Sustainability Teaching for Impact How to Inspire and Engage Students Using Drama

Part 1. Framing: 1. Teaching which makes an impact on sustainability… and how to use this book (Eva Österlind, Tony Wall, and Tim Daw); 2. Introducing applied drama for learning in higher education (Eva Österlind and Eva Hallgren); 3. Before you start with drama and performance (Shelley Piasecka); Part 2. Energising and connecting through icebreakers: 4. Drama icebreaker: Improvisation for beginners (Shelley Piasecka); 5. Drama icebreaker: House of Commons (Lenneke Vaandrager); 6. Drama icebreaker: Long lists and thinking aloud (Mary Ann Kernan); 7. Drama icebreaker: Debate! (Anna Lehtonen); Part 3. Exploring perspectives through role play: 8. Role play: Co-creating nature-based solutions (Viola Hakkarainen); 9. Role play: A serious game to navigate global wicked problems (Oleksandra Khalaim); 10. Role play: Playing with power (Leif Dahlberg); 11. Role play: Power dynamics in a village logging dilemma (Michelle Dyer and Tim Daw); 12. Role play: The Bleeding Water (Marianne Odegaard); Part 4. Exploring alternatives through forum play: 13. Forum play: Exploring future energy practices (Lenneke Vaandrager); 14. Forum play: Exploring sustainability scenarios and privileged perspectives (Mary Ann Kernan); 15. Forum play: Working with climate anxiety (Oleksandra Khalaim and Anna Lehtonen); 16. Forum play: Exploring more-than-human perspectives (Anna Lehtonen and Viola Hakkarainen); Part 5. Provoking insight through performance: 17. Provocation: Co-creating a poem about the future (Katja Malmborg and Julia Fries); 18. Provocation: The Farewell Falsterbo futurewalk (Mary Ann Kernan); 19. Provocation: What a load of rubbish! (Maribel Blasco); 20. Provocation: Reflecting on biodiversity loss (Katja Malmborg); 21. Provocation: Futuring at scale (Tony Wall, Sarah Jayne Williams, Laura Dixon, and Dave Soehren); 22. Provocation: Rights of the river (Tony Wall, Richard Ridyard, Alison Lui, and Kenneth Kang); 23. Provocation: The manifold orchard (Kerstin Bragby); Part 6. Deepening insight through drama processes: 24. Drama workshop: Papperssnö (Shelley Piasecka); 25. Process drama: The River (Eva Hallgren); 26. Drama workshop: Flood! (Charlotte Gottfries); 27. Drama workshop: The journey to Dystoplastica (Kerstin Danckwardt‑Lilliestrom); 28. Drama workshop: Climate activists (Aysel Korkmaz); 29. Drama workshop: The climate conference (Eva Österlind); Part 7. Sustaining future practice: 30. Rehearsing for change together with colleagues (Radhika Mittal); 31. Future developments to embrace a ‘pedagogy of passion’ (Tony Wall, Sarah Jayne Williams, Eva Österlind, Laura Dixon,and Dave Soehren); 32. Merging academic content and explorative teaching formats (Eva Österlind) 

Biography

Tony Wall is professor at Liverpool Business School, UK, National Teaching Fellow, and holds visiting professor positions at Stockholm University in Sweden and Phu Xuan University in Vietnam. His research is ranked #1 globally in 'management development' (Google Scholar) and his impact was independently judged as 'world leading' (REF, 2021).

Eva Österlind is professor in applied drama at Stockholm University, Sweden. She teaches drama in teacher education, leads a master's programme in drama and applied theatre, and supervises PhD students. Her current research focuses on the potential of drama for learning, especially in connection to Higher Education for Sustainable Development.

Eva Hallgren’s research focuses on process drama and role taking applied across different settings including preschools, schools, psychiatric wards, and teacher education. Questions about sustainability and power are always of interest to her. Eva also teaches Drama in Education at Stockholm University on different levels and supervises PhD students.

