Dom Pates
@dompates.bsky.social
Educational Technologist, in HE. Father/husband. Writer. Brightonian/ex-Tokyoite. DJ/podcaster. European. Transitionist. (Occasional) Musician. Not necessarily in that order?
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Dom Pates
@dompates.bsky.social
· May 20
If #NetZero is the simple but complex slogan to define the story of where we want to get to with #ClimateChange - where the carbon cycle is brought back into balance - what’s the equivalent story slogan for sustainability? #CircularEconomy? #NaturePositive? Or is it too complex to reduce like that?
They would be right on that too.
Personally, I can’t quite imagine what it must be like to be so high on your own supply that you think you can beat nature (unless these folks don’t actually do any thinking). But then that’s because I don’t think that way, I guess.
Personally, I can’t quite imagine what it must be like to be so high on your own supply that you think you can beat nature (unless these folks don’t actually do any thinking). But then that’s because I don’t think that way, I guess.
February 12, 2026 at 10:37 PM
They would be right on that too.
Personally, I can’t quite imagine what it must be like to be so high on your own supply that you think you can beat nature (unless these folks don’t actually do any thinking). But then that’s because I don’t think that way, I guess.
Personally, I can’t quite imagine what it must be like to be so high on your own supply that you think you can beat nature (unless these folks don’t actually do any thinking). But then that’s because I don’t think that way, I guess.
Quite. Kinda like trying to ignore gravity. Can’t help but feel it’s gonna bite ‘em on the ass eventually!
February 12, 2026 at 10:05 PM
Quite. Kinda like trying to ignore gravity. Can’t help but feel it’s gonna bite ‘em on the ass eventually!
Seems to be the case - hope that we make it out alive (though history suggests that not all of us will)…
In the last couple days the Trump administration has:
1) Rejected a lifesaving flu vaccine
2) Erased the government's power to stop climate change
3) Threatened to test and deploy nuclear weapons
This is such a nihilistic death cult
1) Rejected a lifesaving flu vaccine
2) Erased the government's power to stop climate change
3) Threatened to test and deploy nuclear weapons
This is such a nihilistic death cult
February 12, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Seems to be the case - hope that we make it out alive (though history suggests that not all of us will)…
And yet the laws of physics give not the slightest hoot what US policy is.
February 12, 2026 at 8:37 PM
And yet the laws of physics give not the slightest hoot what US policy is.
Feels like good news…
February 12, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Feels like good news…
My family might not support it, but I’m damned if I’m not going to just go and hang amongst the trees! #RuggedHope #LTHEchar
February 11, 2026 at 9:16 PM
My family might not support it, but I’m damned if I’m not going to just go and hang amongst the trees! #RuggedHope #LTHEchar
I remember with me it was that tipping point in my own head between concern and the need for action. It was so big a thing to think about so I started with learning more. I then found talking with others helped empower me more in my own desire to keep action going + strive for change. #LTHEchat
February 11, 2026 at 9:15 PM
I remember with me it was that tipping point in my own head between concern and the need for action. It was so big a thing to think about so I started with learning more. I then found talking with others helped empower me more in my own desire to keep action going + strive for change. #LTHEchat
Unless (in our case) you bring the small businesses an d local charities into the assessment/learning directly and they get something in return. Every org has a sustainability challenge, and it’s always helpful together a different perspective on the things you might not have thought of. #LTHEchat
February 11, 2026 at 9:12 PM
Unless (in our case) you bring the small businesses an d local charities into the assessment/learning directly and they get something in return. Every org has a sustainability challenge, and it’s always helpful together a different perspective on the things you might not have thought of. #LTHEchat
Hope is always stronger when it’s shared but also helps to have it grounded in realism (even where it reaches for the stars). @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social’s a big influence for this sort of thinking. #LTHEchat
February 11, 2026 at 9:10 PM
Hope is always stronger when it’s shared but also helps to have it grounded in realism (even where it reaches for the stars). @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social’s a big influence for this sort of thinking. #LTHEchat
The board game ‘Daybreak’ can be a really interesting/challenging way in. A cooperative game about solving climate change. Get a group of like-minded colleagues together to play it. We’ll be trying it out this term with mix of staff + students, to learn/play together #LTHEchat
www.daybreakgame.org
www.daybreakgame.org
Daybreak
www.daybreakgame.org
February 11, 2026 at 9:06 PM
The board game ‘Daybreak’ can be a really interesting/challenging way in. A cooperative game about solving climate change. Get a group of like-minded colleagues together to play it. We’ll be trying it out this term with mix of staff + students, to learn/play together #LTHEchat
www.daybreakgame.org
www.daybreakgame.org
A6 There also solid useful stuff like Climate Fresks or Carbon Literacy courses that can be a great start. #LTHEchat
climatefresk.org/world/
carbonliteracy.com
climatefresk.org/world/
carbonliteracy.com
Climate Fresk
All the cards are in your hands!
