Higher Education and Wicked Problems

Higher Education and Wicked Problems: Students Engaging with Complexity and Uncertainty in Sustainability Transitions

Fenten, Jan (Universiteit Leiden)
Bohm, N.L. (TU Delft Urban Development Management)
Van den Berg, Bas (De Haagse Hogeschool)

2021

The challenges we collectively face, such as climate change, are characterized by more complexity, interdependence, and dynamism than is common for educational practice. This presents a challenge for (university) education. These sustainability transition challenges are often described as wicked or VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) problems. In response, educational innovations that are inspired by ecology, such as living labs are starting to emerge, but little is known about how students engage within and with these more ecologically-inspired forms of education. This work is an exploratory study into how students navigate VUCA learning environments linked to tackling sustainability transition challenges, with a focus on the positive qualities of these experiences. This is done through interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) of seven students (using semi- structured interviews) of the MSc Metropolitan Analysis, Design and Engineering program, a joint degree from Wageningen University and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. The main findings, which are both psychological and educational, of this exploration include openness to new experiences (1), flexibility (2), a process appreciation of learning (3), a desire to create a positive impact on one’s direct biophysical environment and society (4). In addition, we discuss the potential limitations of the malleability of these different qualities and propose future avenues for research into ecological learning for universities. This work closes by highlighting recommendations for educators to consider when designing or engaging in ecological forms of higher education that connect to sustainability transitions.

VUCA
Sustainability transitions
Ecological learning
uncertainty
complexity
Higher Education
Wicked problems

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:70cf7b7b-b4d6-4a72-aec8-365af8c9edba

2022-08-07

The Barcelona Conference on Education 2021

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Institutional Repository

conference paper

© 2021 Jan Fenten, N.L. Bohm, Bas Van den Berg