Par$cipa$on  in  Sustainability  Ini$a$ves:    Top-­‐down,  Bo<om-­‐up,  a  Mix  or  Something  Else?  

 

Antje  Disterhe,,  UAb  /  UC,  Portugal  

I expect you all to be independent, innovative, critical thinkers who will do exactly as I say!

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UGAF  workshop  Freie  Universität  Berlin  

 26th  of  March  2015  

 

Inves$ga$ng  par$cipa$on   2  

•  Sustainability  declara)ons  •  Improving  opera)ons  (e.g.  

Environmental  management  systems  /  Green  Buildings  etc.)  

è  o,en  top-­‐down  strategies,  or  a  mix,  and  someGmes  also  boHom-­‐up   Par)cipa)on  and  related  

theories  to  higher  educa$on  for  sustainable  development  

Related  theoreGcal  concepts   3  

Sustainability  in  Higher  Educa$on   Educa$on  for    

Sustainable  Development  Concept  of  par$cipa$on  

Systems  theory  

Organisa$onal  theory  

Stakeholder  theory  

Theories  of  democracy  

Representa$ve  democracy  

Direct  democracy  

Governance  

Social  theory  

Cri$cal  theory  

Theories  of  knowledge  

Construc$vis$c  learning  theories  

Par$cipa$on  on  different  societal  levels      

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Fig.  1:  Societal  levels  of  parGcipaGon  (adapted  from  UNCED  1992)  

Sustainability  

ini$a$ves  in  

universi$es  

Forms  of  par$cipa$on  

Individual  par)cipa)on:    choices  and  ac$ons  individuals  make  as  part  of  their  life  and  that  are  statements  of  the  society  they  want  to  live  in  

Social  par)cipa)on:  collec$ve,  civil  or  community  ac$vi$es  in  which  individuals  are  involved  in  on  a  regular  basis  

Public  par)cipa)on:  the  prac$ce  of  consul$ng  and  involving  members  of  the  public  in  the  agenda  seXng,  decision  making  and  policy  forming  ac$vi$es  of  organiza$ons  or  ins$tu$ons  

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Arnstein’s  ladder  of  par$cipa$on  (1969)   6  

the  prac)ce  of  doing  something  in  order  to  make  people  believe  that  you  are  being  fair  and  including  all  types  of  people  and  issues  when  this  is  not  really  true  

Fig.  5:  French  student  poster  (in  Arnstein  (1969));    Text:  I  parGcipate/    You  parGcipate  /  He  parGcipates  /  We  parGcipate  /  You  parGcipate  /  They  profit   Fig.  4:  Ladder  of  parGcipaGon  (Arnstein,  1969)  

Some  insights  from  my  qualita$ve  research  

•  What  do  sustainability  prac))oners  consider  as  cri)cal  success  factors  for  par)cipatory  processes  in  sustainability  ini)a)ves?  

 

Data  sample:                    *  Focus  groups  consisted  of  8-­‐12  parGcipants  and  were  relaGvely  balanced  in  gender  and  working  experience  

 

 

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Par)cipants  in  interviews  and  focus  groups*  

N=51  (Interviews  N=15;  Focus  groups  N  =  36)  

•  55%  female,  45  %  male  

•  Mostly  in  the  age  groups  of  30-­‐39  years  (31%)  and  50-­‐59  years  (22%)  

•  Mostly  with  a  post-­‐graduate  degree  (59%  with  PhD,  33%  with  a  master,  8%  with  a  bachelor)  

•  Average  working  experience  in  sustainability  of  8  years  

•  Par$cipants  came  from  22  different  countries  

capacity buiding& empowerment

stimulating positive feeling raising champions

communication

identification with goals

listening

non-judging attitudegiving feedback

to find out what people are caring about

appreciation

experience

intuition

personal strengthand persistence

flexibility

authentic interest & credibility

avoid frustration

support of top management

tangibleobjectives

strategy witha clear goal

give a voice to relevant stakeholders

to have an institutional impact

can be

enough time and availability can be

can beranked

veryimportant

important

still important,but less

specific dispositions, skillsand (participatory) competencies

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Fig.  1:  Cluster  of  criGcal  success  factors  for  parGcipatory  processes  within  sustainability        iniGaGves  (Disterhe,  et  al.  2014)  

