Dublin City University has a commitment to embed sustainability at the core of the university, but has struggled to break free of the status quo focus on cost-benefit-based decisions and prioritising short-term interests over long-term sustainability. We partnered with the DCU Institute for Climate & Society and the Climate Justice Universities Union to focus on creating a sustainable DCU.

University researchers and staff are keenly aware that the climate, biodiversity, and social justice crises are real and immediate, and we need fundamental systemic change to address them; but our experience shows us that Universities are not leading the way in experimenting with and promoting transformation – and we want to change that!

This group has a long history of frustration in trying to change unsustainable and money-centric university decision-making. Our biggest challenge was getting people into a positive and creative mode of thinking and feeling. Several different elements were tried – turning challenges into positive ‘what if…’ statements, filling a flipchart with positive words, engaging with the ‘generations’ meditation, using templates to create a future roadmap/canvas/narrative, and together drawing a picture of the future they want for the university. No one of these techniques worked for everyone, but in combination all of the participants seemed to have an ‘ah-ha’ moment where they started having fun, feeling creative, and became ready to engage with a positive future. Bringing it all together into next steps was still difficult, but the group managed to come up with some solutions that can be started in the short term and have a big impact if carried forward.

I think the largest impact is in the realisation that the solutions proposed were mostly things that can be done today – they were all about relationships, community, and creativity. There are real structural challenges, but creating community is something we can all start now, and that will bring benefits for years to come.