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Als Fallstudie wird im ersten Paper der Einsatz der Szenarioanalyse als ein zentrales Element des Forschungsdesigns im Projekt „Sustainable University“ beleuchtet. Mit einem formalen Ansatz wurden Szenarien zum zukünftigen Umfeld der Hochschullandschaft entwickelt. Dieses Paper zeigt detailliert die notwendigen Denkschritte bei der Szenarioentwicklung auf und hilft zu verstehen, an welchen Punkten Integrationsschritte in Bezug auf Wissensarten und Perspektiven unterstützt und geleistet werden und somit auch (soziale) Lernprozesse gefördert werden können. Ferner werden die konkreten Ergebnisse der Szenarioanalyse vorgestellt und diskutiert. Zur Untersuchung von Lerneffekten wird die Methode der Szenarioanalyse in einen formalen Bildungskontext transferiert. Das zweite Paper leistet einen konzeptionellen Beitrag. Einleitend werden spezifische individuelle Kompetenzen diskutiert, die aus der Perspektive der Bildung für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung zum Umgang mit dem Klimawandel als komplexes Nachhaltigkeitsproblem und zu einer aktiven Teilnahme an Transformationsprozessen der Gesellschaft wichtig sind. Die Kompetenzen, wie proaktives Denken, der Umgang mit Unsicherheiten und unterschiedlichen Wissensbeständen sowie das vernetze Denken konnten hier beschrieben werden. Anschließend werden zwei Forschungsmethoden, der Syndromansatz und die Szenarioanalyse, für den Kontext der formalen Bildung nutzbar gemacht, und es wird theoretisch abgeleitet, wie in diesen Lernsettings die eingangs identifizierten Kompetenzen gefördert werden können. Die Szenarioanalyse bietet beispielsweise beim Denkschritt der Entwicklung von Zukunftsprojektionen großes Potential für Reflexionsprozesse oder die Integration von Wissen und Perspektiven zur Förderung der Kompetenz des proaktiven Denkens in Alternativen. Die diskursive Bewertung von Konsistenzen während der Szenarioerstellung birgt ähnliches Potential zur Förderung des vernetzten Denkens. Im dritten Paper wird ein Messinstrument für die Kompetenz des vernetzen Denkens (systems thinking) entwickelt. Es leistet einen empirischen Beitrag zur Lehr-Lernforschung, respektive zur Kompetenzmessung im Bereich der BNE. Dieses Instrument erfasst mit Hilfe eines Similarity Judgment Tests (SJT) den Grad der Vernetzung von Konzepten eines bestimmten Kontextes, in dem konkreten Fall von Aspekten des Klimawandels. In einer prä-post-Studie wurden zwei Kontroll und zwei Versuchsgruppen, die an dem zuvor genannten Lernsetting im Rahmen von Seminaren an der Leuphana Universität Lüneburg teilgenommen haben, empirisch begleitet. Auch wenn keine statistisch signifikanten Veränderungen des vernetzten Denkens der Teilnehmenden nachgewiesen werden konnten, bedeutet das nicht, dass die zuvor abgeleiteten Einflüsse der Szenarioanalyse widerlegt sind. Hier sind weitere Studien und die Weiterentwicklung des Messinstruments nötig. Zudem wurde nur ein Teil möglicher Einflüsse auf die Kompetenzentwicklung untersucht. Für die Szenarioanalyse als Lernsetting lässt sich schlussfolgern, dass zum einen der Moderation von Reflexions- und Diskussionsprozessen während unterschiedlicher Phasen eine sehr wichtige Rolle zukommt und sie einen wesentlichen Einfluss auf Lernprozesse hat. Zum anderen ist den Phasen, in denen Lernen stattfinden kann, genügend Zeit einzuräumen, so dass transdisziplinäre oder interdisziplinäre Forschungsprozesse mit der Methode Szenarioanalyse auch das Potential für Lernprozesse entfalten können. So kann mit Hilfe der Szenarioanalyse ein Setting geschaffen werden, in dem individuelle mentale Modelle und Handlungsmuster hinterfragt und Kompetenzen im Umgang mit komplexen Problemen gefördert werden, und somit individuelles und soziales Lernen für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung stattfinden kann.
