Chanakya University hosted a faculty development workshop on “The Sustainable Human and Environmental Systems (SHES) Approach to Sustainability Education and Practice”, led by Prof. Paul A. Barresi, Professor of Political Science and Environmental Law at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), USA, and Adjunct Professor of Law at Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Prof. Barresi, a Fulbright Scholar and Co-Chair of the SHES Roundtable, is an eminent scholar known for developing interdisciplinary frameworks that foster sustainability-focused education and practice. During his six-week academic engagement at Chanakya University (6 September – 11 October 2025), he also taught a credit course titled “America at a Crossroads” for BA (Hons) students and delivered several guest lectures, including the REF lecture “A Party in Peril? The U.S. Two-Party System from the Age of Jefferson to the Time of Trump.”
In the workshop, Prof. Barresi introduced the SHES framework, emphasizing its foundations in holism, systems thinking, supradisciplinarity, revealed complexity, social learning, and stakeholder engagement. He demonstrated how these principles can help institutions integrate sustainability into academic curricula, research, and governance.
The session featured interactive discussions and practical exercises where participants assessed current programs, identified competency gaps, and explored strategies to embed SHES principles into institutional practices. The workshop concluded with an open dialogue on aligning Chanakya University’s sustainability initiatives with global best practices, reaffirming its commitment to transformative, sustainability-oriented higher education and strengthened international collaboration.
