Nadarajah Sriskandarajah

Innovative Education in Agroecology: Experiential Learning for a Sustainable Agriculture

The transdisciplinary field of agroecology provides a platform for experiential learning based on an expanded vision of research on sustainable farming and food systems and the application of results in creating effective learning landscapes for students. With increased recognition of limitations of fossil fuels, fresh water, and available farmland, educators are changing focus from strategies to reach maximum yields to those that feature resource use efficiency and resilience of production systems in a less benign climate. To help students deal with complexity and uncertainty and a wide range of biological and social dimensions of the food challenge, a whole-systems approach that involves life-cycle analysis and consideration of long-term impacts of systems is essential. Seven educational case studies in the Nordic Region and the U.S. Midwest demonstrate how educators can incorporate theory of the ecology of food systems with the action learning component needed to develop student potentials to create responsible change in society. New roles of agroecology instructors and students are described as they pursue a co-learning strategy to develop and apply technology to assure the productivity and security of future food systems.

Education and Resilience: Social and Situated Learning among University and Secondary Students

Similar to research on social learning among adult participants in natural resources management, current research in the field of education claims that learning is situated in real-world practice, and occurs through recursive interactions between individual learners and their social and biophysical environment. In this article, we present an overview of the social and situated learning literatures from the fields of natural resources and education, and suggest ways in which educational programs for secondary and university students might be embedded in and contribute to efforts to enhance resilience of social- ecological systems at the local scale. We also describe three initiatives in which learning is situated in adaptive co-management and civic ecology practices: a university graduate experiential learning course in Sweden, a pre-college environmental education program in the USA, and a university undergraduate service-learning class in the USA. Through integrating the social learning and adaptive management literature with the literature focusing on youth learning situated in authentic practice, we hope to: (1) suggest commonalities among systems views of learning and social-ecological systems perspectives on resilience, and (2) expand our thinking about educational practice from being a means to convey content matter to becoming a critical component of social-ecological systems and resilience.

Resilience in learning systems : case studies in university education

In this paper, we address the challenge of translating the concept of resilience into effective educational strategies. Three different cognitive dimensions (ontological, epistemological and axiological) that underpin assumptions held about the nature of nature, the nature of knowing and the nature of human nature are identified. Four case studies from higher education in the USA, The Netherlands, Sweden and the UK are presented, which illustrate how learners can be encouraged to confront their ontological, epistemic and axiological positions and appreciate the positions of others. The cases all emphasize experience as the source of learning and explore how learning experiences can be designed to facilitate transformations at the individual level that might foster resilience at the social–ecological system levels. We argue that the epistemic dimension deserves greater attention among educators and that epistemic development is crucial for those working with social–ecological systems as a foundation for building resilience.

Open-Ended Cases in Agroecology: Farming and Food Systems in the Nordic Region and the US Midwest.

Abstract Our aim is to describe open-ended case studies for learning real-life problem solving skills, and relate this approach to conventional, closed-ended decision case studies. Teaching methods are open-ended cases in agroecology, an alternative to traditional strategies that lead students through prepared materials and structured discussions to determine an outcome already known to the instructor. Our method promotes a culture of curiosity. Multiple evaluation criteria show how this learning strategy provides students with practice in researching, envisioning and designing potential scenarios for clients in the field. In agroecology case studies, students and instructors are co-learners in a discovery process that includes gathering information from key clients, interviewing major stakeholders, and building an understanding of the current context of the local farming and food systems. Two agroecology courses in Norway, a field course in the US Midwest, and an experimental course in Sweden and Vietnam illustrate this learning strategy. Student evaluations of learning have been highly positive, and skills and methods from courses have been applied in their thesis projects and professional careers. Practical results reveal that students are well prepared for an uncertain, complex, multi-dimensional and dynamic future, have the capacity to develop alternative future scenarios, and have practiced methods to evaluate options based on production, economic, environmental and social criteria and impacts. This innovative strategy is offered as a complement or alternative to conventional decision case studies and evaluated as an approach to experiential learning, an important and effective method for adult learners.

Future Education in Ecological Agriculture and Food Systems: A Student-Faculty Evaluation and Planning Process

ABSTRACT Three graduate-level short courses on ecological agriculture and food systems were held in 1995–1997 in Norway to introduce systems thinking, creative research methods, and innovative learning approaches. In 1999, a three-day evaluation and planning workshop was held to assess course impacts, to determine relative importance of content areas, to compare learning methods with special attention to case studies, and to vision and develop action plans for future education in the region. Students and faculty agreed that soft systems research methods and varied learning processes in the course were more valuable than specific technical content that can be learned in other venues. Nine priority education areas were identified for ecological agriculture: (1) systems thinking, (2) research methods, (3) farmer/stakeholder participation, (4) improving production methods, (5) relating agriculture to food systems, (6) learning about learning, (7) values and ethics, (8) faculty development and institutional change, and (9) agricultural and food policy. We explored current knowledge and future educational importance of each area, and found that case studies can integrate many of these topics. Four specific priority educational needs were identified through visioning toward an action plan for the region: (1) publish a Nordic teaching text in ecological agriculture, (2) expand the network of educators and researchers with a short course for faculty, (3) broaden the focus from farm production to food systems by including additional disciplines and themes, and (4) coordinate thesis research activities in ecological agriculture among universities. Evaluation and planning were efficient and productive in this short workshop, due to prior organization and creating ownership in the process and the future education plans, and all participants were involved in writing this final document.

