedagogy. Simon Kavanagh says that as an educator you have to be clear about the level where the students are, and where they want to go, and where you, as an educator and want them to develop. 'You have to be demanding enough' (Simon Kavanagh, personal communication, October 2015, he emphasises). The founder of the school, Uffe Elbaek, talked about the same issue at an event in Helsinki in May 2016, 'You have to be demanding enough so that the students reach their potential, but there is a fne line in making the students break down with over-pressure.'

## How Can We Start Educating Change Agents Earlier?

When asked about the creation of Kaospilot's close-knit community, Kavanagh says, 'It's about creating a learning space that is intimate and personal. You need to have a stake in your teammates and in the community. Creating an intense, rigorous training space is diffcult to do at scale, it needs to be done based on the needs of a specifc group' (2015).

This close-knit community is not something you can create in a day, as it requires the constant development and commitment of the people involved in it. Students spend a lot of time with their own team. The team consists of students that start their studies together. Building a close-knit community and a sense of belonging is one of the fundamentals at Kaospilot. It is a good grounding for creativity and for the courage to experiment. In the frst days of their studies, the new Kaospilot students go out to the countryside and spend a couple of days there at a culture boot camp, where the cornerstones for the three-year co-operation program are laid down.

'Each year's class has, in a way, their own microcosm,' states frst-year student Anu Paajanen. 'My class has a very empathic culture, whereas the class that started the year before has a culture of questioning everything'. At the beginning of our studies, the team leaders said to us that it is 'your class's culture' so it is your responsibility to develop in the direction you want to (Anu Paajanen, personal communication, October 2015). She continues:

The school has Wednesdays off, so each year's class can do what they want on this particular day. We decided to have them as team days where we concentrate on developing our team work. We created a team culture council, because we noticed that we had been discussing our values quite a lot, but they were not being emphasised much in everyday life. We wanted to do something about it, and now the class members can suggest different kinds of activities to the council. This approach is also simultaneously about practicing how you create and lead an organisational culture. (2015)

While interviewing various individuals at Kaospilot, questions arose about how we could, as a society, start educating or empowering societal change agents earlier than when students enter higher education. The interviewees, upon refection, agreed that if a student has learned for 10–12 years that being a good student means being a well-behaving listener who makes no mistakes, then the educational system has 'failed'. Not least, there is a lot of work to be done before these students trust that there are not necessarily any right answers, and the best outcomes might come by frst randomly bouncing around thoughts and ideas within a team. So, in that sense, there might frst be work to do in convincing students that their own ideas and thoughts are valuable and can have a benefcial impact on others.

What could be done differently in an elementary school? According to the interviewees, having a very holistic view of education is important. It is not only about learning different skills and learning to use different tools, but about training your mind-set, being empowered to take action and not only analyse different phenomena. Also, a strong focus on personal growth and building self-knowledge is essential. Adding meditation and concentrating on personal growth is still something quite rare in traditional school systems.

Creating a well-functioning culture of critique (or feedback) is one of the essential prerequisites at Kaopsilot. Student Paajanen believes that working on giving feedback in a classroom or in any other type of team or organisation is very benefcial. The attitude in Kaospilot is that feedback is a gift and the only way to learn how your decisions affect others. With a functioning feedback culture, students can grow their self-knowledge and teamwork skills. One tool to help create constructive feedback mechanisms is the Johari Window model that helps students analyse the blind spots in their communication style. The Johari Window is a two by two matrix with questions created by two psychologists, Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham, in 1955.

One frequently used technique at Kaospilot is the daily check-in and check-out practices where students gather in a circle and refect on their expectations, hopes and concerns. This same technique is used in project work that students do as part of their studies. The most crucial part for the project to succeed, however, is considered to be the very beginning, how it is initiated. To that end, the students might even do a pre-project where they create a basis for the team dynamics and concentrate on the goals and objectives of the project at hand. There is an undeniable logic to this: before the actual work begins, the students want to understand each team member's strengths, weaknesses and style of working. At this point, the team puts effort into understanding both the different professional profles present in the team and the different communication styles. Paajanen argues that this way it is easier to understand why people act the way they do, and it is easier to solve conficts, or indeed even prevent them. After a year of studying at Kaospilot, she says that she has more understanding of how differently people work and how she herself co-operates with her colleagues and how her way of working impacts others.

