Eco-Degrees?

Black Mountains College, on an old farm in South Wales, has been set up by two writers. The college has the avowed aim of producing 'a radical new degree course, designed to prepare students for a career in times of climate breakdown' (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/11/new-uk-college-dedicated-climate-crisis-black-mountains). Black Mountains College is currently offering a BA in Sustainable Futures: Arts, Ecology and Systems Change, validated by Cardiff's (city-based) Metropolitan University. It's also delivering free 1 year NVQ level 2 courses in topics like coppicing. The college founders claim it will teach innovative skills and ideas to tackle the climate crisis. They believe that 'climate-literate people' will be snapped up by many current and future organisations. The general idea behind the Black Mountains College is laudable. It's wrong, however, to believe that a wide range of current UK degrees do not educate their students on the environment and sustainability. Traditional universities in the UK and elsewhere, also have the distinct advantage of being able to bring expertise from Biology, Business Studies, Engineering, Geography and Social Sciences together, to deal with the challenges of climate change. The focus and range of a single specialist degree might not turn out to be as marketable as is claimed. One can only, however, wish them well.