"Environment, Development and Sustainability"

Barbiero, Giuseppe; Berto, Rita; Venturella, Alice; Maculan, Nicola

doi: 10.1007/s10668-021-01903-1pmid: N/A

Biophilic design is an architectural model that offers the possibility to create the Nature-based Innovative Learning Environment (ILE), which might support cognitive processes and stimulate affiliation with Nature. Bracing Biophilia is an exploratory research programme which verifies the effect of Nature-based ILEs on pupils’ attentional performance and affiliation with Nature. We compared a conventional learning environment with two Nature-based environments made according to biophilic design and the Biophilic Quality Index (BQI). The experimental observations spanned three school years; they were carried out within a conventional learning environment in the first year and in a biophilic designed one in the next two. Measurements, that is the administration of the Perceived Restorativeness Scale-children, the Continuous Performance test, and the Connectedness to Nature Scale-children, were deployed at regular intervals at three different times (autumn, winter, spring) of each school year. Results show that learning environments with biophilic design, in addition to being preferred and perceived as more restorative, are more effective in supporting pupils' attentional performance than conventional learning environments and, over time, strengthen the feeling of affiliation with Nature. A BQI certified biophilic design learning environment turns out to be the best of all indoor environments and just below the outdoor learning environment used as a comparison of biophilic design indoor environment. Although the objective limitation of this study is the number of pupils, the trend appears clear and cannot be attributed to pupils’ cognitive maturation processes. This case study allows us to appreciate the importance of the restorative learning environments with biophilic design capable of supporting the learning process and strengthening the affiliation with Nature.

Bonatti, Michelle; Erismann, Carla; Askhabalieva, Ayna; Borba, Juliano; Pope, Kamila; Reynaldo, Renata; Eufemia, Luca; Turetta, Ana Paula; Sieber, Stefan

doi: 10.1007/s10668-022-02167-zpmid: 35250367

In neglected communities, waste and organic residues are not only a vector of several problems, like diseases and water pollution, but also a contributor to increasing forms of vulnerability and marginalization. At the same time, these communities also have presented innovative local initiatives and transformative learning about natural resources management that can be a vehicle for achieving more sustainable food systems. In the south of Brazil, community-based organic residue management has shown an extraordinary potential to improve food security and livelihoods for (≈1600) community members of a vulnerable urban territory. In this context, the overall objective of this article is (a) To better understand what Social Learning (SL) processes related to successful organic residues management in neglected communities exist and (b) To identify what knowledge systems are created in one empirical case. The study case is based on a communitarian waste management project, the Bucket Revolution Project (BRP). The analytical framework builds upon social learning theory and its triple-loop process focusing on four specific phenomena. The applied mixed-methods approach was made in four steps: 1. a focus group to investigate collective community issues; 2. semi-structured interviews to investigate specific and individual issues in the context of the BRP; 3. social media analysis to better understand the BRP narratives; and finally 4. participant observation in community and institutional meetings. Mainly using MaxQda software and coding indicators of SL, the data show that “Diversity of knowledge integration” is the most identified SL indicator in the interviews (52%). For BRP, identity development, community conditions improvement, and environment understanding are three key components of the knowledge system enhanced through an underlying process of social learning. Furthermore, the study also shows that there are endogenous and exogenous social learning processes at work.

Sommier, Mélodine; Wang, Yijing; Vasques, Ana

doi: 10.1007/s10668-022-02208-7pmid: 35250368

The literature has produced relevant theoretical insights into pedagogical frameworks, tools and competences that would be best suited to teach sustainability at higher education (HE). This article contributes to such a discussion using a course on sustainability developed by us as a case study. Two research questions are tackled in this article: (1) How to empower students to address urban sustainability challenges through the inclusion of transformative, interdisciplinary and intercultural learning into the current HE system? (2) Which pedagogical tools can be used to develop students’ sustainability-oriented competences? To address the research questions, the case study consists of two parts. First, by reflecting on the course design, this article aims to shed light on the benefits and challenges of transformative pedagogy and of an interdisciplinary and intercultural framework. Second, by analyzing students’ learning diaries (N = 36) using thematic analysis, this article offers insights into some of the students’ learning process, allowing us to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the course design as well as draw implications to improve and renew courses on sustainability in HE. The findings from the learning diaries indicate the students’ thirst for formal knowledge on sustainability, which they connected to their professional development and yearning for action. The learning diaries also suggest students’ increasing awareness of sustainability as a systemic and structural issue during the course, which aligns with the transformative learning framework used. Finally, this study emphasizes the need for structural support to meaningfully integrate sustainability in HE curricula and teaching practices.

