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Bas van den Berg successfully defended his PhD thesis at Wageningen University and Research on 12 June 2023, entitled ‘Design Principles for Regenerative Higher Education in Times of Sustainability Transitions’.
Humanity is living in times of grand societal transitions. A redesign, rediscovery and reconceptualisation of how to live in balance with the rest of the (more-than-human) world.
Educational institutions like universities have a responsibility to - in light of the pressing need to discover more sustainable futures than those currently in prospect - reimagine what education could be for and how it could be done. Being sustainable is no longer enough, when the planetary boundaries are consistently and structurally transgressed. Indeed, regenerative approaches to being are required that aim to actively restore the balance of humanities footprint on planet Earth. It is as of yet poorly understood how regenerative forms of education could be designed and enacted (within universities). This dissertation aimed to improve this understanding, specifically in a Dutch context.
To do so, a podcast-based ethnography was conducted where 27 different with educational trailblazers who actively engage with connecting their education to transition challenges. In each of these conversations, the underlying principles, resistances and tensions that were experienced when engaging with this work were explored and unraveled. This initial exploration - which resulted in 7 preliminary design principles - was supplemented with a 2,5 year autoethnographic study of engaging with regenerative forms of education in The Hague. This was done in the context of a 30 ECTS minor course Mission Impact at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. This autoethnographic exploration - including in depth study of the lived experiences of the students who joined for the course. Illuminated the design principles that emerged further. The final result of the thesis consist of The Regenerative Education Design Canvas and includes 8 design principles to engage with when (re)designing higher education to connect with sustainability transitions in life-affirming ways. The thesis shows that more regenerative futures for higher education are not only possible - they are already emerging.
To do so, a podcast-based ethnography was conducted where 27 different with educational trailblazers who actively engage with connecting their education to transition challenges. In each of these conversations, the underlying principles, resistances and tensions that were experienced when engaging with this work were explored and unraveled. This initial exploration - which resulted in 7 preliminary design principles - was supplemented with a 2,5 year autoethnographic study of engaging with regenerative forms of education in The Hague. This was done in the context of a 30 ECTS minor course Mission Impact at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. This autoethnographic exploration - including in depth study of the lived experiences of the students who joined for the course. Illuminated the design principles that emerged further. The final result of the thesis consist of The Regenerative Education Design Canvas and includes 8 design principles to engage with when (re)designing higher education to connect with sustainability transitions in life-affirming ways. The thesis shows that more regenerative futures for higher education are not only possible - they are already emerging.