Governments around the world have responded by seizing power to curtail basic liberties with very little public resistance, in ways that would have seemed unimaginable a few months ago. At the same time they are also rolling out billion-dollar schemes to save lives and prevent global economic and societal collapse. That these measures are considered necessary and urgent demonstrates how unsustainable human existence has become and that the values of global capitalism and relationships between people and planet have been found wanting.

On a societal level, when human lives were suddenly changed, individualism manifested itself through panic-buying on a grand scale. But this fear-based response was soon overtaken by a reawakened sense of community and awareness of the things that matter most – our health and relationships with each other and the natural world.

When (or if) our freedoms are eventually regained, in a best-case scenario, we will take the opportunity to become a more resilient, caring and cooperative species, living simpler, healthier and more connected lives. The planet will continue to benefit from the drop in pollution levels. Our new forms of work and social life will lead us to create more sustainable working practices and family lives for the future.

What could this mean for universities? Shortly before Coronavirus made its impact in the UK, the University of Sussex held its first Sustainability Assembly to discuss how we should respond to the climate emergency. In this short space of time, Coronavirus has already magnified the cracks and inequities in the values and structures of academic institutions.

As businesses and livelihoods are hit across the country, the vulnerability of those on precarious employment contracts has been thrown into sharp relief as universities look to make savings in their response to the crisis. Could this be the moment where secure employment and a fairer income differential between the highest and lowest paid becomes an ethical imperative? As academic publishers open their paywalls to give free access to scientific research during the pandemic, will we see an acceleration towards open access to knowledge and greater scientific collaboration globally? As travel bans caused academic conferences around the world to be cancelled, will international conferences transform into more affordable and environmentally sustainable on-line meeting places, enabling participation of a global and diverse community of scholars? As lecturers and students grapple with new virtual ways of teaching and learning, will this be the beginning of the virtual university or a rediscovery of the value of face to face seminars and lectures? Will working from home practices be encouraged as an effective way to reduce pollution? Through all this, how will the academic world address the ‘digital divide’ between those who have access to technology and those who do not?

In order to answer these questions, we must turn to our values. At a global level, the UN Sustainable Development Goals set out a universal call to action for people and planet. Sustainability concerns our ability to manage and use the earth’s resources equitably for present and future generations. This recognises the interdependence of a healthy planet and human health and wellbeing. As we begin to adapt to new socially distanced and virtual ways of life, we are simultaneously confronting the challenges of an unsustainable human existence and rediscovering our values of health and relationships with each other and the planet.

A recently published Health Equity in England report found evidence from around the world that social and economic progress depends on flourishing human health. Human health depends on planetary health. If health stops improving, society stops improving. For universities in the grip of a mental health crisis, this is an important insight. In 2019 the New Zealand Parliament passed the world’s first ‘wellbeing budget’ designed and based on wellbeing priorities for sustainable growth. This moves away from measuring wealth in terms of productivity, to investing in areas that are essential for wellbeing, including our health, education, housing, relationships, personal finances and the environment.

At a time when human health and values are being tested and transformed by the effects of Coronavirus, there is an opportunity for universities to reflect on their values and transform for the better. Just as wider social and economic progress depends on human health, the progress of universities depends on the flourishing of its students and staff as one interconnected whole. The values and structures of a sustainable university and global academic culture must therefore be rooted in health and wellbeing, a commitment to intergenerational equity and sustainable relationships between people and the planet.

This blog is part of the

SSRP Forum: the Pandemic and Sustainability 

This forum aims to contribute to the analysis of the impact of the pandemic on sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to offer policy recommendations on how to respond to this unprecedented challenge. 

The spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) presents us with an unprecedented challenge. We see losses of human life around the world, while one can hardly think what will happen if and when the pandemic reaches poorer countries with weaker economic and health structures. We see countries shutting down their economies to avoid the spread of the virus, as well as employing unprecedented measures of social distancing and population lockdown. We see whole economic sectors and households entering the intensive care of public financial support. In less than a month, the pandemic has redefined the priorities, parameters and boundaries of ‘what is possible’ in much of the world that we constructed since the Second World War.

The most urgent question is how to deal with the humanitarian crisis currently evolving and prevent it from getting out of control at a global scale. But a question we must also face is how the currently unprecedented mobilisation of public resources will be used to support our transition to a sustainable future, rather than a return to a socio-environmentally unsustainable past. One can hardly overstate the urgency of both these tasks. We in the Sussex Sustainability Research Programme (SSRP) community aim to contribute to this ‘mobilisation’ effort by setting up this Forum which aims to bring together experience, knowledge, ideas and recommendations to inform public responses to the pandemic and the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at both local and global levels.

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