climatefresk.org
February 11, 2026 at 9:03 PM
A6 There also solid useful stuff like Climate Fresks or Carbon Literacy courses that can be a great start. #LTHEchat
climatefresk.org/world/
carbonliteracy.com
climatefresk.org/world/
carbonliteracy.com
A6 I think the simple response here is to just start somewhere and be open to learning. Nature itself can be a great teacher, but there are 1,000s of great books, TV shows, podcasts, conferences, networks, etc, already out there. It’s the desire to start that matters. #LTHEchat
February 11, 2026 at 9:01 PM
A6 I think the simple response here is to just start somewhere and be open to learning. Nature itself can be a great teacher, but there are 1,000s of great books, TV shows, podcasts, conferences, networks, etc, already out there. It’s the desire to start that matters. #LTHEchat
Ha! Perhaps we can do that with our materials at some point - that would be the dream. Bit the priority for us has been starting with something that sits solidly in our students’ degrees. #LTHEchat A6
February 11, 2026 at 8:59 PM
Ha! Perhaps we can do that with our materials at some point - that would be the dream. Bit the priority for us has been starting with something that sits solidly in our students’ degrees. #LTHEchat A6
A4 Given the existential nature of climate matters, we have to recognise and even embrace this gamut of emotions. But they can act as counterweights to each other eg a helping of (authentic, rugged) hope to balance the anxiety and dread. If educators don’t do it, who will? #LTHEchat
February 11, 2026 at 8:57 PM
A4 Given the existential nature of climate matters, we have to recognise and even embrace this gamut of emotions. But they can act as counterweights to each other eg a helping of (authentic, rugged) hope to balance the anxiety and dread. If educators don’t do it, who will? #LTHEchat
One of the big challenges there is doing it through an interdisciplinary lens, that still recognises the disciplinary roots. Tricky thing there is that it exposes experts in a knowledge context, because nobody can know everything. Needs some humility in teaching that way. #LTHEchat
February 11, 2026 at 8:50 PM
One of the big challenges there is doing it through an interdisciplinary lens, that still recognises the disciplinary roots. Tricky thing there is that it exposes experts in a knowledge context, because nobody can know everything. Needs some humility in teaching that way. #LTHEchat
Personally, that’s exactly what I’m trying to do at our place - put a ‘proper’ module front and centre. But making it mandatory also brings it into conflict with all the other drivers in HE, which can impact its efficacy. Gets stuck in internal politics otherwise. #LTHEchat
February 11, 2026 at 8:47 PM
Personally, that’s exactly what I’m trying to do at our place - put a ‘proper’ module front and centre. But making it mandatory also brings it into conflict with all the other drivers in HE, which can impact its efficacy. Gets stuck in internal politics otherwise. #LTHEchat
I’d tend to agree. But if the binary opposite of ‘authentic’ is not ‘inauthentic’, then what is it? And if there isn’t an alternative, does that make ‘authentic’ an invalid category of learning? #LTHEchat
February 11, 2026 at 8:44 PM
I’d tend to agree. But if the binary opposite of ‘authentic’ is not ‘inauthentic’, then what is it? And if there isn’t an alternative, does that make ‘authentic’ an invalid category of learning? #LTHEchat
The tricky thing here is the ‘ticking clock’ factor. The speed at which the atmosphere is warming is so great that it demands rapid and societal action to address it. And that means it needs everyone on board (‘all jobs are green jobs’). #LTHEchat
February 11, 2026 at 8:41 PM
The tricky thing here is the ‘ticking clock’ factor. The speed at which the atmosphere is warming is so great that it demands rapid and societal action to address it. And that means it needs everyone on board (‘all jobs are green jobs’). #LTHEchat
Indeed - not easy to make a clear distinction. Is learning theoretical stuff out of a textbook ‘authentic’ if you then go and apply what you’ve learned in a Chemistry lab? #LTHEchat
February 11, 2026 at 8:38 PM
Indeed - not easy to make a clear distinction. Is learning theoretical stuff out of a textbook ‘authentic’ if you then go and apply what you’ve learned in a Chemistry lab? #LTHEchat
Where the teaching comes in is that the safety and security aspects of something very challenging should have already been considered. If you’re teaching nuclear power engineering, it’s safer to put your students in a simulated environment (eg power stn in VR) than to take ‘em to Sizewell. #LTHEchat
February 11, 2026 at 8:36 PM
Where the teaching comes in is that the safety and security aspects of something very challenging should have already been considered. If you’re teaching nuclear power engineering, it’s safer to put your students in a simulated environment (eg power stn in VR) than to take ‘em to Sizewell. #LTHEchat