Seit den frühen 1990er Jahren wird transdisziplinäre Nachhaltigkeitsforschung in Form von problemorientierten Forschungs- und Lernprojekten konzeptioniert und praktisch umgesetzt, an denen außeruniversitäre Akteuren beteiligt sind. Diese Forschungsarbeit verfolgt drei Ziele: Erstens, die Konzeptualisierung der Begriffe Kultur, Multi-, Inter- und Transkulturalität in der Literatur zur transdisziplinären Nachhaltigkeitsforschung zu untersuchen. Zweitens, die Konzeptionierung und Umsetzung von transdisziplinären Forschungs- und Lernprojekten in Hinblick auf kulturelles Differenzieren zu analysieren. Drittens, konzeptionelle Beiträge zur Gestaltung von transdisziplinären Forschungs- und Lernprojekten zu entwickeln. Methodisch wird auf Literaturanalysen und eine qualitative Untersuchung zweier transdisziplinärer Lernforschungsprojekte zurückgegriffen. Unter dem Begriff Forschungs- und Lernprojekt werden in dieser Forschungsarbeit sowohl Forschungsprojekte als auch Lehr-Lernforschungsprojekte gefasst. Zentrale Ergebnisse der Forschungsarbeit sind die Folgenden: Erstens wird der Kulturbegriff in der transdisziplinären Nachhaltigkeitsforschung zwar vielfältig verwendet, als Forschungsthema, Hintergrund von Beteiligten, Kooperationsweise, Projektkontext, in Hinblick auf Interkulturalität oder als Wissenskultur, allerdings kaum ausdifferenziert und konkretisiert. Zweitens besteht auf der Ebene der Konzeptionierung von transdisziplinären Forschungs- und Lernprojekten: 1) ein starkes Übergewicht von Integration und Konsens gegenüber einer Auseinandersetzung mit Differenz, 2) eine implizite Vorauswahl von Beteiligten durch bestimmte Begrifflichkeiten und methodologische Ansätze und 3) eine Reproduktion von Machtverhältnissen durch (dichotome) Symmetrie- und Ausgleichsvorstellungen. Drittens zeigt sich auf der Ebene der Umsetzung von Lernforschungsprojekten: 1) eine starke Prozessorientierung der Projekte, 2) ein Spannungsfeld zwischen einer Öffnung und Steuerung in Hinblick auf den Projektverlauf und 3) vielfältige Differenzaushandlungen in Interaktionen (wie Zeitlichkeit, Verantwortung, Erfahrung, Relevanz). Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass politische Implikationen der Forschung und zentrale Ungleichheitskategorien der Kultur- und Sozialwissenschaften (u.a. race, class, gender, body) kaum thematisiert werden. Vorschläge zur Gestaltung transdisziplinärer Forschungs- und Lernprojekte werden in Hinblick auf ein Verständnis von Forschungsdesigns als Prozesse, einem Erkunden von Differenzierungen und Forscherpositionen und der Bedeutung eines Verlernens entwickelt.
The German energy system is under transformation. The so-called Energiewende (in English, Energy turn) relies, among other things, on renewable energies for building a more sustainable energy system. Regions (Landkreise) are one relevant level where different administrative bodies make decisions and plans both for the implementation and for the use of renewable energies. However, in order to realize the goals of the Energiewende, developments in the wider society are necessary. This is why scientific research can and should foster such developments with more research on the social aspects of energy-related topics. The present work contributes to the understanding of transition processes towards a sustainable use of regional renewable energy by focusing on the role of contextual conditions, practical experiences, and temporal dynamics in the implementation and use of renewable energy in German regions. In this way, this work wants to contribute fostering the development of regional energy transition strategies for the realization of the Energiewende. The conceptual background for this piece of transformation research lies in three bodies of literature dealing respectively with transitions of socio-technical systems, transformations of socioecological systems, and time ecology. From a critical engagement with this literature, three main results have emerged. First, an evidence-based, spatially distinct analysis of contextual conditions for the use of renewable energy in all German regions has resulted in the identification of nine types of regions, so-called energy context types. Second, empirical research on practices in regional settings learned from the knowhow of actors from regional administration has shown that political and economic conditions are crucial as well as that process management, exchange, and learning are helpful for renewable energy implementation. Third, conceptual work about a deeper understanding of the temporal dimensions of transformation processes has made it possible to point out a three-step approach to include temporal dynamics into sustainability transformations management - the time-in-transformations-approach. The literature suggests that regions need to be treated individually; but developing an energy transition strategy for each region individually would be extremely resource intensive. Overall, this work outlines a compromise for a more efficient approach towards regional energy transition strategies which still considers the individuality of regions. As a result, the author suggests to develop generic regional energy transition strategies that are adapted to each of the nine energy context types of German regions, that include the experiences of practitioners, and that consider temporal dynamics of transformation processes. Transdisciplinary research is a promising approach to meet many of the challenges for the realization of the Energiewende.
