This study investigates a reciprocal partnership between two cities in Namibia and Sweden to deepen the understanding of challenges and learning outcomes in a project on education for sustainable development. Since 2008, two municipalities have developed a strong partnership via The Municipal Partnership Programme at the Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy. Municipal partnerships are results-oriented collaborations in joint projects on sustainability. The purpose is to describe how eight team members in the mutual South-North project, by addressing similar problems in different contexts, experienced challenges in the implementation of the project plan, solutions and learning processes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted at the end of the second project year. Transcripts and field notes were analysed using a phenomenographic approach and contextual analysis. Five main categories of description based on collective statements and three dimensions of learning were recognised in the research data. The analysis identifies strategies for critical knowledge formation and capability building to support mutual learning in South-North Municipal Partnerships. The concluding discussion spots the learning dimensions—how sharing experiences by justifying non-formal and transformational learning promotes organisations’ readiness for knowledge formation by conducting mutual global learning towards sustainable development goals.

Havsmedveten? Kerstin Sonesson & Agneta Rehn, Malmö universitet kerstin.sonesson@mau.se agneta.rehn@mau.se Marint kunskapscentrum, https://www.smkc.se/, driver tillsammans med Malmö universitet projektet Havet, målen och jag. Fokus: Rädda havet från plast med bidrag ur havs-och vattenmiljöanslaget för marin pedagogik, Havs- och Vattenmyndigheten. Syftet med projektet är att ta fram en pedagogisk modell för hur man i grundskolan, med stöd i Lgr 11, kan arbeta med Agenda 2030 med fokus på mål 14, Hav och marina resurser, och därmed öka elevers havsmedvetenhet. Marint kunskapscenter i Malmö har utvecklat ett skolprogram med två träffar på Marint kunskapscentrum, klassrumsarbete och träff tre på respektive skola. Klasserna ska arbeta med innovativ problemlösning på utmaningar kopplade till Rädda havet från plast, utmaningar som de själva formulerar. Träff 1: De globala hållbarhetsmålen och plastproblematiken i haven. Träff 2: Fältstudier, havets ekosystem och biologisk mångfald samt skräpinsamling på stranden.. Träff 3: Presentation av elevernas förlag till lösning på valda utmaningar. Under höstterminen 2018 ska 20 grupper, 18 grundskoleklasser i Malmö stad och lärarstudenter i två kurser vid Malmö universitet, delta i programmet. Våra forskningsfrågor: I vilken utsträckning upplever elever och lärare i grundskolans åk 1-9 att eleverna utvecklar havsmedvetenhet, handlingskompetens och kreativ förmåga att finna lösningar till utmaningar kopplade till havet genom att delta i det elevcentrerade programmet Havet, målen och jag? Hur upplever klasslärarna programmet och dess länkning till Lgr 11? Metod: Icke-deltagande observation vid träffarna på Marint kunskapscenter i Malmö. Enkät med påståenden och Likertskala samt frågor av mera öppen karaktär till alla deltagande elever, studenter och lärare samt semistrukturerade intervjuer med personal vid Marint kunskapscenter och klasslärare. Analys av konstruktiv länkning i programmet genom innehållsanalys av det producerade studie- och handledarmaterialet. Projektet är pågående.

We followed a project, focusing on the meaning of education in the extended classroom to teachers and students, in order to increase our knowledge on pedagogical cultivation. The principal and the teachers were interviewed three times during the school year, and 85 students in grades 6-7 responded to a questionnaire at the beginning and the end of the school year 2012/2013. The school ground activities were mainly practical tasks like designing and constructing culture beds, collecting fruits to use in the home economics class, cutting shrubs, and planting berry bushes. The teachers’ focus was on doing, not learning. However, the teachers stated that the activities emanated from the syllabus and agreed on a strong connection between the project and environmental issues regarding food production, e.g. farm to table. They had many ideas on how to connect the practical work to various theoretical subject areas, theory to practice. At the end of the first school year, we asked the students if they like doing practical work at school. Most said yes, but more than half the students disliked outdoor teaching in the school garden. Most students agreed that they are able to use all senses while working outdoors, but more than half stated that it was not fun working outdoors with the gardening project. When asked if they learn science better outdoors than indoors, more than half disagreed. They also did not believe they learned other school subjects better when they are being taught outdoors in the school garden. We analysed the discrepancy between the aims of the teachers and the experiences of the learners and found a lack of communication on the didactical questions; why, how, what and where. There was also a need of distinct support from the principal, training on combining classroom and outdoor teaching, and transdisciplinary education.