“A unique and distinctive compendium of high impact material for teachers and leaders alike wanting to make a long-lasting difference in the hearts and minds of their students” Professor Walter Leal, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany) and an author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report

 "Sustainability Teaching for Impact offers an innovative, practical guide to using drama in higher education to inspire and engage students in sustainability. With step-by-step instructions from experienced educators, this book is a must-read for anyone looking to integrate creative, interactive teaching methods into their classroom." Professor Marco Rieckmann, University of Vechta, Germany

“A great book to get started in drama work on a vital topic and make a deeper impact through personal experience. This book should be in the daily use of every teacher in higher education!” Tuija Leena Viirret, Open University of University of Jyväskylä, Finland

“When we are engaged emotionally as well as intellectually, teaching and learning is far more impactful. This book offers a wonderful route into using Drama and connecting students emotionally in their learning for sustainability.” Emily Reid, Artistic Director, Eco Drama, UK

"Sustainability Teaching for Impact. How to Inspire and Engage Students Using Drama is a practical and accessible guide that empowers educators to use applied drama and performance arts to inspire and engage students in sustainability, regardless of their prior experience with these methods. This invaluable resource equips university teachers with creative, interactive techniques that make sustainability education dynamic and impactful across all disciplines". Vassilis Zakopoulos, Assistant Professor, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

“A terrific set of resources and ideas for teaching sustainability across the disciplines; I will be using this book all the time” Professor Liz Schafer, Royal Holloway, University of London and author of Shakespeare and (Eco-)Performance History

“How do we energize and connect the coming generation for expansive climate action? Sustainability Teaching for Impact is a book bursting with ideas and imagination for using play to discover alternatives to the current climate crisis. The many contributors to this book provide a rich array of performance-based opportunities for imagining and rehearsing change. Embodying new ideas through drama provides a lively and fun way to rehearse and improve upon ideas before resources are invested. The many lessons in this book are a practice of freedom from the inevitability of gloom and doom narratives towards an active assertion of constructive hope.” Professor Beth Osnes-Stoedefalke, University of Colorado Boulder US, author of Performance for Resilience, Co-director of Inside the Greenhouse-Creative Climate Communication, Executive Committee and Founding Member of the Center for Creative Climate Communication and Behavioral Change, Co-director: Side x Side: Art-Science Connections, Co-founder of SPEAK supporting young women in empowering their voices for self and civic advocacy.

“This book shares an essential approach to prepare students for genuine engagement with communities. Our students must be able to tell strong, compelling stories while responding appropriately to the kinds of charged situations that can occur at public meetings. If they can't, they're not prepared to help communities move towards greater sustainability - no matter how strong their analytical skills may be. I look forward to using this new book in my own courses.” Kristina Hill, Associate Professor, University of California, Berkeley

 “A handbook for teachers with exercises that are written with sensitivities to their context, clear indications of intention, and warm-hearted generosity for the field.” Claire French, University of Birmingham, UK, author of Decolonising performance training and Ngapartji Ngapartji: Intercultural dramaturgies for Indigenous language revitalisation.

 “What a great book! Very much needed. This knowledge is precious in education and talks into the innovative pedagogies fundamental for the advancement of HE.” Tatiana Chemi, Associate Professor, Aalborg University, Denmark

 "The implications of current unsustainability are dramatic and demand more dramatic approaches to teaching. This book uncovers the potential of drama to re-humanize learning by engaging students in more holistic and authentic ways." Professor Daniel Fischer, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany, UNESCO Chair in Higher Education for Sustainable Development and co-editor of Teaching and Learning Sustainable Consumption: A Guidebook.

 "The use of applied drama in classrooms offers a unique dimension that deepens our understanding of the climate crisis. By fostering imagination and empathy, applied drama can lead to a powerful catharsis, extending beyond the classroom to influence broader global society. This book emphasizes the use of applied drama in sustainability, providing inspirational ideas on how to innovate sustainability teaching practices for greater impact." Elena V. Shabily, Columbia University, US

 “This book provides compelling case-studies on using drama to engage students with the Sustainable Development Goals. It introduces an innovative inter- and transdisciplinary approach to teaching the world’s most pressing issues, equipping students with essential transferable skills to become proactive global citizens. It also highlights the critical role of the arts in tackling these issues. By showcasing best practices, this book serves as an inspiration for the Higher Education sector and beyond to further embed Education for Sustainable Development into current educational practices.” Professor Stéphanie Panichelli-Batalla, Academic Director for Sustainability, Co-director of the Warwick Oral History Network, the Co-director of the ESD at Warwick Network

"Easy step by step guidelines that you can use and input instantly into your course. This text will teach you more than sustainability and how to applies it in many courses.  It teaches you some of necessary building blocks and the application of applied theatre to create coursework that is engaging." Carla Orosz, Associate Professor, University of Saskatchewan, Canada