Sustainability transitions research proposes fundamental changes of societal systems' organisation to overcome persistent societal challenges, such as climate change or biodiversity loss, and allowing systems to become more sustainable. This thesis adresses an underlying tension in sustainability transitions research: between transitions as an open-ended process of fundamental change and the normative direction of this change: sustainability. In doing so, three themes are in the focus of the research: individual agency, normativity and transdisciplinary collaboration. Thereby, the thesis aims to strengthen process-oriented and potentially transformative approaches to sustainability transition research, in contrast to primarily descriptive-analitical approaches. Transition management as a recent and salient example of transdisciplinary transition research is chosen to provide research framework and application context. Based on conceptual-theoretic, empirical case study and reflexive work, three main results are contributed: First, a psychologically enriched understanding of individual and sustainability related agency in conceptual and empirical understandings of transition management is developed. This builds on two perspectives: a psychologically enriched capability approach as well as the analysis of social effects (social learning, empowerment and social capital development) of transition management to capture sustainability oriented agency increases. As second main result, normative considerations, namely sustainability, are included into transition management on conceptual and empirical levels. Therein, substantive, procedural and intentional aspects of sustainability are combined: Substantive aspects are covered by proposing capabilities, behavioral freedoms to live a valuable life, as normative yardsticks to measure developments. Procedural aspects include a detailed understanding of facilitating a learning journey towards making sustainability meaningful in the local transition management cases and setting up experiments for its realiziation. Intentional aspects are addressed by linking social effects of transition management to awareness, motivations and feelings of responsibility towards sustainability. As a third main result, the transdisciplinary collaboration in transition management of creating an arena as an interactive learning space is conceptualized and explored, as well as the roles of the researchers therein. Key issues of this learning space, the community arena, are drawn out and ideal-type roles and activities of researchers in addressing these issues are proposed and empirically analysed. As synthesis of thesis results, ten principles of sustainability transition management are proposed.
Supporting sustainability transformation through research requires, in equal parts, knowledge about complex problems and knowledge that supports individual and collective action to change the system. Recasting the conditions, characteristics, and modes of research processes that address these needs leads to solution-oriented research in sustainability science. This is supported by systematically analyzing the system’s dynamics, envisioning the desired future target state, and by engaging and designing strategic pathways. In addition, learning and capacity building are important crosscutting processes for co-producing required knowledge. In research, we use sophisticated representations as mediators between theories and objects of interest, depicted as visualizations, models, and simulations. They simplify, idealize, and store large and dense amounts of information. Representations are already employed in the service of sustainability, e.g., in communication about climate change. Understanding them as tools to facilitate processes, dialogue, mutual learning, shared understanding, and communication can yield contributions to knowledge processes of analyzing, envisioning, and engaging, and has implications on the design of the sustainability solution. Therefore I ask, what role do representations and representational practices play in the generation of sustainability solutions in different knowledge processes? Four empirical case studies applying rough set analysis, multivariate statistics, systematic literature review, and expert interviews target this research question. The overall aim of this dissertation is to contribute to a stronger foundation and the role of representation in sustainability science. This includes: (i) to explore and conceptualize representations for the three knowledge processes along selected characteristics and mechanisms; (ii) to understand representational practices as tools and embedded into larger methodological frameworks; (iii) to understand the connection between representation and (mutual) learning in sustainability science. Results point toward crosscutting mechanisms of representations for knowledge processes and the need to build representational literacy to responsible design and participate in representational practices for sustainability.