Place-based learning on climate and energy issues in the climate smart classroom possibilities and challenges Kerstin Sonesson, Faculty of Education and Society, Malmö University, Sweden This research study is focusing on how some teachers in elementary schools in a Denmark are reflecting on their experienced challenges and possibilities regarding pedagogical development using indoor climate data on temperature, humidity and content of carbon dioxide in education. The study is part of an interregional collaboration among Copenhagen University, Malmö University, Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and the Municipality of Höje Taastrup within Smart City Accelerator, Interreg Öresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak, http://interreg-oks.eu The main aim of Smart City Accelerator is to meet challenges on sustainable energy use and climate. Three schools are equipped with indoor climate sensors and DTU is enable use of the data collected, in the past and in real-time, to the schools. Teachers involved in the project are offered a possibility to use the data and to develop place-based learning activities on energy and climate in science and technology education with assistance from a pedagogical consultant in the municipality The theoretical background of the research question and the interpretation of data is influenced by Gibson’s theory of affordance (Gibson, 1979), Dewey’s theory of experience and education (Dewey, 2004) place-based theories (Smith, 2007, 2013) and social-cultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978, Säljö, 2001). The teachers at the schools are interviewed in focus groups, using semi-structural questions (Bryman, 2012) regarding: 1)Previous experiences on place-based learning 2)Aims of working with climate data in the classroom 3)Possibilities and challenges using indoor climate data in education 4)Learning activities and reflections on activities 5)Expected learning by students 6)Teachers learning in the project 7)Broader use of knowledge learned in school The interviews are transcribed and analyzed (Bryman, 2012). The work is ongoing, and so far the results are preliminary. Analyses of the interviews show that teachers are experiencing possibilities to work place-based in science and technique education, to use experiments and measurements together with learners in the classroom. However, they are also experiencing challenges in their learning process while developing and testing new materials and methods in class room education. One important challenge is to understand the indoor climate data received from the sensors in the classroom and how the indoor climate depends on various abiotic as well as biotic factors. Another challenge is to develop student-centred learning activities regarding energy issues and climate change in accordance to the syllabus.

Without a sense of adventure and an awareness that we all - students, teachers and educational developers - are on an endless journey of discovery, the good learning assessment (Sonesson & Nordén, 2015) or the good teaching does not take place. At the beginning of their teaching careers Prosser & Trigwell (2001) thought, as well as many teachers in science do, that the essence of good teaching was about to get knowledge in a scientifically correct manner and develop their teaching skills in presenting subject knowledge for the students. As teachers, they searched reliable ways to measure student learning, rather than trying to find valuable indications of the students´ understanding. No attempt was made to help students see how the topic they introduced related to the students´ previous subject studies. They did not about to sensitize students about their preconceptions or previous experiences, which might be needed again (Prosser & Trigwell, 2001). In-depth learning (with a deep learning approach) the learner searches meaningfulness and want to understand the behind-lying ideas (Marton & Booth, 1997). Enthusiastically and curiously integrating and relating the learning in a strategic manner to all the individual experiences, besides theorizing and being fully aware of that the words just are carriers of meanings. The meaning of the arguments is focused. On the contrary, with surface learning approaches, the learner focuses - without any reflection on the purpose or strategy of life-long learning - on the least possible effort to root memorize information (Tsui, 2004) only for the knowledge exam without any thought of enhanced meaning-making or understanding (Lundström et al, 2016). The focus is then on the text, formulas or words, actual data and they represent purely symbolically knowledge formation (Prosser & Trigwell, 2001). Anderberg (1999) argues that the expression of intent is of great importance regarding the student´s opportunities to develop meaningful theoretical conclusions and deep learning approaches. Thereby, the importance of experienced knowledge formation situations is emphasized. By activating students' experiences of word meanings and understanding, as during an assessing literature seminar, promotes access to their prior knowledge and could develop extended learning processes and deeper understanding within in higher education. Thus, for their upcoming teaching they are offered new opportunities heading for deep learning approaches based on the theoretical part (Anderberg, 1999). Teacher education is of particular importance for developing competences and knowledge capabilities (Nordén, 2016) required for societal changes towards sustainability (Mochizuki & Yarime, 2016; UE4SD, 2015; Wals 2014; Rauch & Steiner 2013). This research is based on international teacher students´ learning experiences. In the campus course Teaching for sustainability (15 credits) at Malmö university,the perspective is learner focused with a holistic approach on education of the environmental and sustainability challenges in local-global contexts (Avery & Nordén, 2017). The heterogeneous group of students has a variety of knowledge on sustainability issues, different experiences of learning activities and examination forms, since attending the course in Sweden from different continents, cultures and countries worldwide. Consequently, a common foundation for further progression of knowledge formation among the students is valuable to achieve at the course start. One initial learning activity is to read World on the Edge (Brown, 2011) and thereafter construct three questions on environmental and sustainability challenges that the student considers urgent and of particular interest. These questions are sent to the lecturer, who chooses one question from each student. The student that raised it prepares and directs a discussion in the teacher student group with 5-7 students in a student-driven literature seminar. The student thereby introduces the topic, has the responsibility for actively chairing the discussion through the seminar, and sums up the shared thoughts, opinions and knowledge for meaning-making afterwards. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used The learning outcome is that the student will be able to describe what effect humans have upon their environment, actively discuss the scope of environmental problems and challenges in sustainable development in the participants´ respective home country and worldwide. The aim of this research is to investigate how heterogeneous groups of teacher students experience a student-driven, non-traditional literature seminar for learning assessment purposes within the extended learning process in higher education, and offered for meaning-making within environmental and sustainability learning and teaching (Anderberg, Nordén & Hansson, 2009; Lundström et al, 2016). Qualitative group interviews with semi-structural questions and analysis were conducted by a phenomenographic approach. Previous experiences of assessments, ways of reading the course literature and formulating questions, expectations and reflections, and student-centered learning processes were focused. The group interviews with the international teacher students (n=63) in 2012, 2014 and 2016 took place in 11 group meetings. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and thematically categorised from the reflected experiences made visible through the analysis of the qualitative data gathered. (P.M. This is work in progress and when analysis has been carried out more details will be avilable, which could be presented if accepted for the ECER 2017...) Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The analysis of the assessment seminars suggests that for many students this form of assessment was a new learning experience. While reading the book students were mainly concentrating on bigger concepts. A few students were afraid as they were unfamiliar with planning and taking responsibility for a discussion. However, the participatory and collaborative learning assessment with sharing of experiences among the students resulted in a rewarding challenge based learning process. After the assessment students continued to reflect and talk about the questions raised. According to them, it generated a deep learning opportunity compared to written examination. This meant that they had a deeper understanding of the questions at hand, and they could draw on richer contextualised resources from their own experience to develop school oriented subject matters through the discussion. A tentative result shows some categories of the students’ experiences of meaning-making: developing critical thinking, focusing on learning and understanding, learning by collaboration, seeing a bigger picture, and taking responsibility in learning for understanding. Besides assessing the learning outcome, the learning needs are identified through the learning activity to be promoted for continued learning in the course. When students share their knowledge and experiences of global environmental and sustainability challenges, extended learning processes for sustainability enhanced literacy seems to develop. The students describe their learning processes as consistent and progressively on-going also after the closing of the seminar (Sonesson & Nordén, 2015).

