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Home / GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, Volume 27, Supplement 1

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

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Authors: Singer-Brodowski, Mandy; Beecroft, Richard; Parodi, Oliver

Source: GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, Volume 27, Supplement 1, 2018, pp. 23-27(5)

Publisher: oekom verlag

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.27.S1.7

This article is Open Access under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY licence.

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.

Keywords: education for sustainable development; educational theory; interdisciplinarity; real-world laboratory; social learning; transdisciplinarity; transformation; transformative science

Document Type: Research Article

Publication date: January 1, 2018

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  • GAIA is a peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to inter- and transdisciplinary research on and for sustainability transformations.

    Environmental problems cannot be solved by one academic discipline. The complex natures of these problems require cooperation across disciplinary boundaries. Since 1991, GAIA has offered a well-balanced and practice-oriented forum for transdisciplinary research. GAIA offers first-hand information on state of the art environmental research and on current solutions to environmental problems. Well-known editors, advisors, and authors work to ensure the high quality of the contributions found in GAIA and a unique transdisciplinary dialogue – in a comprehensible style.

    GAIA is an ISI-journal, listed in the Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Science Citation Index and in Current Contents/Social and Behavioral Sciences.

    All contributions undergo a double-blind peer review.

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