In this episode of The (Re)generative Education Podcast I chat with dr. Arjen Wals, professor of Transformative Learning for Socio-Ecological Sustainability at Wageningen University. He also holds the UNESCO Chair of Social Learning and Sustainable Development.  

His recent work focusses on transformative social learning in vital coalitions of multiple stakeholders at the interface of science and society. His teaching and research focus on designing learning processes and learning spaces that enable people to contribute meaningfully sustainability. A central question in his work is: how to create conditions that support (new) forms of learning which take full advantage of the diversity, creativity and resourcefulness that is all around us but so far remain largely untapped in our search for a world that is more sustainable than the one currently in prospect? 

In this episode Arjen argues that we have a duty as educators to help move society towards a trajectory for life that is just, equitable and sustainable for all humanity as well as more-than-human life. The role of educator as a designer and enacter of living learning ecologies that allow for the emergence of eco-competence that nurture the relational patterns from which these holistic attitudes and abilities can emerge.  

In this discussion the following systemic barriers and opportunities emerged:  

1. The importance of your upbringing in being sustainability-oriented.  
2. The importance of connecting to nature, the web of life and caring for the environment.  
3. The realization that technology by itself will not be enough to turn the tide.  
4. The power of letting loose of our perceived control over the rest of the natural world.  
5. The use of existential questions and challenges as a starting point for learning.  
6. The power of using everyday life and places, in combination with existential questions, as the richest curricula we have.  
7. The importance of inviting diversity (including adversity) into learning places to challenge and transform worldviews.  
8. Becoming uncomfortable together, which requires trust and informal interactions.  
9. The importance of creating space for social-emotional learning and engagement in our learning environments.  
10. The importance of bringing back subjectification into higher education (who am I, who do I want to be? Who can I be?) in addition to qualification.  
11. Seeing competence (or eco-competence) as a relational property that can only be judged in action. 

External Links:  

https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/esdfor2030-berlin-declaration-en.pdf 

https://www.wur.nl/en/Persons/Arjen-prof.dr.ir.-AEJ-Arjen-Wals.htm 

https://twitter.com/ArjenWals?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor 

https://transformativelearning.education/about/ 

www.transformativelearning.org