During a project, some teams might schedule one day a week to tasks that involve evaluation and feedback. A critic might argue at this point that it would seem that all the time at Kaospilot passes on mere refection while no actual work is done. Paajanen disagrees with this critique and says that the time is used very effectively, and a lot is done when the team shares a direction and has communal feeling of a common mission. It has been noted by numerous experts that there are numerous wasted learning possibilities, both professional and personal, when people rush into their next assignment or project without refecting on what went well and what should have been done better regarding the recently completed tasks. 'How, for example, did the team deal with mistakes or challenges? And what did the team do well in the planning phase and was the chosen strategy optimal? Evaluating these questions, together with the team, is a very educational experience,' says Kavanagh (Simon Kavanagh, personal communication, October 2015).

One Kaospilot student explained that an important part of the education was learning different practical techniques and developing a mindset. Examples of this include how the students facilitate a brainstorming session, start fnding solutions to complex challenges, managing creative processes, learning ways to get other people engaged, analysing trends and tapping what they are doing into the bigger picture of what is going on in the world. It could be argued that these are things that you could be taught at any primary or secondary school. It is about learning to take responsibility for your education and learning that you can be infuential. Similar kinds of learning philosophies can be applied to different age groups, from primary school children to retired people.

## Kaospilot's Ways of Working

Described below are a list of different practices that showcase the Kaospilot way of operating. An organisational culture is always unique and dependent on the individuals and their dynamics and the atmosphere they create as well as different structures—both formal and informal and visible and invisible. By looking at different daily practices, we can understand aspects that contribute to the unique organisational culture of Kaospilot.

## *Finding Mentors and Establishing a Sparring Network*

The students are encouraged to fnd mentors to support their professional growth. Students also work together with team leaders or other staff members at Kaospilot. They can ask for sparring with anyone from the organisation if they believe that that individual would have valuable insights related to their project. The staff then could be considered as a network of sparring partners for the students.

## *No Tests*

There are no traditional tests where you simply write down what you have read, but following longer projects, students give presentations and produce reports for their team leaders and colleagues. Even though the project might have 'failed', the students responsible for the project can still receive a high grade, if they succeed in analysing and documenting why they believe the project 'failed' and what they learned from it. Selfrefection and personal growth is once again an underlying theme that supports the substance experience that students gain. Presentation skills are essential in order for students to get their message heard and understood and students need to have explicit possibilities to train their presentation skills.

Anu Paajanen explains that students receive certain reading lists and some concepts are expected to be understood. This can be done by reading a book, watching a video and listening to podcasts or audiobooks. The format is irrelevant as long as the students gain a benefcial understanding of the material.

#### *Team Leaders and Outside Lecturers*

All three classes have their own team leaders. 'The role of the team leader is many fold. Their tasks involve guiding, coaching, planning the curriculum and being really out there for the students. There is no position like this in the university world,' states Kavanagh (Liam Kavanagh, personal communication, October 2015).

The great majority of the lectures and workshops are held by outside experts. During its 25-year history, Kaospilot has created a global network of experts and lecturers. Bringing various voices and experts to the school is one way to keep the intellectual foundations of the school in constant development.

#### *The Physical Space and Learning Environment*

The building Kaospilot occupies is more like an offce building than a traditional school building. The staff and students call it the 'home base'. Each year's class has their own space that they manage (Figs. 12.2, 12.3 and 12.4).

Alumnus David Jul says that what is important to notice at Kaospilot is that the students are part of a professional network from day one of their studies. They do projects for clients and learn how to deal with people from different backgrounds, positions and sectors. It is a different kind of approach to academia, where on their last day they receive a diploma that states that they have graduated and can now be seen as a professional.

When I visited Kaospilot in October 2015, the frst-year students were working on their frst project. It was assigned from Doctors Without Borders and the assignment was to fnd ways to increase the number of volunteers by approximately 6000 people. This was a follow-up project from the three-day entrance exam, where the applicants also worked in teams with an assigned project. Doctors Without Borders had chosen the most appealing results for a follow-up development phase.

The frst project that the students face is a follow-up project from the entrance exam. They are not given any guidance on project management or substance issues related to the project. The students, simply, are expected to fgure out essentially everything on their own.

