Multi-Actor Learning for Sustainable Regional Development in Europe: A Handbook of Best Practice by Andrew Barton & Jana Dlouhá (editors) All rights reserved Copyright © Andrew Barton & Jana Dlouhá, 2011 Andrew Barton & Jana Dlouháare hereby identified as the authors of this work in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 The book cover picture is copyright to Andrew Barton & Jana Dlouhá This book is published by Grosvenor House Publishing Ltd 28-30 High Street, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 3HY. www.grosvenorhousepublishing.co.uk This book is sold subject to the conditions that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the author's or publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-908105-33-2 Contents Introduction 1 Chapter One In search of the knowledge triangle for regional sustainable development: the role of universities 5 Chapter Two Critical perspectives from the literature review on the contribution of universities to regional sustainable development 19 Chapter Three Indicators for Reflection of Learning Processes in Sustainability Oriented Regional Networks of Cooperation 47 Chapter Four E-learning Methodology for Regional Cooperation and Promotion of a European Learning Space in the Interdisciplinary Field of Sustainable Development 81 Chapter Five Networking and Interaction between Regions and Higher Education Institutions 106 Chapter Six Potential of social software to support Learning Networks for Sustainable Development 124 Chapter Seven Database on Learning for Sustainable Development – analysis of projects 149 Chapter Eight Case studies in best practice for learning for sustainable development 157 A. Transformative Regional Development 159 iii Multi-Actor Learning B. The ReSource Project – Turning Problems into Potentials 183 C. Gender Mainstreaming in the Spatial Planning of Novi Sad 200 D. Sustainability in Practice 215 E. National Persistent Organic Pollutants Centre 234 F. Towards Research & Science 247 G. The SUN Project: Exchange, Learning, Virtual Learning? 265 H. Development of Common Environmental Training Activities Between Greece and FYR of Macedonia 292 Chapter Nine Summary, Reflections and Meditations 307 AnnexOne 322 AnnexTwo 331 AnnexThree 341 iv INTRODUCTION Introductory Message from Project Manager Global society is undergoing unprecedented social and technological change, and the physical environment we live in is facing inexorable transformation as well as a result of burgeoning climate change. Faced with these enormous challenges, there is a need to adapt conventional ways of learning to create knowledge and skills that can be applied to developing individuals and society in ways that are economically, socially, and above all, environmentally sustainable. In response, the importance of Learning for Sustainable Development (L4SD, sometimes also referred to as Education for Sustainable Development or ESD) is widely accepted, as is the need for lifelong learning, emphasised in Agenda 21 and integrated in a number of international declarations (UNECE 2005; UNESCO 1997; EU Sustainable Development Strategy 2006). Three main challenges have been identified to address global learning needs: a) self-directed learning options for the development of competencies, b) transdisciplinary settings to make knowledge applicable and effective in real-life situations, and c) overlapping the boundaries of academic versus non- academic learning to achieve a holistic approach to lifelong learning. Over halfway through the UN Decade of ESD, exploration of an array of different activities and pilot testing highlighted networking and capacity building as the main priorities to strengthen the different approaches and to guarantee widespread impact. Hence, this was the focus of the Lifelong Learning Network for Sustainable Development (3- LENSUS). 3-LENSUS focused on the key issue of the ‘knowledge triangle’ of education, research and innovation for regional sustainable development. To strengthen networking for L4SD, the project laid 1 Multi-Actor Learning an emphasis on, firstly, the structural aspects of networks, and secondly, learning collaboration, as both approaches are essential for achieving the collaborative development and transfer of innovative practice in L4SD. A L4SD network was developed by linking the Virtual Campus for a Sustainable Europe, Regional Centres of Expertise (RCEs) on Education for Sustainable Development, universities and local/regional stakeholders facing sustainable development challenges. This network has taken shape partly in the form of the successfully re-animated COPERNICUS Alliance (the European Network on Higher Education for Sustainable Development (http://www.copernicus- alliance.org) and partly via a web 2.0-based virtual learning space for RCEs (in Europe and elsewhere) that was being tested at the time of writing and which will have gone live by early 2011. While the virtual learning space was being designed and developed, a successful seminar programme was held for academic and non- academic participants interested in the RCE approach and possibly even in establishing a new RCE - a network of existing formal, non- formal and informal education organisations mobilised to deliver L4SD to local and regional communities. One of the concomitant aims of the 3-LENSUS project was to encourage the creation of new RCEs in areas of Europe where hitherto none had existed, and that was achieved through the imminent formalisation of the Central Macedonia RCE, and quite possibly a Czech RCE in 2011. In addition, to complement and enhance the L4SD network, an open electronic database was formed to collect and collate best practice cases in L4SD across Europe. The database also forms one of the key legacies of the 3-LENSUS project, as it will continue to gather other examples of L4SD practice (hosted in future by the COPERNICUS Alliance website) that can be shared with the wider L4SD community and inspire other stakeholders with their examples. The other main pillar of 3-LENSUS - capacity building – focused on innovative development and evaluation of trans-disciplinary, multi-sector, and