Globala utfodringar i en nordisk kontekst – utvikling av studentcentrert pedagogikk i SPICA-nettverket En bærebjølke i SPICA-nettverket er utviklingen og gjennomføringen av et fellesnordisk kurs (5ECTS) med studenter og forelesere fra Grønland, Island, Færøyene, Norge, Sverige, Danmark og Finland. Kurset brukar innovative metoder basert på flipped classroom, place-based learning og challenge-based learning. Kurset består av envirtuell del med bruk av flipped classroom og nettkonferenser, et intensivkurs på en uge og etterarbeid i form av en individuell reflekterande texst. I mars 2016 er intensivkurset i Island. Under NU-konferensen ønskar vi å presentere og diskutera det pedagogiske utviklingsarbeidet i SPICA nettverket. Hovedmålsettingen med intensivkurset er å styrke lærerstudenternes kompetense i det profesjonsrettede arbeidet med dialog, tolerence, handlingskompetense og aktivt medborgerskap i skolen for slik å legge til rette for et bærekraftig og fredelig samfunn i tråd med skolens samfunnsmandat. Nettverket fokuserer på følles nordiske løsninger på lokale, regionale og globale ineressekonflikter og utfodringer, og nyanser mellom ulike problemløsningsstrategier. Nettverkets pedagogikk skal bygge et stilas for studentenes læring og samtidig gi kompetense i bruk av pedagogiske metoder. I forkant av intensivkurset spiller lærerne i nettverket inn korte filmer tilpasset kurset som studentene ser asynkront før synkrone nettdisusjoner i grupper på 4-5 studenter gjennomføres. Dette er i tråd med metoden flippes classroom. Filmene er knyttet opp mot utfordringer og muligheter i en islandsk kontext sett i sammanheng med overordnete tematiske og teoretiske perspektiver for kurset. Dette er i tråd med metoden place-basedlearning. Arbeidet er samtidigt relevante både i en lokal, regional og global kontext. I nettdiskusjoner med bakgrunn i filmene og egen forkunnskap arbeider studentgrupper med deltakere fra ulike land og institusjoner, seg fram mot en utfordring de vill jobbe med under intensivkurset. Det vi væra en islandk student i hvar gruppe. Utfordringen gruppen velger skal være knyttet opp mot målsetninger for kurset og sees i sammenheng med undervisning i skolen. Dette er slik i tråd med challenge-based learning. Studenten blir også bevisstgjort egne meninger og holdninger i møte aktuelle utfodringer. Studentene lærer å anvende vitenskapelig teori, terminologi og forklaringstyper i en nordisk arbeidsgruppe. SPICA-nettverket finansieras av Nordiska ministerråd og involverar følgende institusjoner: Grønlands Universitet (Illinniarfissuaq), Háskóli Islands, Fróöskaparsetur, Føroya, Malmö högskola, Oulun yliopisto, University College Lillebælt og Høgskolen i Størtøst Norge.

