Teaching Online in Response to Climate Change

Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS) have released the report Navigating Climate Change – Scenarios for Australia’s Tertiary Education Sector (June 2025). 

ACTS recommend universities:

1. "Provide educational capabilities that ensure that future generations are resilient, creative and can provide the leadership Australia needs to navigate the challenges ahead.
2. Undertake research that helps find the technological, societal, political and environmental solutions to the challenges ahead, thereby attracting increasing levels of research funding.
3. Connect with their communities to support adaptation.
4. Connect with local authorities in responding to extreme weather events."

More specifically ACTS says one way universities can address climate change is by educating students about it, and another is with online learning. The Australian Computer Society (ACS) commissioned me to design and run an online course for computer students, to teach them to address the problem of global warming. The course was first run in 2009 for ACS, then by ANU (as COMP7310). One of my ANU students adapted the course for Canada, where it is still offered by Athabasca University today. I suggest universities could run more such courses for relevant professions, making them available online, and as micro-credentials.