**Fig. 12.2** Inside Kaospilot

The only thing that prepares them for the project, given to them by the school itself, is some basic information related to design thinking. The rationale behind this deep-dive is that upon completion of the project, when project management tools, feedback mechanisms etc. are taught, the students have experiences to refect upon. According to Kavanagh, this 'thrown-in-the-deep-end' type of situation creates considerable frustration for the students, but also serves as a tremendous learning experience.

#### *Outpost*

In the fourth term, i.e. spring of the second year of their tenure, Kaospilot students embark on what they call an 'outpost'. It is a fourmonth study period abroad, during which the student works on a change target, chosen together with the local community. The goal for the outpost is to apply what the students have learned, into a different cultural

**Fig. 12.3** Inside Kaospilot

context, to create an organisation from scratch and to co-ordinate around 10 projects under the organisation they have started. An important reason why the outpost is both conceived and implemented is to give the students an experience of what it is like to work in a context that is out of their comfort zone.

Previous Kaospilot outposts have been organised in Bogota, Durban, Vancouver and Cape Town, for example. The fnal year of studies is fully focused on the individual student's own business idea and personal project.

## To What Is Kaospilot an Answer?

To what is Kaospilot an answer? What has been missing from, or has otherwise gone wrong in mainstream, traditional higher education? At Kaospilot, there is a slogan that says, 'Learning, not performing.' This slogan quite nicely sums up the issues and challenges in mainstream

**Fig. 12.4** Inside Kaospilot

higher education institutions: the focus on external motivational aspects like performing well in tests or meeting accreditation criteria. Anu Paajanen argues that a key point in Kaospilot's philosophy is clear that failing, as well as not knowing or understanding, are both allowed and even encouraged. These are considered the keys to developing the student's thinking. Some Kaospilot students have dyslexia (characterised as trouble with reading, despite normal intelligence) and across their entire school career felt that they were 'stupid'. At Kaospilot, the teaching methods are versatile and there is no 'right' learning method.

Taking into consideration the fact that Kaospilot has a small number of students and relatively high tuition fees, Kis Jakobsen states that Kaospilot is aiming to educate high-potential individuals. From Kaospilots' perspective, the understanding of who is a high-potential individual might just not be the traditional one, not least because of the lack of academic and test-based achievement.

The Kaospilot curriculum has been built on four competences: subject competence, relationship competence, change competence and action competence. At the heart of these cornerstones of the curriculum are the creation of value for self and others. The Kaospilot curriculum defnes the school's values to be those of courage, curiosity, empathy, lightness, patience, humility, generosity and toughness.

Prior to her studies at Kaospilot, Paajanen studied social sciences at The University of Helsinki. She started to ponder her future path in life after graduation and felt it was diffcult for her to specify what she had to offer for an employer, even though she could provide both work and academic experience. After studying for a year at Kaospilot, her feeling could not be more different. 'I was ready to consult organisations after the frst month at Kaospilot,' she says with a smile. 'Through different client projects you gain practical experience, self-confdence and networks. When you graduate, you know what you can do and what your strengths are. Part of the reason is that during the studies we concentrate on asking why-questions and analysing meaning and values. This is not present in many higher education institutions,' Paajanen observes (Anu Paajanen, personal communication, October 2015).

## Conclusion

Returning to Sitra's sustainable well-being framework and considering the themes of adjusting to planetary boundaries, climate change and limited natural resources, the author has a sense that if one is concentrating on ecological sustainability, it is worthy, but is not the only focus of the work of change agents.

The primary aspect of holistic well-being in Kaospilot's educational system is to provide the tools and frameworks for the student so that they can create a mind-set that allows them to act in complex situations and strengthen their competencies, both as an individual and as an entrepreneur. Furthermore, students are supported in fnding a career path where they can do meaningful work that is personal, but also benefcial for the rest of society and the planet in its entirety.

Often, traditional university programs are criticised for focusing only on subject matters and having a narrow scope when it comes to working with the complex ways in which people learn (not focusing enough on teaching students how to communicate or apply what they have learned). Students can too easily get 'drowned' in information and the only valid indication of success is how well you score in tests and exams. Kaospilot has gone in the other direction and focuses on how things get done, i.e. how you start, facilitate and manage a change process and how you create effectiveness in practice. Having a more holistic understanding of learning where meta-learning, skills, character and knowledge are combined, can be said to be aim of a Kaospilot education.