Learning in European agricultural and rural networks: building a systemic research agenda

Six key themes that emerged from the European Union (EU) funded LEARNing project designed to develop and test a systemic approach to research practice are reported. The focus was on the learning and knowing processes experienced by individuals, groups and institutions that emerges from collective action and results in changes in practices or in the potential to change practices of those involved. The authors, drawn by the idea that the key to understanding knowledge is to be found in ‘how we know what we know’, or, in other words, in the processes of ‘learning and knowing’ present these themes: processes, theory, evaluation, institutionalisation and social and professional practice as a basis for further innovation in the conduct of R&D and as a basis for future capability-building of researchers.

Learning through feedback in the field: Reflective learning in a NGO in the Peruvian Amazon

The article discusses an action research project conducted in the Upper Amazon region of Peru that focused on the working approach of a NGO partner called PRADERA. In its land management projects PRADERA’s working approach was characterized by a close collaboration with farmers. Its emphasis was on grasping the farmers’ perspective on agriculture, targeting of local institutions in the villages as natural arenas for learning, and including topics in their analysis such as culture and worldview; this is analyzed through the framework of a reflective learning organization. The organization’s capacity for learning is described as consisting of single-, double- and the possibility of triple-loop learning. During our collaboration with PRADERA, though we did not find established internal arrangements that could foster a triple-loop learning process, incipient signs were noted of space and potential which could favor deeper levels of learning. The importance of deeper levels of learning in the work of small highly action oriented NGOs such as PRADERA that act as a bridge between local farmers and the outside world, and how action research methodology can be a tool for developing reflectivity within such an organization, are discussed.

Educating Tomorrow's Agents of Change for Sustainable Food Systems: Nordic Agroecology MSc Program

ABSTRACT Two key issues in the development of sustainable food systems on a global basis are education in how research will be done and informing a general public to become more aware of the food, nutrition, and hunger issues facing society. Knowing that food production, national and local food security, and equity in access to adequate nutrition are important is only the first step. Educating todays students to become motivated researchers, effective communicators, and agents of change in future systems is a larger challenge. The agroecology MSc program in Norway is one example of current educational initiatives that are addressing the production, economic, environmental, and social dimensions of farming and food systems in the region. Using an action learning and whole systems approach, we have built on our prior experience of intensive courses to develop one 8-week module focused on farming systems and a second 8-week module on food systems. In each case, an experiential learning strategy is used, with students spending time on farms and in communities, talking with key players who have different roles in the system. After two additional semesters of courses in specific areas of interest, each student completes a thesis project dealing with some aspect of agroecology and sustainability of food systems. Twelve examples are included here to illustrate the range of topics of recent MSc thesis research. Quotes from students who have completed the program are provided as testimonies to success. We conclude that integrating teaching and research has been highly effective in preparing agroecologists to deal with the complexity and uncertainty in dealing with food systems and nutrition in the future.

TOWARDS A LEARNING MODEL OF ICT APPLICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT: Lessons from a networked dialogue in Sweden

This paper reports on a two-day workshop held in Sweden (7–8 April 2008) to bring together researchers and professionals to share insights and experiences in the application of information and communication technology (ICT) to sustainable development (SD). The third in a series of events sponsored by the Swedish Program for Information and Communication Technology in Developing Regions (SPIDER), this workshop was aimed at fostering experience sharing among participants, creation of opportunities for formulating new project and research ideas, and enabling the formation of new partnerships. The focal point of the workshop was the conjunction of ICTs, environment, and development. Beginning with pre-workshop conversations via a blog page, the workshop promoted involvement of participants in active exchanges and dialogue through the use of open space processes. Workshop discussions revolved around questions of power and equity, poverty reduction, collective learning, and private sector involvement. The workshop was intended to encourage development organizations to explore alternatives to the traditional deployment approach to ICTs. Workshop participants reflected on the challenges and opportunities of shifting to a systemic learning approach for applying ICTs to SD. A systemic learning model is outlined as a means to enable more effective use of ICTs by balancing technical knowledge with insights into the context and history of the stakeholders and their field of application.