Learning for Sustainable Development. Merging Professional Demands and Academic Standards.

The research reported in this thesis was conducted at the Open Universiteit of the Netherlands, under the aegis of the UNESCO Chair in Knowlegde Transfer for Sustainable Development Supported by ICTs (prof. dr. Rietje van Dam-Mieras), established at the Open Universiteit's School of Science, and under the auspices of the Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies, Chair Technology Enhanced Learning (prof. dr. Peter B. Sloep). This document does not represent the opinion of Unesco, UNESCO is not responsible for any use that might be made based on its contents.Learning for sustainable development - is learning to come to grips with a fast changing domain in which knowledge is essential. Knowledge generation and knowledge transfer occur in the interaction between education, research and innovation. In this thesis we have researched what this means for future professionals in the field of sustainable development and what the implications are for the design of academic education

EIFFEL:Nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation

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Skills Labs - Deliverable 2.1.b: Casusframework Estuarine systems: the Scheldt

Tysmans, D., Lansu, A., Löhr, A., & Huiskes, A. (2009). Skills Labs - Deliverable 2.1.b: Casusframework Estuarine systems: the Scheldt. SURFFoundation.Volgens de Emergo-methode uitgewerkt casusframework van de casus Estuarine systems: the Scheldt binnen het project Skills Labs.SURFFoundatio

Changing Professional Demands in Sustainable Regional Development: A Curriculum Design Process to meet Transboundary Competence

Lansu, A., Boon, J., Sloep, P. B., & Van Dam-Mieras, R. (Accepted). Changing Professional Demands in Sustainable Regional Development: A Curriculum Design Process to meet Transboundary Competence. Journal of Cleaner Production. [Special Issue: Learning for Sustainable Development in Regional Networks] (2012). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.10.019Within a region, public sector organisations, private sector organisations and knowledge institutions all have a stake in finding novel ways to face tomorrow’s demands. In this paper we focus on the enhanced role of universities within the social network of our increasingly knowledge based society. The regional level of this study is the cross-border Rhine-Scheldt Delta and its knowledge network on sustainable innovations in water management. The challenge of sustainable development implies a frequent crossing of boundaries between disciplines and stakeholder perspectives and leads to what is called transboundary competence. This paper considers the implications of changing professional demands in the domain of sustainability from the point of view of the university. It addresses the research questions: How can a university incorporate transboundary competence in its view on learning and curriculum development? And how can the academic quality of learning outcomes be guaranteed in such curricula designed to meet the needs of stakeholders? Proposed is a design process based on open curriculum development in interaction with the workfield. The design process has been tested in the design of a blended learning Master in Delta Water Management

Learning in Networks for Sustainable Development

The didactic model of remote internships described in this study provides the flexibility needed to support networked learners, i.e. to facilitate the development and subsequent assessment of their competences. The heterogeneity of the participants (students, employers, tutors) in the learning network provides relevant diversity in expert perspectives. In today’s (networked) business environment, ever more collaboration takes place through virtual platforms and tools. Learning for Sustainable Development could profit from the opportunities such platforms offer, as part of it. Taken from the Brundtland Report (1987), Sustainable Development is development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Sustainable Development has a high level of complexity, with its need for integration of socio-political, environmental and economic perspectives, its uncertainty in future and its dedication to an enormous range of levels of scale, acting from local to global. Because of the complexity of the concept, the defining of competences and learning outcomes for Sustainable Development is not easy. Learning for Sustainable Development could be described as obtaining the ability to cross the boundaries between multiple perspectives in interaction with stakeholders and actors in sustainability issues. An authentic example on the Dutch-Flemish Scheldt Estuary debate, described in the present study, shows such different perspectives and how they influence the scientific study of and decision-making on sustainability issues. We argue how learners who have to deal with these kinds of different perspectives will develop their personal competences in an effective way. The didactic model of remote internships that we use, allows learners to work in virtual teams on current, authentic research assignments in contact with their customers: real employers in the professional field. Moreover, the didactic model enables learners to define their own activities according to their personal learning goals matching the external requirements of employer and university. This allows our learners - adult distance students at the formal BSc Environmental Sciences programme (Open Universiteit) - to start from their own unique perspectives, having different prior knowledge, in different learning domains and from different professional experiences. The multiple perspectives show themselves in the practice of virtual cooperation with peers and experts from both the academic and professional community. Thus, the present study explores how an online remote internship model can effectively support competence development in a heterogeneous professional learning network