Collaborative Learning Experiences in a Changing Environment: Innovative Educational Approaches in Architecture

Ernesto Antonini,Jacopo Gaspari,Cristina Visconti

doi:10.3390/su13168895

Abstract

The sense of uncertainty and fragility due to the effects and magnitude of global challenges we are facing (from the circumstances of the pandemic to the impacts of climate change) requires—much more than in the past—the capacity to generate a visionary and forefront design approach in the young generation, with an aim to stimulate their reaction attitude rather than providing consolidated tools from past conditions that no longer exist or will rapidly evolve. Within this general framework, we have investigated the effectiveness and impacts of experienced-based methods of learning and innovative educational tools in architecture that are aimed at shaping expertise that addresses the aspects of environment and climate change in the context of socio-cultural dynamics, real potentialities and constraints, and their transdisciplinary trajectories. We analyzed five international pioneering teaching experiences that provided the opportunity to understand the outcomes of collaborative and experiential learning processes by which the educational activities leverage dialogue between diverse communities (including academia, citizens, policymakers, and practitioners). The study outcomes show that shifting the pedagogical paradigm towards experience-based models can improve the awareness of future practitioners for the climate implications of architectural design, implement their analysis and project skills, and trigger processes of knowledge transfer and co-production at the community level. Experience-based models also allow them to better address the societal and cultural issues involved in decision making.

Highlights

The current multifaceted crisis has highlighted again the close entanglement of the Earth system with its human inhabitants
The pandemic spread has generated further societal, health, and economic pressures that propel our participation in creating harmful conditions, such as climate change, the rapid loss of biodiversity, growing inequalities, and the loss of resilience to deal with uncertainty [1]
Scientific evidence points out how human actions are determining the Anthropocene scenario of planet Earth, drastically contributing to climate change and damaging the biosphere [2], which are intertwined, along with the social, economic, and cultural dimensions [1] in a complex interplay of interdependencies [3]

Summary

Introduction

The current multifaceted crisis has highlighted again the close entanglement of the Earth system with its human inhabitants. Unexpected natural, political, economic, and health events, together with unforeseen societal responses, trigger a reproduction of uncertainties in several domains at multiple levels [4] This requires an updated responsive capacity in planning, designing, and living in our built environment. The interplay between human development and biosphere trajectories cannot be ignored by future generations of architects and planners that are called to contribute to an innovative vision by incorporating keywords, such as sustainability and resilience into design approaches that are capable of dealing with complexity [5]. This perspective deeply matters in architectural education and strives

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Discussion

Conclusion