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Pedagogical Approaches within the MSLS Programme at BTH
BTH staff,
June 2012
Sustainability Innovation Education
10 years ago:
Integrating environmental aspects into Mechanical Engineering
Educated staff about sustainable development
A mandatory basic course in sustainable development was developed and give to all students at Mechanical Engineering.
Build-up research field “Sustainable Product Innovation”
Recognition of our Sustainability Education
Report published in May 2009
Ranked BTH #1 in Sweden and #3 in Europe for engineering education for Sustainable Development
Master’s in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainabililty (MSLS)
"The question of reaching sustainability is not about if we will have enough energy, enough food, or other tangible resources - those we have. The question is: will there be enough leaders in time?"
- Dr. Göran Broman and Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt, programme founders
Master’s in Sustainable Product-Service-System Innovation (MSPI)
Strategic Sustainable
Development Innovation
Innovation
Sustainability Distance Education
• Currently 3 Sustainability Courses developed
• Excellent success rate, especially with Master’s level course
• For more information, please see: www.bth.se/sustainability
Industry Courses
Aimed at the Professionals within one industry
Mixture of distance education plus in-person workshops
Run in collaboration with The Natural Step (International NGO)
Short, Professional Courses
Now offering customised short courses (1-week, 2-week)
Topics surround the basics of Sustainability and how your organization can contribute to sustainable development
Aspects of the MSLS programme
Period structure
2 themes
Learning loops
Role of the staff
”The invitation”
Programme Overview
Period 1(Circles 1-3)
Period 2
(Circle 4)
Period 3/4:(Circle 5)
Introduction to Strategic
Leadership Towards
Sustainability (15 credits)
Strategic Management for Sustainability (STM)(7.5 credits)
Thesis Project (30 credits)Advanced Societal
Leadership (ASL)(7.5 credits) or:
Engineering for a Sustainable Society (ESS)(7.5 credits)
--- Leadership Thread ---
Holiday Season:Dec. 19/09 – Jan 3/10*
Aug. 2011
Nov. 2011
Jan. 18, 2012
June 4, 2012
Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability
Two interconnected themes:
We need both to adequately affect change!
A Framework for Strategic Sustainable
Development (FSSD)
Ability to ENERGIZE
change (org. learning and leadership)
… primarily content … primarily process
Two themes, integrated throughfive learning circles...
1) Teaching
2) Coaching
3) Advising
A Framework for Strategic
Sustainable Development
(FSSD)
Ability to ENERGIZE
change (org. learning and leadership)
Five Learning ‘Circles’
Expanding on key concepts:
• ‘Warm-up,’ then…
• Circles 1 - 2: core concepts
• Circles 3 - 5: in-depth on key issues/problem areas
• Circles 3 - 4: External experts, various topics
• Circle 5: Thesis
The invitation
... to something meaningful (trying to make the world a better place)
Explicit about trying to provide alternative learning approaches, in a transdisciplinary setting, using a science based approach
Clear that their year has the opportunity to be full of co-creation (they make what they want to get out of it), co-learning (we all learn together)
Open Space session: What do we want to create together in the next 10 months?
Who attends?
About 430 graduates to date (June 2012)
22-60 years of age, ave. age: 28-32
Typically represent 15-22 different nationalities
More than 50 different countries have been represented
Very active at BTH and in Karlskrona
Significant media coverage, locally and globally
Many alumni accepting excellent positions after graduating
First alumni reunion/conference undertaken February 2009 in Australia
Successful ’design’ aspects
Focus is on ’creating the right space’
When selecting applicants, we aim for diversity (age, culture, experience, background)
”Social learning”: We are all here to learn from one another, and they are their biggest resources
From start to ’finish’ we treat them as one cohesive group. We are not a collection of courses, we are a programme.
Staff – Student relationships
Role modelling leadership and creation of the ’safe space’. (Constructive feedback, no ’wrong’ ideas, or stupid questions)
Extremely high level of input on assignments
Personal time with students (outside class)
Student council allows a channel from students to programme team, and in general, our doors are open
We aim for an early field trip for class and class-staff bonding
Successful ’design’ aspects
The atmosphere of co-creation
Open Space
Progressively less ’control’ by the teaching staff over the programme. They are made aware of this from the beginning
Students are empowered to host their own events (eg. Art of Hosting)
Staff continually ask for students to take the lead on things (reading groups, organizing events, taking names of groups, collecting money, etc.)
Successful ’design’ aspects
Structures that lead to good results
Student council
Learning lab
Peer evaluations
Lots of group work
’Required’ debriefs / lessons learned
Reflective questions build into assignment, exams, etc.
Real life projects
Lots of opportunities to give feedback /input (course surveys, 3-week survey, periodic meetings, etc.)
Successful ’design’ aspects
Alumni network
Helps in finding jobs, resources, etc.
Support network in general
Raises money for scholarships
Marketing for BTH
Source of help for current students
Mentoring program
Coaches on STM projects
Successful ’design’ aspects
Other?
Sustainability group has an ambition to be world-class
Well connected with research / education
We are mostly alumni, quite young, international, and therefore can relate to what they are going through
Extra care/touch with incoming/ applying students
Marketing via Twitter, Facebook, alumni networks, WiserEarth, Blogs, videos, etc.
Current Challenges
Empowering people can lead to lots of ambitious students lots of commitments
There seems to be never enough time (see above), especially for marketing and admission process
We have a diverse and growing staff with no time for coordination / management. There are many projects on the go.
Tuition fees impacted the numbers and mix of the students
We have requests for partnerships, but don’t yet have a good way to engage (or the time)
Students feel overworked (is this the content or the extra-curricular?)
We are lacking Africa viewpoints
Most staff have a ’western’ mindset
Staff retention has been hard
