Agroecology Education: Action-oriented Learning and Research

Abstract

Purpose: This article examines and evaluates the potential contributions from action learning and action research with stakeholders to higher education in agriculture and food systems. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research is based on our experiences over the past two decades of running PhD courses and an MSc degree programme in Agroecology in Norway that have attracted students from the Nordic region and other countries. Findings: We conclude that collaborating with non-university stakeholders as an integral part of a university course or programme serves four main purposes, two directly related to learning and two that can be considered as practical implications. Firstly, it enables learning about complex topics, a learning that cannot be achieved by merely reading or listening. Secondly, the real-life flare of such activities provides the students with enthusiasm and energy to delve into theory. Practical Implications: Thirdly, students collaborating with non-university stakeholders connect university and society. Fourthly, this process builds social relevance and civic engagement not found in conventional courses or curricula. Originality/Value: The article presents conceptual foundations and practical implementation of a unique educational programme in agriculture and food systems.

Facilitating Transformation and Competence Development in Sustainable Agriculture University Education: An Experiential and Action Oriented Approach

“…The class consisted of twenty students from six different countries: Italy (8), USA (6), Canada (2), Germany (2), India (1) and Colombia (1). The goal of the course was to develop knowledge, skills and attitudes enabling students to deal with complex situations in agricultural-and food-systems development [16]. The intended aim was for students to acquire theoretical knowledge about agroecosystems and also gain experience with methodologies and tools for describing, analyzing and improving them.…”

“…They were asked to express a judgment of their skill-level ranking from 1 to 9 within five stages of skill development for the following competences: observation, participation, visioning, reflection and dialogue. These competencies were described as follows [16]: Observation is the competency of carefully examining situations in the "world out there" with which you are confronted, before you make any judgements about the situation. This has the intention of an unbiased examination.…”

“…These competences have been developed independently by the agroecology group at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) [16], but overlap to a large extent with a framework for key competences in academic education in sustainability, developed by Wiek et al [17]. Since one of our assumptions was that the shift from traditional teaching and learning to an experiential approach implies incorporation of the activity of metacognitive reasoning, a way of learning that Mezirow [18] calls transformative, we were interested in exploring such a dimension.…”

Food Webs and Food Sovereignty: Research Agenda for Sustainability

“…It is difficult to objectively assess the long-term impacts of a move toward strengthening local, diversified, value-adding, and smalland midscale food systems since relatively little research has been done compared to that on largescale systems. Improvements will be driven in part by public awareness of the challenges in our current food system, and largely by educating the next generation of scientists in holistic, systemsoriented, transdisciplinary studies such as those presented in agroecology (Lieblein, Breland, Francis, & Østergaard, 2012;Lieblein & Francis, 2007) and systems dynamics (Maani & Maharaj, 2004). Extension also plays a role in educating the public about local food systems (Dunning, Creamer, Massey Lelekaks, O'Sullivan, Thraves, & Wymore, 2012).…”

The Extended Classroom Framework for Teaching Systems Analysis of Food Systems

“…Given recent advances in the power of online geographic information systems (e.g., Google Maps, ArcGIS Online) and online social networking systems (Ning, Elgg), the time was perfect for the envisioned enhancements. In response, the Extended Classroom Framework (ECF) was developed to explicitly integrate SAE, AL, and the circulatory system of science (CSS), which further builds on Lieblein et al (2012) in describing the stakeholder groups necessary to engage in the agroecology education process (Latour, 1999;Warner, 2007).…”