Prof Elinor Ostrom, international leader, teacher, thinker, and sheer energy for change

Just sharing this sad news of the passing of Prof Elinor Ostrom, political scientist, key resilience thinker, Nobel prize winnner (first and only woman in economics).

Her 8 minute white board lecture on getting over the tragedy of the commons (recorded for the Stockholm resilience research team) can be viewed here

In Maori there is a beautiful expression for valuing the work of all those who teach:

Manaakitia mai ā tātou kura māhita, ngā kaiārahi i ā tātou tamariki, i ngā mokopuna me te iwi  Look after our teachers, the counsellors of our children, grandchildren and the people

In the rush of so many to Rio Earth Summit, (and the unfortunate absence of key national leaders), its worth pausing to consider the remarkable everyday impact that teaching can make in fostering new thinking and visions for change.

I join thousands of colleagues to pay tribute to the critical thinking, creative teaching and ground breaking research of Prof Ostrom.  E kore koutou e ngaro. Ma te Atua koutou e manaaki, e tiaki.