John Robinson is retiring from U of T. John was a colleague for a decade at UBC, and I was privileged to learn a ton from him. I wouldn't be who I am without him. Here are a few tidbits, to honour him.
2. CONSTRUCTIVE AMBIGUITY. Yes, sustainability means many things to many people. No, that doesn't mean it's meaningless or uninteresting academically or professionally. Its ambiguity is part of its strength, bringing people together to co-construct what it means for us.
3. IMAGINATION IS KEY. A decade ago, John argued that we needed to 'imagine our way toward sustainability'. Reeling from the first indications of the post-truth world, I couldn't believe my ears. I loved our exchange about it (here). I'm so convinced, I'm now writing a speculative fiction series centering interpersonal trauma and renewal amidst transformative change.
4. HOW TO GET STUFF DONE, when many institutions are involved—including universities. Others got bogged down by bureaucracies, or refused to engage. John dived in and built what was at the time the greenest building in North America, a living lab for sustainability, the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability at UBC. A key tip: keep refreshing relationships, even if progress is little.
5. DISAGREE VEHEMENTLY, BUT GENIALLY. If I had a nickel for every time John said, "I completely disagree ...". But even if it was loud, and sometimes fierce, it was also friendly and productive. The exchange above (see 3) felt dramatic at the time, but so nourishing after.
6. BE OPTIMISTIC. Smile. Cheer on your colleagues. Believe we can do better, and we will. John has been an inspiration to so many; his legacy will continue long after his retirement.
Happy retirement, John! You've earned it.
CHANS Lab Views by Kai Chan's lab is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://chanslabviews.blogspot.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment