The UNESCO-CEPES Jubilee: An Opportune Event for Some Observations about Higher Education in Romania

What follows is the edited version of the address delivered by Mr. Adrian Na stase, the Prime Minister of Romania, at the opening ceremony of the UNESCO-CEPES International Jubilee Conference on "Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Its Role and Contribution to Our Common Advancement", Bucharest, 6-8 September 2002. The role of UNESCO-CEPES as a forum for discussion of the principal issues of higher education is evoked. The pre-1989 activities of the Centre are compared to the post-1989 ones and to the role of the Centre in supporting the general reform of higher education in Central and Eastern Europe. The author, who did some research on higher education for peace and human rights at UNESCO-CEPES prior to 1989, is reminded of what a "Window of Opportunity" the Centre was for Romanian academics during that period. He expects the Centre to continue to play an important role in Romanian higher education in the future.     

Problematising ‘Transformative’ Environmental Education in a Climate Crisis

The Editor's Introduction sets the stage for this Special Issue with calls for action in light of the climate crisis and other environmental problems sweeping our planet. It then offers a brief overview of the topics our contributors address, and in some cases the philosophical sources they brought into this conversation. It then surveys the background literature on ‘transformative’ environmental education, the topic being problematised and developed by our contributors. This review of the literature reveals a wide range of interpretations, but also shows some productive hybrids in terms of transformation and transgression: seen as opportunities for effecting the changes in attitude, values and behaviours we need for our collective survival. Questions of efficacy are briefly discussed, although it was not the purpose of this Special Issue to decide which are the most effective eco-pedagogies. In closing, we remark on the need for foresight in educational planning and policy, as in government generally, to address the magnitude of problems threatening all life on this planet.