Kaospilot has, with its own operations, modelled how to move from the culture of working alone in subject silos, to a culture where it is understood that change happens through collaboration, co-creation and sharing. Start-up hype has created incubator and entrepreneurship communities in universities around the world. As a result, the understanding and excitement of co-creation, experimental culture and design thinking has spread. This is one of the reasons why Kaospilot is not as alternative or 'radical' now as when it started in 1991. And this is positive. The interviewees for this case study acknowledged this and some of them were even pondering what could be the next level in terms of how Kaospilot could even more effectively challenge some of the recognised contemporary norms in educational institutions, and in society.

Kaospilot as an organisation has modelled the kind of skills, character and knowledge that is needed to succeed in the complex times we live in. One example of this is the changing role of a teacher from a lecturer to a co-learner, guide and facilitator of learning. This has been the mode of teaching in Kaospilot and is now strongly present, for example, in the new Finnish national core curriculum, an educational template that has received international recognition.

Those who founded and are currently operating Kaospilot have well anticipated and practiced the kinds of skills needed for our complex times of economic, political and societal uncertainty. We need this courage to help create a better world—and we need a world where this courage can be practiced and developed.

## Notes

## References

#### 396 J. LÄHDEMÄKI

**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# Case Study: The Finnish National Curriculum 2016—A Co-created National Education Policy

## *Jenna Lähdemäki*

Welcome back to school. During the summer a revolution happened. This autumn the new national curriculum will become effective in Finnish schools. First at K-12 education and then at secondary school. Every school interprets the curriculum in their own way. The basis of the curriculum is national, municipalities do their own alignments and schools decide on the details. (Aalto 2016, translated by author)

Following the publication of an article in Helsingin Sanomat on August 6, 2016, many Finnish teachers reacted to the news piece saying that a 'revolution' was too big a word to accurately describe the effects of the new national curriculum. That said, Finnish schools undeniably faced something new starting in the autumn of 2016. Janne Hirvonen, a school principal from Rautjärvi, in Eastern Finland, described the curriculum thus, 'This is an enormous change. Our aim (at Rautjärvi school) is that the everyday life of our school will change so that it refects the new curriculum' (Janne Hirvonen, personal communication, May 2016).

397

J. Lähdemäki (\*)

The Finnish Innovation Fund, Sitra, Helsinki, Finland e-mail<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
© The Author(s) 2019

J. W. Cook (ed.), *Sustainability, Human Well-Being, and the Future of Education*, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78580-6\_13

## The National Curriculum of Finland

Finland's national curriculum guides the nation's whole education system. It sets the framework for school work by defning the values and objectives for all Finnish schools. There are no school inspections or national achievement tests covering entire age groups (though there are sample-based national achievement tests for two or three of the basic education subjects every year). This is why it is perceived to be important to have a shared framework. The curriculum defnes the main objectives for different subjects and inspires the use of new kinds of learning methods (and later in this chapter you can read more about project-based learning and its aim of achieving a more collaborative learning). Despite the common framework offered, there remains considerable freedom for individual schools to interpret the curriculum as they wish. The 500-page document consists of values, objectives and general principles that number around 100 pages. The rest of the document covers the subject syllabi.

The origins of the national curriculum date from 1970 when the national curriculum committees report was released. The curriculum is now managed by the Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI) which leads the curriculum development work every ten years.1 The frst curriculum, led by the EDUFI, was created in 1985 after which it was renewed in 1994 and 2004, with the latest work started in 2012. Over the course of the latest development cycle, the curriculum evolved from a fairly typical bureaucratic process to a leading example of co-created public policy. Hundreds of professionals participated in the 2.5-year long curriculum design process. The national core curriculum was completed at the end of 2014, with the local curriculums ready in 2016. The new curriculum became effective in August 2016.

This case study aims to study and analyse what appears to be a successful co-created educational policy—the *Finnish National Curriculum 2016*. The author wished to understand the factors behind the success of the curriculum process, how ownership was created during the process and what school principals and other education professionals think about the curriculum content, as well as the processes and methodology. Questions abound. What are its strengths and weaknesses and does the curriculum pull schools closer towards their purpose? The Finnish education system has been celebrated as a twenty-frst century global success story—what role does a national curriculum play in this story and how does it take the education system closer to enabling sustainable well-being? Does the progressive value-base and content of the curriculum successfully transfer to the classroom?

