This article contributes with a tested transdisciplinary learning format to the discussion about strategies to increase regional relevance and competence orientation of higher education in the fields of sustainability and rural development. In the Latin American-European network "Rural Society, Economy and Natural Resources-Integrating Competence in Rural Development" (SERIDAR), scientists and practitioners in rural areas have jointly elaborated research problems, which were then investigated-among other formats-by interdisciplinary teams of students within related study programmes. These projects had dual purposes: conveying essential professional competences to students and generating knowledge for and with participating rural actors. Linking approaches of transdisciplinary research and competence-oriented curriculum development, universities thus increased their efforts to fulfil their societal tasks and contribute to sustainable problem-solving. This article provides academic staff with insights into the didactic concept, tested and adapted in Mexico, Colombia, Nicaragua and China according to local conditions. Results of a comprehensive evaluation and systematisation process on local and international level are presented, as well as conclusions on factors and conditions necessary for the implementation and integration of transdisciplinary and problem-based student team research into university curricula as well as on this format as an element of collaboration for problem-solving in multi-stakeholder platforms.
RESUMENLa variabilidad climática constituye en la actualidad uno de los principales factores de riesgo para la agricultura y la seguridad alimentaria mundial. Los ecosistemas más vulnerables en Colombia son los que se ubican en la zona alto-andina donde miles de familias campesinas se dedican a la agricultura en pequeña escala. Los programas enfocados a adaptar la agricultura a la variabilidad climática no se apoyan suficientemente en el conocimiento local ni motivan a las comunidades para la acción. Esta investigación propuso un análisis de la relación entre sustentabilidad y adaptación a la variabilidad climática, reconociendo de manera participativa los principales factores de riesgo para la sustentabilidad de la agricultura a partir de indicadores y analizando la efectividad de planes de mejora en la capacidad adaptativa de la agricultura alto-andina. Se desarrolló como un estudio de caso con 13 productores familiares vinculados a la Asociación Red Agroecológica Campesina de Subachoque, en 3 fases: a) creación de un marco de análisis sobre los principales factores de riesgo para la agricultura; b) evaluación de la sustentabilidad a partir de indicadores propios y c) implementación de planes para aumentar la capacidad adaptativa de la agricultura. La evaluación realizada en dos momentos diferentes demostró mejora en los 9 indicadores generados, de forma que la implementación de las acciones para mejorar la sustentabilidad influyeron positivamente sobre la capacidad de las fincas para adaptarse a los riesgos de la variabilidad climática. Las estrategias agroecológicas implementadas mejoraron la resiliencia socioecológica de los agroecosistemas manejados por agricultores familiares, aumentando la posibilidad de que respondan mejor ante cualquier escenario de cambio ambiental. PALABRAS CLAVESustentabilidad, adaptación de la agricultura, variabilidad climática, agroecología.
