2008 Woodie Awards
Chair of UNESCO speaks on sustainability at SJSU
Says education is key to bringing more awareness
Chrissy Ramoneda
Issue date: 11/5/07 Section: News
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Hopkins, who is also a United Nations University chair on Education for Sustainable Development, addressed the global need for increased teaching and awareness for sustainable development.
More than a hundred students and faculty crowded into the second floor of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library to hear Hopkins lecture on global environmental issues and the need for increased education.
Hopkins has now lectured in about 70 countries and worked with education in more than 100 countries.
"The topic seems very interesting," said Catherine Vien, a senior accounting and finance major.
Hopkins met some SJSU faculty members during an intellectual seminar in Salzburg, Austria this past summer.
"I did corner him at lunch and said 'you have to come see us,'" said Beth Von Till, a communication studies professor. "Given where we live, his message is so immediate. The way he draws together approaches, essential facts, and important messages. What he had to say made such an impact on us that after he spoke to us in Salzburg it was dead quiet."
Jill Steinberg, a psychology professor at SJSU who also attended the Salzburg seminar, said, "The topic on education and sustainability is imperative, and Charles has the educational background, world experience and ability to speak well, so people will listen and be motivated to make change."
Hopkins brought up many alarming statistics throughout his lecture, mentioning that it's difficult to get the world involved in sustainable development when so much of the world population is starving.
"Fifty percent of the world lives off two dollars a day," Hopkins said. "You're not concerned with some tree in the woods when you don't have enough to eat."
He believes education is key to bringing more awareness of sustainable development. Referring to global environmental crises, Hopkins said, "We have to think our way out of it."
"Being someone who's involved in campus research, that aspect of his speech is a very appropriate message to SJSU," said Joe Monzel, a senior cultural anthropology major. "Inter-department research should be part of your academic responsibility."
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