## A Co-created National Policy

What became clear during the research for this case study is that the Finnish national core curriculum is more about the complex process of creation than it is about the actual fnal product. Decade after decade, the curriculum process has developed into a more open and inclusive process. The now retired lead of the curriculum process, Irmeli Halinen, has described the national core curriculum and the local curriculums (based on the national curriculum) as having been created through open, interactive and co-operative processes. The curriculum work is seen as an ongoing dialogue and learning cycle that helps professionals in the education feld identify the issues to be improved and promote the commitment of all stakeholders in the curriculum process. The curriculum also sets the agenda for education at a societal level; its core purpose, objectives and principles.

Arja-Sisko Holappa, the Counsellor of Education from EDUFI, is of the opinion that even though the groundwork is done by the Agency, it is understood that the best ideas to develop education generally do not come from the administration. This understanding explains why it is crucial to see the curriculum reform as a national learning process for the whole community of educators and other professionals in the feld. The curriculum is based on legislation, and the local curriculums are binding for teachers. But when professionals are part of the process of designing the curriculum, there is no need to use coercive power. The Basic Education Act and Decree in Law sets the base for curriculum work. The Finnish parliament is responsible for defning the general national objectives and distribution of lesson hours for basic education (Arja-Sisko Holappa, personal communication, May 23, 2016).

The experts interviewed for this case study commented that the curriculum reform allows professionals from the feld of education to take time and refect on the big questions facing education. For example: what is the curriculum's purpose? What is the role of a student, a teacher and society in terms of learning? What should the future look like and what is the role of professionals in the system?

Even though the curriculum is binding, there are no sanctions or other forms of punishment if schools or teachers do not adhere to it. To that end, the level of interest and commitment to bring the objectives of the curriculum to the classroom itself vary across different parts of Finland, as well as between different teachers working in the same school (Table 13.1).

Irmeli Halinen, who was the Head of Curriculum Development, describes the curriculum development as a 'whole of society' project with comments contributed by many stakeholders across Finnish society. Occasionally, some of the approaches proved surprising, like the Finnish police who wanted to give their support by writing chapters about safety and security. Three offcial commenting phases were open for anyone to comment. At the same time, EDUFI asked education authorities and schools to comment on the document through a survey planned for the precise purpose. Schools were also encouraged to include parents and students' feedback.

The goal of EDUFI was to make all of the stakeholders 'experts' of the curriculum. During the process, it was noticed that a curriculum roadmap was needed so that it would be easier for municipal education authorities, principals, teachers and other education specialists to participate in the project which ultimately spanned across more than two years. One of the most important stakeholder groups were the municipal education managers who were responsible for writing the local curriculums. Local curriculums are based on the guidelines of the national curriculum, but acknowledge the local features, geographic-related infuences and other specifc needs of the regional demographics.

#### **Table 13.1** Curriculum process

The author asked Arja-Sisko Holappa about the purpose of a curriculum. She did not have to think about the answer for long:

They exist to secure equal education for the whole of Finland. The curriculum is a way to guide the whole system and a tool for securing equality and providing professional development for teachers. But what has to be acknowledged is that there is the offcial, written curriculum, and then there is the lived one and the hidden one that infuence cultural norms. (Arja-Sisko Holappa, personal communication, May 23, 2016)

In Sweden by comparison, the latest national curriculum dates back to 2011 at the time of this writing. The curriculum carries a strong emphasis of creating more equal schools across the country. Sweden has had challenges with respect to the pupils learning outcomes in general, and the latest curriculum is aimed at strengthening the steering of the schools at a national level.

## The 2016 Finnish National Curriculum—What Makes It Special?

The new national curriculum of Finland is a progressive document. This can be seen in the value base set for Finnish education, how 'wellbeing' is defned in a holistic sense and how research has been utilised in the process of creating the curriculum. In practice, these are refected in how transversal competences are being implemented in schools and how assessment practices are changing to support every child's individual strengths.