Corazza, Laura; Cottafava, Dario; Torchia, Daniel

doi: 10.1007/s10668-022-02335-1pmid: N/A

This paper presents in detail a critical reflexive discourse on a transformative learning activity that engaged 140 students of the “Risk Management and Green Business Strategy” module at the University of Turin. During the course, students were asked to find, analyze, and propose a solution for a self-identified challenge working in close partnership with local urban companies on sustainability issues. Following a project-based learning approach, this paper compares two different group of students. The treatment group, i.e., the students following the ESD module, was then compared with a control group represented by the students from the traditional course of the previous year, in terms of their willingness to orient their future career on sustainability topics. Findings point out clear impacts on the study of sustainability-related disciplines (i.e., + 372% of thesis on sustainability) and on long-term career orientation of students on sustainability-oriented master and jobs.

Induja, V.; Nair, Manju G.; Suryan, Abhilash

doi: 10.1007/s10668-022-02531-zpmid: N/A

The need to develop sustainable strategies and solutions to design and retrofit buildings to be comfortable living environments that reduce energy and resource consumption is crucial in achieving the sustainable development goals put forth by the United Nations. This is the motivation for professionals to develop alternative approaches for problem-solving. The traditional linear model of course delivery in professional colleges helps in understanding the theoretical concepts and meeting the proposed educational objectives but underperforms in developing competent individuals who can collaborate and develop innovative solutions. Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary education models are gaining importance worldwide in this regard. Transforming the mode of teaching from dominant teacher centric lecture rooms to action centric realm beyond classrooms in a real physical setting will promote greater understanding and curiosity among students. This paper presents the detailed step to step process in a transdisciplinary exercise undertaken by undergraduate students of Architecture and Mechanical Engineering who have completed their respective courses on Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning and the learning outcome and the change in perception the learner group undergoes. The students work together as a team to perform a post-occupancy evaluation of the existing building stock of the campus and develop design solutions, both passive and active, to improve the existing condition of the campus consuming less energy and resources. Such transdisciplinary exercises helps prepare the students to solve real-life problems and do self-assessment and peer assessment of the theory and concept already studied, thus improving the perception of the students and the quality of the teaching–learning process. The project attempts to empower the students to be a part of sustainable initiatives in their surroundings, and the expertise developed through the project can be used in designing or retrofitting buildings to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emission and reduce the payback period.

Klintman, Mikael; Jonsson, Anna; Grafström, Maria; Torgilsson, Petra

doi: 10.1007/s10668-022-02564-4pmid: N/A

Arrangements for collaboration in knowledge production across academia, government, non-governmental organisations, and corporations have several names, such as citizen-science, community-based participatory research, engaged research and hybrid forums. The multiplicity of schemes does not lie only in the high number of names for various versions of collaborative knowledge production. Different scholars also use concepts in multiple ways, depending on their individual choices, mother disciplines, and the problem area in which collaboration occurs. At the same time, there is a lack of analytical tools that address the full range of collaborative research schemes and provide a systematic set of questions to learn about the schemes, challenges, and opportunities. Based on our review of academic journal articles highlighting collaborative research schemes, this paper aims to analyse three parameters which it is fair to say that virtually all arrangements of collaborative knowledge production ought to consider when making decisions, parameters that are often partially missed or misunderstood: (A) epistemic-procedural, (B) exclusive-inclusive and (C) aggregative-integrative. By examining the three parameters, their political theory origins, and how they connect to and challenge existing schemes of knowledge collaboration, we provide analytical tools that could facilitate processes of developing and scrutinising arrangements of collaborative research.

Block, Thomas; Prové, Charlotte; Dehaene, Michiel; Abeele, Peter Vanden; Beeckmans, Luce

doi: 10.1007/s10668-022-02657-0pmid: 36105251

The wicked sustainability problems that we are increasingly facing not only require new ways of knowledge production, but also challenge our traditional educational system. More and more importance is attached to educational practices and experiments focusing on transdisciplinary problem framing, a pluralistic search for solutions and active collaboration with various stakeholders throughout society. The aim of this article is to investigate how an inter- and transdisciplinary setting in which students develop master theses can contribute to learning about a specific urban problem and what challenges this transdisciplinary education entails. Starting from relevant theoretical and analytical frameworks, such as Mode 2 Science (Nowotny et al. 2005) and the three-phase model of Lang et al. (2012), we first outline the philosophy and approach of the general setting: the Stadsacademie, a collective learning platform or ‘collaboratory’ to explore and investigate wicked problems perceived in the city of Ghent (Belgium). To provide more in-depth and refined insights, we focus on an exemplary activity of the Stadsacademie: the Master Thesis Ateliers ‘Diversity in Social Housing’. A Master Thesis Atelier (MTA) is a collaborative trajectory of one academic year in which 4 to 8 master students and their supervisors from different disciplinary backgrounds concentrate on one specific urban problem and collaborate with non-academic actors aiming to explore and to impact upon that issue. We conclude this article with overall reflections and suggestions for transdisciplinary approaches within educational practices to tackle wicked sustainability issues.