Selected  findings  

Selected  findings  (conGnued)  

•  Regarding  cri$cal  success  factors  for  par$cipatory  approaches,  the  research  underlined  (Disterheg  et  al.,  2014):  

 

Ø  Empowerment  and  capacity  building  as  principal  desired  outcomes  Ø  The  interdependence  with  structural  ins$tu$onal  condi$ons  and  the  

way  persons  engage  Ø  Ideally,  the  management  supports  the  ini$a$ve  and  shows  authen$c  

interest  Ø  The  importance  of  the  role  of  the  facilitator  Ø  The  importance  of  developing  par$cipatory  competencies  (referring  to  

all  stakeholder  groups  of  the  academic  community),  with  emphasis  on  listening  and  a  non-­‐judging  aatude  

Ø  Humour  and  fun  are  cri$cal  success  factors  J  

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Fig.  4:  Loops  of  learning  (adapted  from  Argyris  and  Schoen  (1978)  and  Holmgren  (2011))    

Par$cipatory  processes  as  a  transforma$ve  learning  experience  

ParGcipatory  processes  as  a  transformaGve  learning  experience  (conGnued)  “Transforma)ve  learning  involves:  Ø  “a  deep  structural  shig  in  the  basic  premises  of  thought,  feelings  and  

ac$ons;  Ø  “a  shig  of  consciousness  that  drama$cally  and  permanently  alters  our  way  

of  being  in  the  world.    Ø   a  shig  involves  our  understanding  of  ourselves  and  our  self-­‐loca$on:  our  

rela$onships  with  other  humans  and  with  the  natural  world”    (Morrell  &  O’Connor,  2002,  p.xvii)  

   

 

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…reflec$ng  on  par$cipa$on….   12  

   “EducaGon  either  funcGons  as  an  

instrument  which  is  used  to  facilitate  integraGon  of  the  younger  generaGon  into  the  logic  of  the  present  system  and  bring  about  conformity  or  it  becomes  the  pracGce  of  freedom,  the  means  by  which  men  and  women  deal  criGcally  and  creaGvely  with  reality  and  discover  how  to  parGcipate  in  the  transformaGon  of  their  world.”    

     Paulo  Freire  (1972)

 Sustainability  in  Higher  EducaGon:  Just  “equipping  people  to  become  more  effecGve  vandals  of  the  earth”?  

David  Orr  (2004)  

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Broadening  par$cipa$on   14  

“The  volume  of  educa)on  has  increased  and  con$nues  to  increase,  yet  so  do  pollu)on,  exhaus)on  of  resources,  and  the  dangers  of  ecological  catastrophe.  If  s$ll  more  educa)on  is  to  save  us,  it  would  have  to  be  educa)on  of  a  different  kind:  an  educa$on  that  takes  us  into  the  depth  of  things”  (Schumacher,    wriHen  1974,  published  1997)  

Par$cipatory  processes  as  an  ecological  

impera$ve  15  

v   Perceiving  our  world  as  a  whole  and  ourselves  as  part  of    it  (system  thinking,  the  web  of  life  (Fritjof  Capra))  

v   Implying  an  extended  sense  of  rela$onality  (Reason,  1998),  including  all  living  beings  

v  Par$cipatory  processes  that  s$mulate  all  forms  of  knowing  (cogni$ve,  emo$onal,  aesthe$cal)  

v  Par$cipatory  processes  that  are  in  service  of  the  Earth  community  

v  Including  the  natural  world  in  the  process  as  it  was  THE  MAIN  stakeholder  

Re-­‐connec$ng  to  the  natural  world   16  

Final  remarks  

Sugges)ons  for  answering  our  ques)on:  ²  Going  beyond  ‘power  struggles’  and  ba<le  of  hierarchies  ²  Perceiving  the  university  as  a  community  of  prac$ce  ²  Engaging  head,  hands  and  heart  (not  only  knowledge  that  shall  lead  to  ac$ons,  but  

emo$ons  that  give  purpose  and  foster  mo$va$on)  ²  Universi$es  as  learning  ins$tu$ons  (from  teaching  insGtuGon  towards  a  learning  

community)  ²  Including  the  inner  and  outer  dimension  of  par$cipa$on  :  personal  (cri$cal)  

reflec$on  on  how  do  I  (want  to)  relate  to  my  fellow-­‐beings  (including  those  from  the  natural  world)?  