The 2016 curriculum work started with the understanding that the impact of globalisation and the need for a sustainable future were reshaping the fundamentals of schooling. It was also understood that the skills and competences needed to succeed in society and working life were also dramatically changing and thus education, pedagogy and the role of the school itself needed to change in relation to these ongoing global shifts. In an article by EDUFI entitled 'Making Sense of Complexity of World Today: why Finland is Introducing Multiliteracy in Teaching and Learning,' the need to address these shifts within the curriculum was explained:

The increased need for transversal competences arises from changes in the surrounding world. In order to meet the challenges of the future, there will be much focus on transversal (cross-curricular) competences and work across school subjects. As structures and challenges of doing, knowing and being are changing essentially in our society, it requires us to have comprehensive knowledge and ability. Competences include a vision of the desirable future and the development of both society and education. (Halinen, Harmanen, & Mattila 2015, p. 139)

The national curriculum that was implemented in Finland in 2004 needed to be updated. The reasons for this are many, varied and include the following: subjects were too unattached, objectives for education and learning needed clarifcation, learning environments and methods had changed, student's well-being needed more attention, more diverse assessment methods were needed, the collaboration between school and homes had changed, and fnally, the national curriculum of 2004 no longer supported the future challenges of schools and learning to the standards and levels required.

Irmeli Halinen suggested that the key questions to support the curriculum work were: what will education 'mean' in the future? Furthermore, what kind of competences will be needed and what kind of practices would best produce the desired results in terms of both teaching and learning?

According to Halinen, the new national curriculum was built upon the core strengths of the Finnish education system, strengths that include a culture of co-operation and trust, as well as competent, committed and autonomous teachers, and an already well-functioning curriculum process. The starting point, from the view of the schools themselves, was to strengthen the pupils' sense of coherence and to support them to take responsibility for their actions and choices that shape their (and therefore our) future (Fig. 13.1).

The defned values for the Finnish national curriculum are:

**Fig. 13.1** Transversal competencies in the fnnish national curriculum

The focus of the curriculum reform has been broken down into three key themes:

To summarise, the key challenges and changes arising from the curriculum from the school's perspective are:

## What Does the National Curriculum Mean for Schools?

The national curriculum defnes seven transversal competences that need to be developed in all schools in Finland. The transversal competences refect competence defnitions from different institutions and organisations globally. These have been adjusted to the best Finnish educational traditions. There is clear inspiration from the European Union's key skills (2005), OECD's key competences (2005) and work life's key competences (IFTF 2011). The background of the transversal competences lies within a wider framework of future skills and competences (Luostarinen and Peltomaa 2016, p. 50).

Transversal competences and project-based learning:

From the point of view of a teacher, the biggest change that the new curriculum brings is that the overall goal for basic education focuses on the learning of *transversal competencies*. This means that knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and will are seen holistically and it is understood that all of these have a fundamental impact on learning. Personal growth, studying, work life and being a citizen require know-how that surpasses the limits of individual subjects.

One notable way to practice and enhance transversal competences is through project-based learning. This means studying various real-world phenomena in groups or teams and making sure that through these phenomena that multiple subjects are touched upon. Katariina Salmela-Aro, Professor, Department of Education, University of Helsinki, has studied student's attitudes towards school and written about 'boredom' felt towards school. The group of students who feel often bored at school are those young people who feel that they do not get enough challenges at school and also that the school system and the rest of their lives are disconnected.

Teamwork, an integral part of project-based learning, also gives children a chance to practice their interaction skills to help them identify, develop and exploit their strengths. According to the curriculum, each student has to have a project-based learning module at least once a year. What this means more concretely is to be more clearly defned by individual municipalities.

A project-based approach also signifcantly adds co-operation possibilities between teachers, which is another objective of the new curriculum. The underlying philosophy in project-based learning is that studying strictly unattached subjects is artifcial and does not prepare children to both face and deal with real-world challenges. This does not have to mean solving highly complex challenges like climate change and poverty, but rather everyday life situations that require an understanding of how different systems relate to each other.

One year ago, the author participated in an event hosted by a group called Systems Thinking Applied. The purpose of the event was to experiment with what project-based learning actually means. During the event, the organisers acknowledged that project-based learning and teaching raises a lot of interest as well as puzzlement among teachers. The question of how you can teach project-based learning if you have never tried it yourself was one motivating factor behind the event (Honkonen and Lehmuskoski 2015).

To that end, people at the event came up with different phenomena that they were interested in and then organised themselves into small groups based on interest to research these phenomena further. Some fndings from this experiment were: