University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) - Research portal

Go directly to the nagivation.
Go directly to the content.

Navigation/Search

Transdisciplinary & transformative learning in university education for sustainable development

Project Leader: Probst Lorenz, Project Leader

Duration:: 01.09.2014-30.11.2017

Type of Research: Applied Research

Project partners: Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia.
Function of the Project Partner: Partner; Go Organic (Kenya), Kenya.
Function of the Project Partner: Partner; Go Organic (Uganda), Uganda.
Function of the Project Partner: Partner; Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
Function of the Project Partner: Partner; Sokoine University of Agriculture, United Republic of Tanzania.
Function of the Project Partner: Partner; University of Nairobi, Kenya.
Function of the Project Partner: Partner

Staff: Punz Sonja, Project Staff

BOKU Research Units: Institute for Development Research

Funded by: Commission for Development Studies at Oead GmbH, Austria

Abstract: Dynamic trends such as fluctuating markets, climate change and population growth increasingly threaten the structural, functional and organizational integrity of agro-ecosystems. Accordingly, practitioners and scientists who can respond to these challenges while sustainably managing natural resources are urgently needed. In this regard, universities play a major role as they are educating future decision makers. They have thus the responsibility to create learning opportunities which provide systemic knowledge and train the ability to influence systems.
The “International Training Course on Organic Agriculture” (ITCOA), held in Uganda as a transdisciplinary training, has been an intuitive response to this need. ITCOA involves students from Uganda, Ethiopia, Austria, Kenya and Tanzania.
The project “Transdisciplinary & transformative learning in university education for sustainable development” (Trans²) complements ITCOA with an explicit reflection and research element, with the overall objective of contributing to an innovation of university education towards trans-disciplinary and transformative learning. Specifically, Trans² will trace the impact ITCOA has made on graduates and in the organic sector in Uganda. Moreover, Trans² will assess the approach of action learning through research and systematize lessons learned over the past several years of implementing ITCOA. Based on current theories of learning, qualitative and quantitative social research methods will be used.

Keywords: Organic farming; Sustainable agriculture; Subject didactics of agricultural sciences, veterinary medicine; University didactics; Development cooperation;; higher education; sustainable development; East Africa; trans-disciplinary learning; transformative learning;