Description

The course will introduce the participants to practice based research from several traditions, including sociology, interpretive policy analysis, and institutional thought. We will explore how various ideas and concepts inform practice based research today. The course will focus on how daily routines shape local governance; how meaning and action are entwined in practice; how different types of meaning, materiality, and competences make practices possible; and how knowledge is performative.

The ´Masterclass´ format of the course entails a specific focus on the practice of doing research. Experts who use practice approaches in their own work will combine lectures with interactive sessions on how to translate theoretical ideas and concepts to specific and relevant research questions; on how practice research informs data analysis; and how methodical choices steer what practices we study.

We are happy to announce that prof. Hendrik Wagenaar from King´s College London and the University of Vienna will be our special guest teacher. Henk Wagenaar has already published extensively on practice research (e.g. consider his recent book ´Meaning in Action´) and continues to develop the approach in his work. From within Wageningen, we have experts participating from multiple research groups who represent several traditions in practice research in the domains of forest, biodiversity, and energy, amongst others.

Schedule

Learning outcomes

After successful completion of this course, participants are expected to be able to:

• Understand key concepts in practice theory
• Distinguish between various traditions within practice based research
• Apply practice based concepts to environmental governance issues
• Evaluate methodological choices within their own research projects

Assessment

0.5 credits will be awarded based on active participation. If so desired, the ECTS can be increased by 2.0 by writing an academic paper of 6000 words.

Target group and min/max number of participants

The target group is PhDs and postdocs who work on (socio-)environmental issues from a social science perspective. We aim for 15-20 participants and would require a minimum of 8 participant for the course to happen. The max number of participants is 24.

Assumed prior knowledge

Prior knowledge of at least one type of mainstream social science approaches to environmental issues is assumed (i.e. institutional analysis / discourse analysis / political ecology/ science and technology studies / practice theory).

Course fee

^{NB: for some courses, PhD candidates from other WUR graduate schools with a TSP are also entitled to a reduced fee. Please consult your Education/PhD Programme Coordinator for more information}

Cancellation conditions:

The participants can cancel their registration free of charge 1 month before the course starts. A cancellation fee of 100% applies if a participant cancels his/her registration less than 1 month prior to the start of the course.

The organisers have the right to cancel the course no later than one month before the planned course start date in the case that the number of registrations does not reach the minimum.

The participants will be notified of any changes at their e-mail addresses.