Connected learning spaces

New publication | Transformative roles of people and places: learning, experiencing, and regenerative action through social innovation | by Abid Mehmood et al.

by

This paper discusses the transformative role of people and the places which they inhabit. It advocates the richness and multiplicity of actors and understandings to drive sustainable place-shaping practices. Grounded in the interdisciplinary place-based conceptualisation of social innovation, the paper aims to progress a holistic conceptual framework which integrates the active processes of learning, experiencing, and regeneration to tackle the complex challenges of sustainability.

This article is the third to appear in the Sustain Sci. Special Feature: Exploring the Transformative Capacity of Place-Shaping Practices , edited by SUSPLACE.

#SUSPLACE2019: Scholar-Activism Zine from SUSPLACE Final Event 

by

Hot off the digital press we present you the SUSPLACE Scholar-Activism Zine! – Created through the collective work of participants in the Scholar-Activism Zine-making workshop at the Final Event in May and then compiled by myself and Poppy Nicol. 

Zine-making is both process and product. The act of coming together to reflect on our roles as scholar-activists and discuss these before turning our ideas onto paper through drawing, writing, doodling and collage was really important. We also hope that the final product, the compiled zine, will help others to reflect on their own practices well as spark up new and interesting conversations around the role of research institutions and researchers in relation to political struggle and communities. 

Publication: Experiential approaches to sustainability education-towards learning landscapes

by

In the recent publication Malin Backman et al. critically reflect the current specialist discourse on experiential approaches to higher education for sustainable development (HESD). Limitations to the current discourse are identified, and as a result, an alternative, learning landscape approach to the study of experiential education (EE) within HESD is suggested. Malin Backman was appointed as a fellow at the SUSPLACE research project Connected Learning Spaces from April 2016 till June 2018.

Co-designing Sustainability Learning with University Students and Community Gardens

by

On an unseasonably warm February afternoon – warm enough to sit outside with no coat on and with a chorus of birds overhead – seven university students and ten community gardeners gathered in a tranquil community garden on the outskirts of Cardiff, Wales. They met for the 2nd Tyfu i Ddsygu (or Growing to Learn) workshop, with the aim to collectively developing a series of hands-on learning projects.

Finding inspiration at Royal Geographical Society Annual Conference 2018

by

This year marked the return of the annual Royal Geographical Society (RGS) to Wales for the first time in 25 years, hosted by our Geography and Planning department at Cardiff University. It is possibly the largest Geography conference in the UK, attracting more than 1700 researchers and practitioners and at times running more than 30 … Read more

Vacancy for Early Stage Researcher ‘Connected Learning Spaces’

by

The SUSPLACE position of Early Stage Researcher (ESR) in ‘Connected Learning Spaces‘ has recently opened up again. We are currently looking for an ESR to be appointed for the remaining 10 months. The position is hosted at Sustainable Places Research Institute of Cardiff University, Wales and open for application till June 16, 2018. Please find the … Read more

Never stop experimenting! Introducing the SUSPLACE Toolkit on Arts-Based Methods for Transformative Engagement

by

Written by Angela Moriggi and Kelli R. Pearson “The only way to approach such a period in which uncertainty is high and one cannot predict what the future holds, is not predict, but to experiment and act inventively and exuberantly via diverse adventures in living” ~ C.S. Holling In October 2016, six of us got together … Read more

Against human self-centeredness

by

By Malin Bäckman March 2017 I enter a dark room, two screens on both sides display images of large telescopes and green forests, in the front a black screen with white text. A story is being told. I’ve seen this before, in various art museums and galleries I first think to myself. But there is something … Read more

New, big and beautiful – reflections on rebuilding Utopia

by

By Malin Bäckman On the 16th of November I attended the event Cities: Ensuring Prosperity, Equality and Well–one of the Cardiff University’s School of Geography and Planning’s 50th anniversary celebration events. The presentations covered topics such as city economies, resilience and homelessness. One of the presentations Neo-Cities: rebuilding Utopia seemed to confuse and provoke many … Read more

Learning to hope

by

By Malin Bäckman Every now and then I find myself wondering: what’s the point? What’s the point of researching about sustainability, searching for ways to shape more sustainable places? What difference will my contribution make, or will it make any difference at all? While grappling with these questions I continuously try to tell myself, that … Read more