University of Nottingham Teaching and Learning Conference 2025 - Sustainability in Education

April 23, 2025, by Laura Nicholson

University of Nottingham Teaching and Learning Conference 2025 – Sustainability in Education

The University of Nottingham recently held its annual Teaching and Learning Conference, which featured a brilliant keynote from Arran Stibbe, Professor of Ecological Linguistics.

Arran’s research into language and how texts are central in establishing identities and shaping society fitted well with one of the central themes of the conference, which was education for sustainable development. His work explores how the stories embedded in language can either contribute to ecological destruction or inspire more sustainable and just ways of living.

A message of hope

Although I listened to many inspiring talks that day, I am going to focus this blog post on the keynote, mainly because I have kept returning, one way or another, to some of the key messages conveyed in that speech.

This morning, I read a quote. I do believe I have heard it several times before, but today it really resonated, I think because of the sentiments instilled in me from last week’s keynote. I am afraid I cannot with confidence assign this quote to a specific human, as there seems to be some debate as to who actually said it originally. Either way, the quote went something like this:

‘For what it’s worth… it’s never too late, or in my case too early, to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit.

This message of possibility and hope fitted so well with the inspiring talk by Arran because it is challenging that common ideology that leads us to often doubt our potential due to it now somehow being too late. But it is never too late to educate oneself on how to adopt and promote more sustainable practices.

The stories we live by

Arran argued that if we are to make changes to build a more sustainable society, then we need a systemic transformation in the ideologies and stories we hear and live by. He went on to say that in our socially constructed reality, we can create destructive stories, but other stories are possible (Stibbe, 2025). It is important that we consider the messages used to convey values and that we are critical of the messages displayed all around us in magazines, news stories, books, family, and friends – basically everywhere. Being aware of the story and narrative being portrayed is important in terms of encouraging actionable change. As Ben Okri perfectly stated, ‘Stories are the secret reservoir of values, and if we change the stories that individuals and nations live by, then we change the individuals and nations themselves.’

So, what does all this mean for our students?

Well, it highlights the power of the narratives used in education and our society. The stories students encounter—whether in textbooks, media, or classroom discussions—carry implicit values about what matters, who matters, and what is possible. Arran emphasised the importance of developing an “ecosophy” or personal ecological philosophy—a framework for judging which stories are beneficial for people and the planet. By critically examining stories, students learn to recognise how narratives shape their understanding of sustainability, justice, and their own agency.

Challenging the common narratives

It is clear that we need to be teaching students how to analyse and critique the common stories around sustainability to challenge assumptions, such as sustainable practices being too expensive – with wind farms and solar panels often criticised due to being less efficient than their coal counterpart. And there’s the thing – the gains are being measured in terms of financial cost, as opposed to environmental cost. These common narratives all too often relate to economic value.

Then there’s the assumption that household recycling is not enough to address our waste problem. I agree that household recycling isn’t sufficient on its own, but that doesn’t make it an unworthy practice, as everything adds up to create more sustainable ways of living. However, if we want true systemic transformation, we need to go beyond this critique of popular narratives; we must be actively involved in the creation of alternative or additional practices and develop ‘new stories to live by’ (Stribbe, 2025). I think many of us are comfortable teaching the value of critique, but it’s that next step—empowering students to help create new stories and narratives—where we really need to get them fired up.

Final thoughts

To conclude, I will return to the quote I started with:

‘For what it’s worth… it’s never too late, or in my case too early, to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit.

We can all make a difference by building new narratives and stories. It doesn’t matter if we have already spent a lifetime avoiding sustainable practices—change at any point is better than no change at all. We can invite students to create and share their own sustainability narratives through projects, presentations, portfolios, and creative media. We can use teaching strategies designed to encourage students to reflect on their values and question the existing narratives to develop new stories, which will influence our current and future generations. As Arran and others argue, identifying and living by new, life-affirming stories is a crucial step toward a more just and sustainable future.