²  Remembering  some  cri)cal  success  factors  ²  Ideally,  the  management  supports  the  ini$a$ve  and  shows  authen$c  interest  ²  The  importance  of  developing  par$cipatory  competencies  (referring  to  all  

stakeholder  groups  of  the  academic  community),  with  emphasis  on  listening  and  a  non-­‐judging  aatude  

²  The  importance  of  the  role  of  the  facilitator  ²  Humour  and  fun  are  cri$cal  success  factors  J    

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Thank  you  very  much  for  your  aNen)on!  

antje.disterheg@uc.pt        References:  Argyris,  C.,  &  Schoen,  D.A.  (1978).  OrganizaGonal  learning:  A  Theory  of  AcGon  PerspecGve.  Reading,  MA:  Addison-­‐

Wesley.  Arnstein,  Sherry  R.  (1969).  A  Ladder  Of  Ci$zen  Par$cipa$on.  Journal  of  the  American  Planning  AssociaGon,  35(4),  

216-­‐224.  doi:  10.1080/01944366908977225  Davidson,  Sco<.  (1998).  Spinning  the  wheel  of  empowerment.  Planning(3),  14-­‐15.    Disterheg,  Antje,  Caeiro,  Sandra,  Azeiteiro,  Ulisses  M.,  &  Leal  Filho,  Walter.  (2014).  Sustainable  universi$es  –  a  study  of  

cri$cal  success  factors  for  par$cipatory  approaches.  Journal  of  Cleaner  ProducGon(0).  doi:  h<p://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.01.030  

Habermas,  Juergen.  (1985).  The  Theory  of  CommunicaGve  AcGon,  Volume1:  Reason  adn  the  RaGonalizaGon  of  Society.  Translated  by  Thomas  Mc  Cathy.  Boston:  Beacon  Press.  

Holmgren,  Mark  (Producer).  (2011,  05-­‐05-­‐2014).  About  Learning.  Retrieved  from  h<p://www.slideshare.net/markholmgren/about-­‐learning-­‐8100291  

Mezirow,  J.  (1997).  Transforma$ve  learning:  Theory  to  prac$ce.  New  DirecGons  for  Adult  and  ConGnuing  EducaGon,  74,  5-­‐12.    

Morrell,  A.,  &  O’Connor,  M.  (2002)  Introduc$on,  in:  O’Sullivan,  E.,  Morrell,  A.  &  O  Connor,  M.  (eds)  Expanding  the  Boundaries  of  Transforma$ve  Learning:  essays  on  theory  and  praxis.  New  York:  Palgrave  Macmillan,  pp.xv-­‐xx.  

Reason,  P.  (1998).  Poli$cal,  epistemological,  ecological  and  spiritual  dimensions  of  par$cipa$on.  Studies  in  Cultures,  OrganizaGons  and  SocieGes,  4,  147-­‐167.    

Schumacher,  E.F.  (1997)  ‘This  I  believe’  and  other  essays.  Dar$ngton:  Green  Books,  (essay  first  published  in  1974)  UNCED.  (1992).  Agenda  21,  the  United  NaGons  Programme  of  AcGon  from  Rio.  New  York,  NY:  UN  Department  of  Public  

Informa$on.  

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    19  Davidson’s  Wheel  of  par$cipa$on  (1998)  

Fig.  5:  W

heel  of  p

arGcipaG

on  (D

avidson,  1998)  

Mezirow’s  ideal  discourse  (1997)  (based  on  Habermas’  ideal  dialogue  (1985))  

 “Par)cipants  are  –  allowed  full  access  to  informa$on,  –  free  from  coercion,  –  allowed  equal  opportunity  to  assume  various  roles  of  the  discourse,  –  encouraged  to  become  cri$cally  reflec$ve  of  assump$ons,  –  empathic  and  open  to  other  perspec$ves,  –  willing  to  listen  and  to  search  for  common  ground  of    synthesis  of  

different  points  of  view,  and  –  willing  to  make  a  tenta$ve  best  judgement  to  guide  ac$on.”  

!" Changing  our  habits  of  mind  and  points  of  view  

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