Panel Statement

Panel: Training Methods for Transdisciplinary Collaboration

Keywords: Transdisciplinary Reallab, Research Arts Approach, Community Design Practices, Capabilities for Collaboration, Mutual Learning by Immersive Settings, Higher Education for Sustainability

In order to address the complex and interconnected phenomena related to planetary boundaries challenges, ‘real-world laboratories’ (RwL) are increasingly used in sustainability and transitions research for experimenting with sustainability solutions. More recently RwL are also introduced in higher education aiming to create a better understanding for societal sustainability transitions, and furthermore to train competences for personal sustainability by academic-practitioners mutual learning settings. This paper presents insight and experiences with transdisciplinary RwL in immersive urban and rural learning environments following a system-ic, participatory and inventive ‘Research Arts approach’. An impact analysis exposes early findings of this evolving educational methodology highlighting gains as well as lessons learned.

• Dr. Stella Veciana lives at Sieben Linden ecovillage and teaches at the Institute for Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research, Leuphana University, Lüneburg, Germany. She worked at the Civil Society Platform Forschungswende for a participative research governance. For the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) & Fondo Indígena (FI) she created a transdisciplinary research program for indigenous communities. Studies in experimental arts (UdK Berlin), computer arts (SVA, New York), MBA in research management (UPC/ ESEA Barcelona), PhD in transdisciplinary artistic research (UB Barcelona). Research fields: sustainability research, community-based research, artistic research, open science, transdisciplinary collaboration methods, participatory governance. Veciana is founder of the Research Arts platform: research-arts.net

Full text (PDF) p. 700-703