This dialogue session series aims to advance evaluation efforts in sustainability transitions. The sessions focus on sustainability transition experiments that develop and test solutions that foster transformational change towards sustainability. The key objective is to facilitate learning from a variety of different transition experiments. Thus, gaining insights about their resources, conducted activities, generated results and accomplished sustainability progress will be at the heart of the session. The dialogue sessions bring together empirical research that adopts, rigorously applies and critically reflects the tentative evaluative scheme to appraise the performance of sustainability transition experiments (Luederitz et al. submitted). The follow up aim of the sessions is to jointly publish session outcomes and learning experiences. Reflections on evaluating Challenge Lab by applying a proposed scheme for Sustainability Transition Experiments. David Andersson, JohnHolmberg, Johan Larsson, Daniella Mendoza, Örjan Söderberg The Challenge Lab (CLab) is a neutral arena for triple helix stakeholders and an educational platform for master students to addresses complex challenges and system lockins. By the end of its third year, the CLab will have hosted nearly 100 students, producing 23 master thesis projects and 13 course projects. We present an evaluative case using the scheme proposed by Luederitz et al. (2016) for sustainability transition experiments which includes four main questions and a set of indicators for each question. We end with some general reflections on the evaluation method. A Transdisciplinary Project Course on Repair and Reuse in the Light of the Tentative Evaluation Scheme. Richard Beecroft, Kaidi Tamm, Oliver Parodi, Colette WaitzThe project we intend to evaluate with the "Tentative Evaluation Scheme" (TES) was a project course in winter term 2015 at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology under the title "Repair, Reuse, RecycleTransdisciplinary Project Course". It was a cooperation between the Karlsruhe School of Sustainability, and the "District Future -Urban Lab" ("Quartier Zukunft") -all KIT -with the repaircafe initiative Karlsruhe (RCIK).1 Its triple aim was to a) support the RCIK in its crucial stabilisation phase, b) to generate valuable transdisciplinary learning outcomes for the students (and other people involved) and c) to produce new insights into the potential for sustainability transitions regarding the repaircafe approach. Evaluating the transformative potential of sustainability entrepreneurship: the dynamics of small business participation in urban experiments. Sarah BurchThe alluring yet nebulous concept of transformative change is increasingly gaining traction in conversations about pathways to more sustainable futures and responses to climate change. This shift in focus from incremental change to potentially radical experiments in sustainability at multiple levels of government suggests that new conceptual tools are needed to illuminate new types of actors, interests, and cap...
In the Colombian Andes, farming communities face complex challenges involving conflict, climate change, peacebuilding and rural reconstruction. Organized around agroecology, farmers generate associativity processes, self-managed extension work and popular education pedagogies. This strengthens the social fabric of these communities and enhances their adaptive capacities, enabling them to persist in the context of adversity.This study investigates the potential of community-based agroecology in post-war scenarios for fostering social cohesion and community resilience; considered to be two key components of peacebuilding. Based on a systematization of experiences, we analyze the work of seven farmer-led educational initiatives, so-called Agroecology Peasant Schools (Spanish: Escuelas Campesinas de Agroecología, ECAs), in three different regions of the Colombian Andes ‐ Cauca, Valle del Cauca, and Coffee Axis. Using interviews and focus groups, we integrate the perceptions of 82 stakeholders from regional agroecology networks. The results illustrate the contexts in which ECAs emerge and demonstrate how the associative processes they advance strengthen the social fabric, enhance the capacities of farmers in agroecological management and support the socio-economic recovery of rural areas. Based on our results, we maintain that, by fostering shared identities and collective capabilities of farmers, ECAs strengthen social cohesion and community resilience and thereby contribute to the building of “positive peace” from a grassroots level. By scrutinizing local initiatives, this study generates insights for guiding contextualized peacebuilding programs, based on local needs and aspirations.
La Agricultura Familiar se reafirma a partir del debate mundial sobre el campesinado y su papel fundamental en la sociedad respecto a intereses globales como la sostenibilidad ambiental, la seguridad y soberanía alimentaria, la creación de mercados de proximidad entre productores y consumidores, la alimentación sana basada en formas de agricultura sostenible y la superación de la pobreza rural. Dada su relevancia, diversas organizaciones y movimientos sociales promueven la Agricultura Familiar como forma alternativa de producción y organización social; este es el caso de la Red Nacional de Agricultura Familiar (RENAF) que busca visibilizar la importancia de esta categoría y respaldar la promulgación de políticas públicas diferenciales en Colombia. Este artículo proporciona una reflexión sobre la construcción multidimensional de la Agricultura Familiar en el país y sobre las posibilidades que ofrece para enfrentar la crisis generada por el modelo extractivista del régimen agroalimentario. Se resaltan las características particulares de los agricultores familiares, en especial su racionalidad productiva, social, ambiental y económica, que constituyen estrategias de resistencia frente al modelo extractivista y fuentes de autonomía para reproducir sus condiciones sociales de vida.
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