2016-2021 | International Thematic Network SEDwise 'Sustainability Education'

RUNNING FROM 2016 TO 2021
FUNDED BY UGent – INTERNATIONALISERING
CDO RESEARCHERS: KATRIEN VAN POECK, ELLEN VANDENPLAS, MAARTEN DELEYE & THOMAS BLOCK

SEDwise was an International Thematic Network (ITN) established in the context of Ghent University’s internationalisation policy. The aim of the network was to provide research-driven capacity-building on integrating sustainability in (university) education. Addressing sustainability issues in education is a challenging endeavour. Often characterised as ‘wicked problems’, these issues bring about major pedagogical challenges. Further research and capacity-building is required to support (university) teachers. SEDwise was established to contribute to that by enabling fruitful cross-fertilisation between research, education and services to society.

During 5 years, the SEDwise network developed a broad range of activities such as pilot experiments aimed at integrating sustainability in university education in various fields, action research in which the educational pilot experiments are investigated as cases, research seminars for in-depth discussions about the pilot cases and theoretical issues, workshops on sustainability in university education, in-service training, summer schools about (education and) sustainability issues, presentations at international conferences, joint project applications for research projects, etc.

SEDwise brought together university teachers within UGent who were strongly engaged in integrating sustainability in their educational activities with a selected group of sustainability education researchers in international partner institutions. Through the thus created interdisciplinary network, Ghent University served as a 'living lab' where innovative experiments with sustainability education were co-created and turned into case studies for sustainability education researchers who acted as ‘critical friends’.

UGent partners: Katrien Van Poeck (network coordinator, Department of Political Sciences) – Thomas Block (promoter, Department of Political Sciences) – Gert Goeminne (Department of Political Sciences) – An Cliquet (Department of European, Public and International Law) – Michiel De Krom (Department of Sociology) – Brent Bleys (Department of General economics) – Joost Dessein (Department of Agricultural economics) – Bea Merckx (Teacher Training Arteveldehogeschool) – Michiel Dehaene (Department of Architecture and urban planning) – Steven De Meester (Department of Industrial biological sciences) –  Stefaan De Henauw (Department of Public health) –Bart Defloor (Department of General economics) – Erik Paredis (Department of Political Sciences) –  Michel De Paepe (Department of Flow, heat and combustion mechanics) – Frank Nevens (Department of Applied biosciences) – Angelo Van Gorp (Department of Social work and social pedagogy)

International partners: Leif Östman (Uppsala University, Sweden) – Heila Lotz-Sisitka (Rhodes University, South-Africa) – Jeppe Læssøe (Aarhus University, Denmark) – Jonas Andreasen Lysgaard (Aarhus University, Denmark) – Arjen Wals (University of Gothenburg & Wageningen University, Sweden & The Netherlands) – David O. Kronlid (Uppsala University, Sweden) – Eva Friman (Uppsala University, Sweden) – Alan Reid (Monash University, Australia) – Elsa Lee (University of Cambridge, UK) – Marcia McKenzie (University of Saskatchewan, Canada) – Johan Öhman (Örebro University, Sweden) – Stefan Bengtsson (Uppsala University, Sweden) – Michael Håkansson (Södertörn University, Sweden) – Luiz Marcelo de Carvalho (Universidade Estadual Paulista, Brasil) – Petra Hansson (Uppsala University, Sweden)