Action research workshop for transdisciplinary sustainability science

Abstract

The Research Institute for Sustainability Science and Technology under the Master degree in Sustainability Science and Technology organises the course Action Research Workshop on Science and Technology for Sustainability (5 ECTS). The authors have been coordinating the course during the academic years 13/14, 14/15 and 15/16. The purpose of the workshop is to put together civil society organisations, local administrations, students and educators to collaboratively undertake responsible research, performing transdisciplinary learning environments and by using an action-research framework, to answer questions such as: Who are we researching for? Who profits from our research? What are the impacts of our research? Which methodologies and tools should be used when dealing with sociotechnical sustainability challenges? \ud Students work on real projects, related to local sustainability problems, represented by a community entity (Service learning and Campus Lab). Action research methodology is used with a two-cycle approach. In each real-life project, students, faculty and stakeholders are asked to follow the action-reflexion process of action research projects: Action 1- Jointly defining: Project purpose; Customer and interest; Involved actors; Reflexion 1- Students define: research question, initial situation, needed additional information, action Strategy, Tasks planning and distribution: Action 2 - Items returning and discussing with stakeholders, Reflexion 2 - revising and reformulating.\ud Having now run the workshop three times, we can conclude that: First, students realized the significance of framing an investigation under a research methodological framework that allows bringing research to the community, enhancing transdisciplinarity in any initiative or action in sustainability science. They set out the importance of some topics and the difficulty to hold them. Second, the formulation of the problem became one of the most arduous tasks in the process; difficulties were mainly related to the perception of the problem from distinct community group motivations. Third, interaction and communication with stakeholders and the recognition of their role was problematic as engineering students are not usually trained to work in wicked problems nor accompany stakeholders during the whole process. Finally, it is relevant to highlight that during the process students faced conflict and frustrating situations both within their team and with stakeholders. To help tackle this problem, an Emotional Intelligence module was introduced in the workshop which proved useful in helping students to solve some paralyzing situations, which could otherwise have stopped the progress of the project. We suggest that engineering students need specific training in transdisciplinary research and in conflict resolution, to avoid collapsing in frustration when dealing with real transdisciplinary sustainability transitions.Postprint (author's final draft

Didactic Strategies to Promote Competencies in Sustainability

“…Studies show that students achieve better cognitive learning as more community-oriented and constructive-learning pedagogies are applied [10]. Multi-methodological experiential active learning education increases cognitive learning with respect to sustainability, where the interaction with stakeholders increases the effect of the community approach, facilitating the introduction of transdisciplinarity and the endeavour of systemic and critical thinking [10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

Combining participatory games and backcasting to support collective scenario evaluation: an action research approach for sustainable agroforestry landscape management

“…Action research allows to study and rethink the farming system as a biophysical, economic and social subject shaping scientific and local knowledge and practices (Warner 2007;Hoolohan et al 2018). In addition, action research has been used extensively to redesign sustainable farming systems (Altieri 1989;Mendez 2008;Tejedor and Segalas 2018).…”

What Can We Learn from Character Education? A Literature Review of Four Prominent Virtues in Engineering Education

“…The Jubilee Centre Framework defines the virtue of service as the disposition that motivates impactful action for others' benefit, which could include volunteering, campaigning, and fundraising [23], [68]. Service is one way to practice kindness and citizenship [69], [70], and it can help participants build empathy [71] and engage with surrounding communities [72], [73]. Service in the context of education is often called service-learning [74] and can include afterschool programs, community engagement, [75] and community service [60].…”

“…Integrating service in engineering via community-centered projects provides students with a unique perspective on what it means to be an engineer [72], [73], [75], increases their professional competencies through its project-based learning and customer-centered design, and gives students opportunities to practice teamwork and communication [72], [73], [75], [80], thus aligning with several ABET Student Outcomes [19]. There is also some indication that projectbased service-learning experiences can help students improve their mastery of technical problem-solving [72], [81].…”

“…The more students serve and become closer to their communities, the more they grasp fundamental engineering concepts and master engineering practices [82]. Female students remain committed to engineering [74], and all students' motivation increases [72], [73], [75], [80]. As for the other virtues, the studies reviewed here did not explore service explicitly as a virtue, but there is an implicit assumption that service is intended towards morally good ends, and there is a clear interrelationship between service, empathy, and teamwork.…”