ABSTRACT
In October 2012, the City of Utrecht, which aims to become climate neutral by 2030, signed covenants on carbon emissions with clusters of firms and organizations with shared interests, including the three institutes of higher education in town. HKU, the University of the Arts Utrecht, is now challenged to define its position in relation to these sustainable city ambitions. Beyond changes to its operations to become a climate-neutral institution, the situation provides an important opportunity to rethink its curriculum and its role as a “sustainability educator.” Unlike the two other educational partners, however, HKU does not have an educational track that is directly related to the ecological dimension of sustainable development, such as technics or life sciences. 1 How can HKU give “life” to the city’s environmental sustainability ambition within the core of its own processes – namely, educating artists and designers? Towards this end, how can the interaction between sustainable development and culture (and, in particular, art) be better understood?
