Learning in complexity.
Due to increasing globalization, technological advances and sociological changes, the world is becoming more complex than ever.
Complexity has gone from large systems, to organizational and individual levels. Today it concerns all aspects of society.
The will to take up these complex global challenges, from a sense of agency, requires a mind-shift accompanied by fundamental systemic changes in societal regimes conceptualised in sustainability transition.
It calls to think and work consistently from a complex ontology which we define as a complexity-orientated approach.
We need to rethink what we learn and how we learn to tackle the grand societal challenges of today and to build the future we want.
In this perspective, our aim is to pilot and implement new forms of real-life learning environments and combined complexity-based learning approaches.
CORE ASSUMPTIONS
For us, a complexity-oriented approach is based around an underlying (onto-epistemological) philosophical shift from a conventional Newtonian (linear, cause-effect) perspective to a systems perspective that embraces non-linear causality.
With it, learning and researching then always have their roots in the anticipation of complexity, and thus they are embracing the emergent and dynamic characteristics of complex issues.
Complexity-oriented learning is determined by an open, impact-driven, transdisciplinary, and multi-stakeholder approach. Its builds increased institutional capacity, enhances individual capacity of (future) professionals and reaches greater social capacity.
We believe that we need to bring together educational innovators from formal, non-formal and informal learning environments to enable and empower educators and learners to anticipate for the future and challenge the status quo as change agents.
CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS
We believe that new thinking about the multiple causes and interrelations of problems needs to be developed. Broad stakeholder acceptance of shared strategies and processes must be gained.
We need to open up to new insights about the multiple pathways and levels required for better solutions toward complex challenges.
This includes better comprehension of context, skills, strategies and practices for implementation related to complexity-based learning approaches.
For it, the Yanuz family has developed the ECOLA working group that brings complexity-oriented learning from a level of conception towards the level of implementation, this especially refers to higher education institutions.
Our aim is to empower higher education institutions and their students to anticipate for the future and to develop the right mindset and skills in order to resolve complex challenges of our times.
Interested?
Contact us and join our working group!