Pärli, Rea; Stauffacher, Michael; Seigo, Selma L’Orange; Probst, Matthias; Pearce, BinBin

doi: 10.1007/s10668-022-02659-ypmid: N/A

Real-world laboratories (RWL) aim to support transformations for sustainable urban development by producing outputs with practical and scientific relevance. To achieve these aims, the local community of which the RWL is a part should be in close collaboration from the start of a project. RWLs offer spaces for ‘thinking outside the box’ and for experimenting with new ideas through concrete interventions into the life world of the community. We provide methodological guidance for researchers on how to design interventions in RWLs that both affect change on the ground and contribute to scientific knowledge. This includes addressing issues important to local communities and generating transformation knowledge about how sustainable urban development can be actualised. We use the case of a project-based master’s course within an RWL in the city of Zurich in Switzerland to demonstrate how the use of design thinking supported the development of needs-based interventions, curbing emissions from food consumption while aiming to generate scientifically relevant output. We conclude that further improvements in methodology are needed in order to test the effectiveness of interventions. However, the outputs of the approach show its potential both for having an impact in the real world and building on existing academic concepts for advancing transformation knowledge.

Bernert, Philip; Wanner, Matthias; Fischer, Nele; Barth, Matthias

doi: 10.1007/s10668-022-02801-wpmid: N/A

A growing number of transformative research practices that redefine the role of science in engaging with local–mostly urban–transformation processes have emerged in recent decades. However, while education is considered a key driver for sustainability transformations, higher education has been slow to develop and implement dedicated, appropriate and effective transformative education programmes and learning modules. In this paper, we present a framework of design principles for transformative learning modules in higher education. These principles are derived from two growing discourses: higher education sustainability learning, and transdisciplinary and transformative research—both of which are centrally anchored in the field of sustainable development and sustainability science. The principles presented provide guidance for course leaders in higher education to create learning modules aimed at enabling students to become engaged in transdisciplinary and transformative research that fosters sustainability transitions in local and urban contexts. We use the Transformative Innovation Lab (TIL)—a learning course developed and tested at two German universities—as an example of how the design principles can be applied. The module, which runs over two semesters, supports Masters students in their process of developing real-world laboratories and exploring urban sustainability transitions through collaborative experimentation with local practice partners. We discuss the factors that enable and limit the implementation of transformative learning modules and outline aspects of the novel roles adopted by lecturers in transformative teaching environments. Moreover, we highlight the need for both institutional change and transformative teaching formats that go beyond transformative research as key for driving universities to take responsibility for collaboratively fostering sustainability transitions in their local contexts.

Cruz, Joana P.; Malafaia, Carla; Silva, José Eduardo; Rovisco, Maria; Menezes, Isabel

doi: 10.1007/s10668-022-02866-7pmid: N/A

Based on a short-term ethnography with a grassroots group of young environmental activists in the city of Porto, Portugal, this paper describes and problematizes their use of participatory methodologies to engage individual, community and organizational actors in tackling the problems of global climate change. By initiating what they call a “friendship network” that seeks to achieve democratic and participatory forms of activism, the group brings together both experienced and circumstantial activists (Ollis & Hamel-Green in Aust Adult Learn 55:202–219, 2015) in order to foster plural and situated learning (Lave & Wenger, Situated learning legitimate peripheral participation, 1991). The group does so by promoting the commitment of all actors (including opposite-minded ones) to the co-creation of a 4-day-municipal event on the theme of environmental sustainability. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the strategic mechanism of the group and their actions as a nucleus, we firstly examine some of the groups’ views on civic and political participation (Stack, in Citizenship Studies 16:871–885, 2012) and, secondly, describe and discuss the methodologies they intentionally use to put citizenship-in-action and to foster the activation of ‘standby citizens’ (Amna & Ekman, in Amnå, E., & Ekman, J., Eur Political Sci Rev 6:261–281, 2014). This ethnography enabled us to learn how the group strives to achieve its goals by placing itself in-between the institutional sphere and the public realm: the ethnographer had the opportunity to observe their attempts to, on the one hand, influence decision-making by acquiring a degree of insider status in institutions that legislate and, on the other hand, to engage with large publics, encouraging citizens’ voices and involvement in processes of co-participation focused on promoting ecological consciousness and political change.