Hope and humility in sustainability education
Alina Ziyun Zeng (MSc in Environmental Governance, 2025), reports on the last Green Templeton Lecture of 2025.
The final lecture in Green Templeton College’s sustainability series centred on ‘Hope and Humility’, concepts that had surfaced throughout the preceding talks. This session delved into educational strategies that empower future generations to instigate systemic change, moving beyond individualist actions.
Sam Barratt: Embracing Hope and Humility
The first speaker, Sam Barratt, serves as the Chief of the Youth, Education and Advocacy Unit at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In this role, he co-chairs the UN Higher Education Sustainability Initiative and has been instrumental in initiatives like the Playing for the Planet Alliance, which collaborates with the gaming industry to promote sustainable behaviours among gamers.
Barratt invited the audience to perceive hope as a dynamic, evolving force, akin to a rising sun that transforms throughout the day. He posited that humility allows individuals to acknowledge their fallibility and embrace curiosity, fostering continuous learning and openness. He challenged attendees to leverage hope and humility as catalysts for forward-thinking and systemic change.
He recommended three books to deepen understanding of these themes:
- What We Owe the Future by William MacAskill
- Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie
- The Good Ancestor by Roman Krznaric
Barratt identified three key sources of hope:
- Youth Leadership: Young people are at the forefront of driving change, demonstrating remarkable initiative and commitment to sustainability.
- Evolving Job Market: The rise of green jobs signifies a shift towards sustainability, with universities playing a pivotal role in preparing students for these future-facing roles.
- Rapid Change: Positive transformations are occurring at an unprecedented pace, offering new opportunities for sustainable development.
He emphasised that humility involves openness to dialogue, collaboration, and the willingness to admit mistakes. His three suggestions for fostering hope and humility were:
- Think systemically and build coalitions: addressing complex environmental challenges requires collaborative efforts that transcend individual actions.
- Engage people where they are: leveraging platforms like the gaming industry, which reaches 3.4 billion people, can effectively promote sustainable behaviours. Barratt has been actively involved in partnering with the gaming industry to create games that encourage sustainable behaviour.
- Take risks and test boundaries: institutions should adopt flexible approaches, such as reimagining alumni relationships to focus on mentorship and life coaching, equipping students with skills for sustainable living.
Barratt concluded by highlighting the importance of local engagement, asserting that hands-on involvement at the community level enhances one’s capacity to contribute meaningfully on a global scale.
Ann Finlayson: Transformative Learning for Sustainability
The second speaker, Ann Finlayson, is the CEO of Sustainability and Environmental Education (SEEd). With over thirty years of experience in the environmental and education fields, Finlayson has worked globally, including roles as Head of Education/Social Change at WWF-UK and Commissioner for Education and Capability Building for the Sustainable Development Commission.
Finlayson critiqued instrumentalist approaches that lack humility, advocating instead for ‘Learning for Sustainability’—a transformative educational paradigm. She emphasised that young people are inherently capable and will excel when provided with opportunities beyond traditional examinations.
She challenged the deficit model prevalent in academia, where an overemphasis on expertise and specialisation can hinder holistic understanding. Finlayson called for educational approaches that cultivate social critical thinking, systems thinking, future-oriented perspectives, and action-based research.
Reflecting on the past six decades, she observed that environmental education has remained peripheral, often constrained by funding structures that prioritise measurable outcomes over transformative learning. Finlayson advocated for a comprehensive, collaborative network that inspires social change by engaging hearts and minds.
She underscored the necessity of adopting an eco-centric worldview, which involves shifting mindsets and reimagining the language we use to interpret the world. Finlayson recommended Ecolinguistics: Language, Ecology and the Stories We Live By by Arran Stibbe, encouraging reflection on our own learning journeys.
In closing, Finlayson urged educators and institutions to embrace humility by recognising the limitations of traditional models and being open to transformative, inclusive approaches that empower learners to engage critically and constructively with sustainability challenges.
Concluding Reflections: The Role of Hope and Humility in Sustainability Education
This final lecture in the Green Templeton Sustainability Education Series brought the discussion full circle, tying together many of the themes raised in the previous sessions. Hope and humility emerged as not just abstract ideals, but as practical tools for shaping sustainability education in ways that empower future generations.
Both Sam Barratt and Ann Finlayson emphasised that education should be a vehicle for systemic change rather than a mechanism for placing responsibility solely on individuals. Barratt’s vision of hope as an evolving force—one that is dynamic, fragile, yet necessary—resonated with Finlayson’s call for a transformative learning model that goes beyond the traditional classroom structure. They both challenged the idea that sustainability education should be measured only by immediate outcomes, urging us instead to foster long-term critical thinking, adaptability, and collaborative action.
At the heart of this discussion was a shared conviction that sustainability education must be future-facing, equipping students not just with knowledge, but with the mindset and skills to navigate complexity. This requires rethinking the role of institutions, embracing interdisciplinary collaboration, and meeting people where they are—whether in local communities, digital platforms, or unexpected industries like gaming.
In the end, both speakers left the audience with a sense that while the road ahead is uncertain, there is much to be hopeful about. Hope, they suggested, is not an abstract ideal—it is an active force, strengthened by learning, coalition-building, and the courage to embrace uncertainty. And humility? It is the necessary foundation that keeps us open to new ideas, new perspectives, and new ways of working together toward a more sustainable world.
