Charles Hopkins discusses global citizenship and sustainability
Charles Hopkins speaks about global citizenship and global sustainability on Nov. 5 in the Sarah and Daniel Opperman Auditorium in Charles V. Park Library.
Global citizenship is the idea that it is everyone’s job to make the world a better place.
Charles Hopkins is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair in reorienting education towards sustainability at York University in Toronto.
Hopkins spoke at Central Michigan University Nov. 5, with a presentation entitled “Global Citizenship: Me and We.”
Global sustainability has many different meanings that each country takes in their own way, Hopkins said.
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present, but doesn’t unhinge or prevent the next generation,” Hopkins said.
Sustainable development targets the idea that one can still live their best life without ruining the world for others.
Hopkins said instead of just thinking of subjective well-being, society needs to think about collective well-being.
"Global Citizen" isn’t just a term used for the rich who constantly travel, or people who live in poverty, Hopkins said. It also describes people who see the issues of the world as their own.
“Global citizenship is about looking at the world’s challenges as opportunities,” Hopkins said. “It is also a state of mind.”
Being a global citizen can be defined as doing everything possible for the planet and everyone else who inhabits it.
“I feel like I am already doing a lot, and this was just another resource to see if there is another thing I could be doing to benefit others,” said East Jordan senior Stephanie Buckholz.
Hopkins said some of people may not have the choice to be sustainable, but those who do need to take charge and join together.
“The hard part about these events is that a lot of times the people who are already trying are the ones who show up, and we don’t usually get to the people who may be most inspired by this,” said Cheboygan senior Derek Sturvist.
Hopkins said it is important to educate people on the Earth in order to preserve it.
"Higher education around the world is so important in creating this feeling of understanding and acceptance," Hopkins said.
According to Hopkins, a worldwide goal is for everyone to graduate from secondary school by 2030, because no country in the world has everyone graduating from secondary school currently.
He said bettering the quality of education is also a worldwide goal for society in 2030.
“Some of us will have a choice on how to live our lives,” said Hopkins. “That’s the good that has to start. We have to stand up.”
