The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are “a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.” To achieve these goals, we have developed standards, certifications, accreditations, guidelines, and tools. These focus on science and statistics, math and markets. They represent the “head and hands” or the “what and how” of sustainability. These are important, of course, but something is missing. Beyond math and markets is meaning. To achieve “peace and prosperity for people and the planet” we need to understand and realize the “heart” and the “why” of sustainability. Unlike matters of the head and the hands, however, matters of the heart are far more challenging to define and put on a checklist. This is where art comes in. Art is how we develop our imagination and ideas. Art is how we explore and express what is in our hearts. Art is how we realize meaning. If we are to achieve a beautiful, humane, and sustainable future, we need to teach students -- our future leaders -- how to imagine and explore, how to ideate and express, how to realize meaning. We need to teach them art. If you’re an art teacher considering grad school, and you’d love to... use your creativity and teaching skills to help achieve the SDGs teach biomimicry as part of art class (and STEAM) develop your own ideas and projects while learning help develop the sustainability leaders of tomorrow … but you can't afford to quit your day job, then you might be interested in MCAD’s fully online Master of Arts in Sustainable Design program! If you're in Minneapolis for the NAEA conference, be sure to visit me at the MASD table at MCAD! If you can't make that event, email me and we can set up a time to chat. Categories Eco-careers Published on March 16, 2020 Tags Art teachers Art+Design MCAD NAEA SDGs