multi-stakeholder learning for innovation in sustainable development. In this respect, the registered L4SD 2 Multi-Actor Learning database projects also play a vital role, as it is the selected examples of best practice from the database that comprise the real-life case studies section in this book, which aims to disseminate good practice for building the capacity of the L4SD community. The case studies go hand-in-hand with the development of best practice guides by the 3-LENSUS partners on e-learning methodology, transferable indicators for evaluating L4SD, networking between regional and higher education actors, and online network services, also reproduced in this book to serve, like the ongoing legacy of the virtual open warehouse of project examples represented by the electronic 3-LENSUS database, as inspiration for ongoing and future L4SD practice. Finally, a highly-successful final conference and workshop disseminating the project results was held at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, Greece, in November 2010, attended by a diverse array of academics and non-academics. All the presentations made during the conference, as well as the chapters and case studies published in this book, are available on the 3-LENSUS project website (www.3-lensus.eu). The 3-LENSUS consortium and target groups are all multipliers in different areas: universities to students and staff and local communities, local enterprises to clients, non-governmental and governmental organisations to the general public. The activities of 3-LENSUS will ensure that the capacity building tools reach far and wide. The L4SD network established by the project connecting universities and other societal actors can and already is acting as a model for the Global Learning Space for Sustainable Development envisaged by the United Nations University (UNU) within the framework of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Active collaboration with the UNU was undertaken while the communication and learning platform for RCEs was in its developmental and testing stages and it is expected that the space will have a global reach as a result. In conclusion, the large amount and high quality of the outputs produced by the 3-LENSUS project testify to the highly 3 Multi-Actor Learning productive work carried out by all the partners over the two- year life span of the project. It is our hope that its results and lessons learned will themselves prove sustainable over the long term by helping to raise awareness and strengthen ongoing efforts in Europe and the wider world to adapt the way we learn to meet the very real and critical challenges of living sustainably in a fast changing world. Finally, word of thanks to the external evaluators, Dr. Zinaida Fadeeva, Associate Fellow for the Education for Sustainable Development programme at the United Nations University’s Institute of Advanced Studies, and Dr. Jon Dron, Associate Professor at Athabasca University in the School of Computing and Information Systems in Canada, who did a great job in providing us with valuable comments, suggestions and advice. Andrew Barton 3-LENSUS Project Manager 4 Chapter One In search of the knowledge triangle for regional sustainable development: the role of universities Maik Adomssent Abstract In the following, meaning, role and interdependencies of education, research and innovation, which together form the so- called knowledge triangle, are analysed against the backdrop of the sustainability paradigm. In another analytical step, their contribution to regional sustainable development is highlighted. Last, but not least, the role of universities in communicating and producing knowledge, providing education and generating innovation is examined. Key words:innovation; knowledge; transformation; education; Innovation – a term with multiple meanings Looking at the vertexes of the triangle metaphor, innovation seems more than the others to have the character of a buzzword that is frequently used in close combination with knowledge. So, the first question is whether innovation can deservedly be described as nothing more than “the first global policy craze of the twenty-first century” (Steve Fuller, 2007) and, secondly, how innovation is discussed against the backdrop of sustainability. A recent definition of innovation mirrors its origin in economics/economic sciences, stating that innovation can be seen as the “successful exploitation of new ideas” that may either be entirely new to the market or involve the application of existing ideas that are new to the innovating organisation or often a combination of both. Thus, ‘innovation involves the creation of new designs, concepts and ways of doing things, 5 Multi-Actor Learning their commercial exploitation, and subsequent diffusion throughout the rest of the economy and society.’ (UK Innovation Report, 2003) This description covers the most frequently used meanings of the term, encompassing ‘invention’ (the act of creating something new), ‘innovation’ (first introduction of new products, processes, organisational forms etc.), ‘adoption’ (taking on something new); and ‘diffusion’ (process of spreading something new and making it acceptable) (Kristof, 2010). Furthermore, two different innovation models have to be taken into account: While the ‘Schumpeterian’ innovation (Schumpeter, 1934) originally strictly referred to the process of achieving technological improvements that can be characterised as radical and trend- breaking, ‘Usherian’ innovation (Usher, 1929) tends to be gradual and incremental and is facilitated by the learning process that occurs through cumulative experience (Weaver et al, 2000). Since breakthroughs also have a genealogy traceable to earlier discoveries, both forms of innovation can be seen as complementary (Figure 1). Figure 1: Typology of innovation (source: Abernathy & Clark, 1985) Until now, innovation research has been dominated by the economic mainstream. Sustainability-related activities mainly refer to the ecological dimension of sustainability, whereas conceptual amalgamation with economic and social dimensions only stands at the beginning (von Hauff & Jörg, 2010). With 6