Challenge-based, interdisciplinary learning for sustainability in doctoral education

Purpose : Doctoral candidates possess specialized knowledge that could support sustainability transitions. Doctoral education, however, often focusses on discipline-specific topics and working methods, making it difficult to “see the bigger picture”. This summer school on wood construction gathered doctoral candidates from different fields to explore how solutions to complex sustainability issues could be found by working together across disciplines and by engaging multiple stakeholders. The purpose of this study is to report the pedagogical approaches taken and to understand whether these fostered the candidates’ ability to develop systemic solutions and professional competency. Design/methodology/approach: Twenty doctoral candidates from various backgrounds participated in a two-week summer school organized by a consortium of four universities. Interdisciplinary groups worked on real-life challenges using a systemic approach to co-create tangible solutions. To support the creation of socio-technical innovations, stakeholders and experts from different fields were involved. The participants completed two questionnaires during the summer school to help elucidate their learning experiences. Findings : The doctoral candidates showed strong willingness to cooperate across disciplines, though they found it important to connect this learning experience to their research. The candidates reported that the experience enhanced their ability to work in a multidisciplinary capacity. The experience identified a solid basis for interdisciplinary learning principles that could be replicated. Originality/value: The summer school focussed on an innovative learning experience based on a systems thinking approach and the development of interdisciplinary capacity in the research-business ecosystem.

Description

Funding Information: The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding provided by EIT Climate-KIC, under “190451 PhD Catapult: Wood Construction in Climate Change Mitigation”. Furthermore, the authors are thankful to the staff at EIT Climate-KIC for their collaboration in the development of the summer school theme and the generous support during the recruitment of the participants. Grateful thanks are extended to the two coaches – Katrin Unger and Barbara Földi – as well as to the teachers who gave freely of their time to support this summer school. Grateful thanks are also extended to our stakeholders who enthusiastically engaged with the summer school over its two-week duration. Last, but by no means least, the authors would like to thank doctoral candidate Deepika Dahiya for her unstinting support and work in coordinating preparations for the summer school. Finally, the authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable insights and constructive feedback. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Keywords

Climate change mitigation, Doctoral studies, Higher education, Interdisciplinarity, Summer school, Sustainability, Systems thinking, Wood construction

DOI

10.1108/IJSHE-06-2021-0232

Citation

Piccardo, C, Goto, Y, Koca, D, Aalto, P & Hughes, M 2022, ' Challenge-based, interdisciplinary learning for sustainability in doctoral education ', International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 23, no. 7, pp. 1482-1503 . https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-06-2021-0232

Permanent link to this item

https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202204192817

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[article-cris] Kemian tekniikan korkeakoulu / CHEM

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