Metals fulfill crucial functions in areas as diverse as renewable energy, digitization and life style appliances, mobility, communication, or medicine. In the context of sustainability, achieving a more sustainable metal use means (i) minimizing the adverse effects associated with metal production and use and (ii) sustaining the availability of metals in a way that benefits present and future generations. Urgent need to act to avoid bottlenecks as well as meeting the challenge of possible conflicts of use among those areas of application calls for appropriate strategy making to intervene in the complex field of metal production and use that involves various, often interlinked operating levels, actors, and spatial and temporal scales. This dissertation focuses on strategies as a means to intervene in a system. It pursues the question, which design features could guide future strategy making to foster sustainability along the whole metal life cycle, and especially, how a better understanding of temporalities, i.e. understanding time in a diverse sense, could improve strategy design and help to bridge the assumed "transformation-material gap". This research converges the results from four research studies. A conceptual part explores the role of temporalities for interventions in complex and interlinked systems, which adds to the conceptual basis, on which the empirical part builds up to explore present and future interventions in metal production and use. The research revealed three essential needs that future strategies must tackle: (i) managing the complex interlinkages of processes and activities on various operational levels and spatial and temporal scales, (ii) providing clear guidance concerning the operationalization of sustainability principles, and (iii) keeping activities within the planet’s carrying capacity and embracing constant change as an inherent system characteristic. In response to these needs, the author developed three guidelines with two design features each (one relating to content, and one to the process of formulating and implementing the strategy) to guide future strategy making. The results show that time matters in this respect. If considered in close relation to space and diversely understood in the sense of temporalities, it serves to (i) understand the impact (duration and magnitude) of an intervention, (ii) recognize patterns of change that go beyond establishing linear, one-dimensional connections, and (iii) design interventions in a way that considers the resilience of a system. These findings can contribute to closer considering our understanding of transformation processes towards sustainability in future interventions in metal production and use.
Increasingly, researchers are expected to work in collaborative interdisciplinary teams to tackle more complex and interrelated problems. However, the prospect of collaborating with others, from different disciplines, exerts countervailing forces on researchers. There is the lure of transcending the limitations of one's own knowledge, methods and conventions, belonging to diverse intellectual communities and tackling, together, ambitious research topics. On the other hand, there is the risk that collaborating across disciplinary boundaries will be taxing, confounding at times, with no guarantee of success. This thesis is about collaborative interdisciplinary research from the perspective of a formative accompanying researcher. The author accompanied an interdisciplinary research team in the field of sustainability over three years for the duration of a collaborative project. Formative accompanying research (FAR) is an approach to "research into research" that learns about, with and for a collaborative interdisciplinary team. The author found - through immersion in the literature, her own daily experiences of collaborating, and her observations – that interdisciplinary collaboration is very difficult. It requires a basic understanding and appreciation of other disciplines and methods, as well as the skills to integrate research inquiries and findings across diverse epistemologies. It also requires awareness that collaborative interdisciplinary research is more than an intellectual task of knowledge creation. Other factors matter, such as interpersonal relationships, power differentials, different research tempos and a sense of belonging. And these factors have an impact on processes and outcomes of collaborative knowledge creation. Knowing this implies a willingness to keep learning and to tolerate discomfort so as to cultivate deeper levels of collaborative capacity. The author discovered that in these deeper levels lie skills for staying with inevitable tensions, for talking and listening to generate new understanding together, and for applying a researcher's frank curiosity to oneself too. A formative accompanying researcher, who is part of the team she is researching, has to navigate delicate terrain. In this thesis, the author develops a FAR methodology that takes seriously the questions of positionality and relationality, and reflects on the experiences of putting these into practice. A FAR practice involves remaining in dynamic movement between observing and participating, between exercising curiosity and care, and between the researchers' own sense of impartiality and investment in relation to the issues at hand. There is merit in furthering the methodology and practice of FAR on its own terms. This includes attending to the skills required by a formative accompanying researcher to remain oriented within the concentric circles of research, relationship and loyalty that make up a collaborative team. There is also the question of how FAR, and other forms of research into research, can help to advance collaborative interdisciplinary research. The author argues for creating the conditions in research teams that would enable treating collaboration as a capacity to develop, and that would facilitate team members' receptivity to learning with FAR. Furthermore, she explores dilemmas of intervening as a formative accompanying researcher and of sustaining dynamic positionality over the long-term.