Learning in Real-World Laboratories : A Systematic Impulse for Discussion

Real-world laboratories (RwLs) are a form of transdisciplinary research that facilitates learning processes as part of its transformative objectives. Nevertheless, little conceptual effort has been put into the understanding, planning, and evaluation of the learning dimension of RwL work. This paper applies a systematic approach from the discourse on education for sustainable development (ESD) to differentiate three perspectives on the various learning processes occurring in RwLs and exemplifies them with experiences from the RwL Urban Transition Lab 131 in Karlsruhe

Transformative Forschung als Motor für die Gestaltung von Systemübergängen

Die „große Transformation“ hat eine lange unterschätzte innovations- und wissenschaftspolitische Dimension. Diese Dimension hat im Wissenschaftsjahr 2012 erheblich an Kontur gewonnen

The self in the mirror: fostering researchers’ reflexivity in transdisciplinary and transformative studies at the science-policy interface

Reflexivity is a key expectation that researchers in transdisciplinary and transformative research for sustainable development need to meet. Its aim is to enable researchers to deal with normativity, to contribute to identifying and balancing different actors’ interests in processes of knowledge production, and to strengthen a pluralistic view of implicit assumptions. When designing and realizing transdisciplinary and transformative studies, researchers face a central question: How can we develop reflexive practices and live up to the demands of such work? Considering the important role that reflexivity plays in transdisciplinary approaches, it is surprising that only few approaches have explored the specific characteristics of reflexive practices empirically and analyzed how these practices are cultivated when doing transdisciplinary and transformative research. In this article we address this research gap by presenting and discussing a case in which researchers attempted to professionalize their reflexive practices at the science-policy interface (SPI). As part of the national Monitoring of Education for Sustainable Development in Germany, we used the method of collaborative autoethnography to systematically reflect on our own thinking and actions as researchers at the SPI over a period of 11 months. Based on an analysis of 66 situations in which we took field notes, we synthesized core topics of reflection and challenges encountered throughout the process (roles, relationship patterns, and normativity) in six collaborative interpretation sessions and analyzed them to understand our own practices of engagement within the field. Grounded in this analysis of our own selves as researchers looking in the mirror, we develop hypotheses about how our specific methodological approach helped us on a practical level to foster different kinds of reflexivity. With this two-fold approach, we aim to contribute to a better understanding of possible topics, challenges, and pathways of (increased) reflexivity among researchers working at the SPI

On the goals of education for sustainable development and the status of implementation in the German school system

Der Artikel zeichnet zunächst die Diskussion zu Nachhaltigkeit und Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung (BNE) nach und skizziert ausgewählte kontroverse Diskussionen zu Zielstellungen von BNE. Im Anschluss geht der Beitrag auf die Verankerung von BNE im deutschen Schulsystem ein. Zur Strukturierung der Erkenntnisse werden die drei Ebenen von Input, Prozess und Output/Outcome aus dem Bildungsmonitoring genutzt. Abschließend werden vier Ideen für die Weiterentwicklung von BNE in der Schul- und Unterrichtspraxis formuliert. (DIPF/Orig.)The article first traces the current discussion on sustainability and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and outlines selected controversial discussions on ESD objectives. Subsequently, the article looks at the anchoring of ESD in the German school system. The three levels of input, process and output/outcome from education monitoring are used to structure the findings. Finally, four ideas on the further development of ESD in school and classroom practice are formulated. (DIPF/Orig.

Pledge for a transformative science: a conceptual framework

"Transformative science" is a concept that delineates the new role of science for knowledge societies in the age of reflexive modernity. The paper develops the program of a transformative science, which goes beyond observing and analyzing societal transformations, but rather takes an active role in initiating and catalyzing change processes. The aim of transformative science is to achieve a deeper understanding of ongoing transformations and increased societal capacity for reflexivity with regard to these fundamental change processes. The concept of transformative science is grounded in an experimental paradigm, which has implications for (1) research, (2) education and learning, and (3) institutional structures and change in the science system. The article develops the theoretical foundations of the concept of transformative science and spells out the concrete implications in these three dimensions

Moving (Reflexively within) Structures. The Governance of Education for Sustainable Development in Germany

The educational governance discourse aims at capturing how different actors, participating in a specific political process, coordinate their actions while working together within multi-actor policy networks. In Germany, such multi-actor policy networks have set up ambitious political goals on the implementation of education for sustainable development (ESD) that has resulted in the National Action Plan. The current domestic slogan “From Project to Structure” reveals the overall aim of scaling ESD. In this article, a governance perspective is used to examine how the actors involved in ESD in Germany coordinate their actions with each other. Six focus group discussions for different educational areas were conducted and analyzed with a structuring content analysis in MAXQDA. Additionally, an in-depth case comparison of the actors from different sectors (administration, politics, academia, civil society, and educational practice) was carried out. The results show sector-specific boundary work—the way in which actors construe, maintain, or even bridge boundaries when coordinating their actions in scaling ESD. Actors from the various sectors positioned themselves in patterns of more structure-immanent or more structure-transcending positionings. The conclusion shows that reflection and relational agency is pivotal for cooperation within multi-stakeholder governance networks and for moving strategically within structures

Transformative Wissenschaft

Mandy Singer-Brodowski, Jorrit Holst und Antje Goller widmen sich in diesem Beitrag der Frage, welche institutionellen Veränderungen im deutschen Wissenschaftssystem notwendig sind um mehr Nachhaltigkeit zu fördern und zu unterstützen. Sie greifen dabei auf das Buch »Transformative Wissenschaft« zurück und zeigen die Debatten und Kontroversen, die es ausgelöst hat. Anschießend skizzieren sie Formen der Umsetzung und Konkretisierung transformativer Wissenschaft auf Ebene der Transformativen Lehre, der Transformativen Forschung und des Institutionellen Wandels. (Herausgeber)In this article, Mandy Singer-Brodowski, Jorrit Holst and Antje Goller address the question of which institutional changes are necessary in the German science system to promote and support more sustainability. They draw on the book "Transformative Wissenschaft" (Transformative Science) and show the debates and controversies it has triggered. They then outline forms of implementation and concretization of transformative science at the level of transformative teaching, transformative research and institutional change. (Editor

Monitoring Progress of Change: Implementation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) within Documents of the German Education System

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) contributes to a holistic transformation of education systems, fostering deeply rooted learning processes required to co-create a sustainable future for all. The independent project National Monitoring on ESD in Germany traces the status and progress of formal ESD implementation via repeated large-scale indicator-based document analysis. Including over 4500 documents from early childhood education, school education, higher education, and vocational education and training, this study shows that the process of ESD implementation gained momentum over the period of the Global Action Programme (2015–2019). At the same time, large discrepancies remain between the areas of education, different types of documents, federal states, and with regard to the depth and quality of the contextualization of ESD and related concepts. While considerable developments are identifiable within all four formal areas of education, strong additional efforts are required for a comprehensive structural implementation of ESD in Germany. Although the results of the study focus on the status and progress of ESD within the German education system, the methodological framework may also serve as groundwork for other independent, comprehensive, and supportive monitoring programs