Managing Diversity: The Challenges of Inter-University Cooperation in Sustainability Education

Činčera, Jan; Mikusiński, Grzegorz; Binka, Bohuslav; Calafate, Luís; Calheiros, Cristina S. C.; Cardoso, Alexandra; Hedblom, Marcus; Jones, Michael; Koutsouris, Alex; Vasconcelos, Clara; Iwińska, Katarzyna

doi:10.3390/su11205610

Cited by 12 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 74 publications

(98 reference statements)

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“…This study brings this idea to the sustainability learning context and shows how it applies to the development of key competencies in sustainability, specifically, interpersonal competence, which is seen as crucial for advancing sustainability (Bickford and Wright, 2006; Činčera et al , 2019; Di Giulio and Defila, 2017; Evans, 2015; Fam et al , 2019; Freeth and Caniglia, 2020; Giangrande et al , 2019; Gulikers and Oonk, 2019). This study advances the understanding of how key competencies are being developed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The abilities to collaborate with people from different cultural and disciplinary backgrounds; to engage, motivate and learn from others; to understand others’ perspectives and find compromises; to establish and maintain trust in teams; to resolve conflicts among diverse stakeholders; etc. – are all important for solving sustainability problems and advancing sustainability worldwide (Bickford and Wright, 2006; Činčera et al , 2019; Di Giulio and Defila, 2017; Evans, 2015; Fam et al , 2019; Freeth and Caniglia, 2020; Giangrande et al , 2019; Gulikers and Oonk, 2019). Universities play a key role in equipping students with such interpersonal attitudes, knowledge and skills (Gulikers and Oonk, 2019; Hernández-Barco et al , 2020; Thomas, 2009; Wiek et al , 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Learning processes for interpersonal competence development in project-based sustainability courses – insights from a comparative international study

Konrad

Wiek

Barth

2021

IJSHE

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Purpose For professional sustainability work, graduates need to be able to work in teams and collaborate with stakeholders; in other words, they need to have developed interpersonal competence. There is growing evidence that project-based sustainability courses facilitate interpersonal competence development. However, research so far has focused on single case studies and on assessing learning outcomes. The purpose of this study is to deepen the understanding of how graduate students learn interpersonal competence in project-based sustainability courses. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a multi-case study approach triangulating observations, semi-structured interviews and focus groups supported by Photovoice method. A comparison of three project-based sustainability courses in graduate programs at universities in the USA, Germany, Switzerland and Spain is conducted to gain generalizable insights on how interpersonal competence can be developed through project-based sustainability courses. Findings Receiving inputs, experiencing, reflecting and experimenting are four learning processes supportive of interpersonal competence development. Interpersonal attitudes seem to be mostly learned through a combination of experiencing and reflecting, followed by experimenting; not surprisingly, interpersonal knowledge is mostly developed through a combination of receiving inputs, experiencing and (collective) reflection; and interpersonal skills seem to be mostly learned through a combination of receiving inputs and experimenting, or, more directly, experiencing and experimenting. Practical implications These findings support the unique learning opportunities offered through project-based sustainability courses and can help instructors to better facilitate students’ development of interpersonal competence. Originality/value The value of this study is three-fold: (i) it provides a comprehensive picture of interpersonal competence, including attitudes, knowledge, and skills; (ii) it spells out specific teaching and learning processes; and (iii) it links these to specific interpersonal competence facets and components.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning processes for interpersonal competence development in project-based sustainability courses – insights from a comparative international study

Konrad

Wiek

Barth

2021

IJSHE

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“…For example, unspoken assumptions rooted in epistemological differences Biggs et al's (2012Biggs et al's ( , 2015 three types of diversity and redundancy. amongst stakeholders of different backgrounds has the potential to undermine trust and create divisions (Cinčera et al, 2019).…”

Section: Diversity In Participation In Sustainability Work and Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

How to Repurpose the University: A Resilience Lens on Sustainability Governance

Robinson¹,

Pedersen²

2021

Front. Sustain.

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Universities have an important role in moving society towards a more sustainable future. However, this will require us to repurpose universities, reorienting and refocusing the different university domains (education, research, campus, and outreach) towards sustainability. The governance structures and processes used to embed sustainability into the activities and operations of the institution are critical to achieving the required transformation. Our current university systems which are seen as contributing to socio-ecological system unsustainability are resilient to change due to slow variables such as organisational and sector-wide prevailing paradigms and culture. Therefore, to repurpose a university requires us to destabilise our prevailing system, crossing a threshold into a new stable system of a ‘sustainable university' across all its domains. This paper utilises an adaptation of Biggs et al. (2012) resilience principles for the governance of social-ecological systems to provide a framework to consider aspects of university governance for sustainability that can be utilised to repurpose universities towards sustainability, and destabilize unsustainable elements of the system. This paper draws out examples relating to sustainability governance within universities with regards to the four principles of (i) managing diversity and redundancy, (ii) managing connectivity, (iii) managing slow variables and feedbacks, and (iv) encouraging learning and experimentation within the context of complex adaptive systems. In this article, we have shown that using resilience in a non-normative way is possible (to decrease resilience of an unsustainable system), and that it can also be valuable to help understand how to shift organisational governance towards a particular end-state (in this case, university governance that advances sustainability). This paper provides an example of how to operationalise resilience principles of relevance to the resilience literature as well as providing a practical framework to guide higher education institution governance for sustainability.

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“…To invite actors and stakeholders to interact and discuss with students is crucial. The same applies to effective international development and educational projects concerning sustainability [95,96].…”

Section: Challenges Of Transdisciplinary Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Challenge of Transdisciplinary Research: A Case Study of Learning by Evaluation for Sustainable Transport Infrastructures

Axelsson¹,

Ljung

Blicharska

et al. 2020

Sustainability

Self Cite

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While transdisciplinary (TD) research is desired in order to solve real world sustainability issues, this may be challenging for both academic and non-academic participants. Supporting learning through evaluation, we analyzed a project aiming at sustainable transport infrastructures. After developing a TD research framework as a benchmark, two external independent evaluators interviewed all project researchers, representatives for end-users, and donors. The evaluators compared results with the framework, and evaluators and participants critically reflected on the results together. There were three inconsistencies relative to the framework: (1) limited understanding of TD research among project management, end-users, and most of the researchers; (2) no structured learning process among end-users; instead, they expressed very diverse opinions about what they expected from the project; (3) project leaders had limited understanding of the special challenges of TD research, did not fully understand the status of the project’s social system, and thus did not act as facilitators of the required collaborative learning process. Non-academic participants saw themselves as customers and not as partners in the knowledge production process. We conclude that TD problem-solving research requires much time and needs facilitation and training. A preparatory phase with a lower level of funding would be helpful in preparing for TD processes.

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Managing Diversity: The Challenges of Inter-University Cooperation in Sustainability Education

Cited by 12 publications

References 74 publications

Learning processes for interpersonal competence development in project-based sustainability courses – insights from a comparative international study

Learning processes for interpersonal competence development in project-based sustainability courses – insights from a comparative international study

How to Repurpose the University: A Resilience Lens on Sustainability Governance

The Challenge of Transdisciplinary Research: A Case Study of Learning by Evaluation for Sustainable Transport Infrastructures

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