Education, training & debates

Economics is much richer than what is being taught and communicated. Its visions of the world and its methodologies are much more diverse than what is being typically presented in education, policy, and practice. Progressing towards sustainable futures means going beyond the pursuance of efficiency and narrow monetary measures, and embracing a wider set of values, goals, and approaches. As such, ICENS lab focuses on the economics for sustainability from a systemic and inclusive perspective, taking the ecological boundaries set by the natural sciences as starting points; and cutting across a range of schools of economic thought embedded in interdisciplinarity.

ICENS lab provides education & training, and participates in talks & debates that reflect this diversity of thought, bringing the full spectrum of economics to bear on students, decision-makers and thinkers, and other societal players. Importantly, we also create space for arts and the humanities that are immersive in their nature and have the power to shape empathy, feelings, and compassion. Our audiences are universities, schools, businesses, public bodies, international institutions, and civil society organisations.

Examples of projects

A classroom with students working on laptops and participating in a video conference with a woman displayed on the large screen at the front of the room.
A classroom with students sitting at white tables, some using laptops, and a lecturer at the front near a projection screen displaying a diagram. The room has large windows and framed pictures on the wall.
Group of six young people standing on a raised platform, listening to a guide in a bright yellow jacket, with a modern city building in the background.
A group of young people waiting in line outside the BUNHILL 2 ENERGY CENTRE on a sunny day, with some holding backpacks and wearing casual clothing.

Photos from the UCL summer school: Top to bottom: 1) Guest lecturer Jennifer Brandsberg-Engelmann (lead author for Regenerative Economics for Secondary Schools); 2) Guest lecturer Joe Ravetz (co-Director of Centre for Urban Resilience & Energy, The University of Manchester); 3) and 4) Field trip to Bunhill 2 Energy Centre, London (district heat pump visit with Simon Bowles, Islington London Borough Council, 2023 & 2024 student cohorts).