Globala utmaningar i en nordisk kontext – utveckling av studentcentrerad didaktik i SPICA-nätverket Grundpelare i SPICA-nätverket är didaktiskt utvecklingsarbete och genomförande av en kurs (5 ECTS) för lärarstudenter från de nordiska länderna. Kursens innehåll fokuserar på nordiska lösningar på lokala, regionala och globala intressekonflikter och utmaningar. Kursens målsättning är att utveckla och stärka lärarstudenternas didaktiska kompetens i professionellt arbete med handlingskompetens och aktivt medborgarskap i skolan, utifrån lokala utmaningar och i samverkan med det omgivande samhället. Kursen planeras utifrån studentcentrerat arbetssätt och består av tre delar: * En virtuell del med flipped classroom och studentledda seminarier på nätet, * En intensiv kursvecka med placed-based och challenge-based eduction i ett av länderna, samt * Efterarbete i form av en individuell reflekterande text. I mars 2016 träffas drygt 20 studenter och 10 lärarutbildare på Island. Inför kursstart i februari spelar nätverkets lärare in korta filmer som behandlar för kursen relevanta begrepp och arbetssätt, samt kopplar till utmaningar och möjligheter i en isländsk kontext. Filmerna som ger såväl teoretiska som tematiska perspektiv ses av kursdeltagarna och diskuteras i grupper om 4-5 studenter från lika många lärosäten. I de nätbaserade diskussionerna arbetar studentgrupperna sig fram till en utmaning som de vill arbeta med under intensivveckan. Temat för gruppens arbete, den utmaningen gruppen väljer, ska vara kopplad till kursens målsättning och ska sättas i förhållande till skolans undervisning. På postern presenteras och diskuteras utfallet av det didaktiska utvecklingsarbetet och SPICA-kursen 2016. SPICA-nätverket finansieras av Nordiska ministerrådet koordineras av Åsmund Aamaas, Högskolan i Söröst-Norge, asmund.aamaas@hit.no

Place based learning in the sustainable city How can we involve young people in sustainable city development and how can we use the sustainable city as a learning arena? Could the learning aspect be a future factor when planning and construction new urban areas? This presentation will focus on student centred learning in urban spaces, by using climate smart school buildings and the city as an extended classroom and environment for education. Experiences of certain school projects and research on place based and challenge based learning in the sustainable city will be presented and discussed. One way to involve young people in climate change, environmental and sustainability issues could be to give students real challenges to work on. The two learning methods, place based and challenge based learning, will most probably increase the motivating of learning. Place based learning is a well-known pedagogy in natural studies, but only recently practiced in urban areas. Challenge based learning provides a framework, collaborative and hands-on, for learning while solving real-world challenges. Four good examples and ongoing research will be presented in the dialogue seminar of track 5: Our sustainable future seen through 10 years of local and global experiences. 1) Climate ambassadors, young teenagers in Malmö and Copenhagen, received a challenge on sustainability from the perspective of young people from the Öresund Committee. The climate ambassadors were inspired by the challenge related to their everyday life in the two cities, today and in the future, and as a result of the project they developed action competence. (Interreg project Öresundsklassrummet 2012-2014, www.oresundsklassrummet.eu , and a Research project on Climate anxiety or action competence, funded by Region Skånes Miljöfond 2014-2015) 2) Students in an upper secondary school were asked by the City of Malmö to make plans on sustainable city development and increased biological diversity in a city area in need of reconstruction. In the school project students could use and develop their power of innovation and creativity outside the traditional classroom. 3) ZlatanPlaza, an innovative suggestion on how to develop an attractive public place in Malmö – a place where people living in the area as well as visitors can learn about city architecture. Learners in grade seven at Apelgårdsskolan participated in Innocarnival 2016 and won a prize in the innovation competition on challenges in the surrounding world from the horizon of young people. (http://www.innocarnivalskane.se/node/736) 4) Climate education in climate smart schools is an ongoing research study on using smart energy systems in school buildings in education, by using the school building as an extended classroom. The aim of the project is to increase the knowledge on place based learning on energy, climate and sustainable development. (Funded by Region Skånes Miljöfond and Interreg ÖKS)

Abstrakt till NU2016 – Bedömning, examination och betyg Studentorienterat litteraturseminarium som lärandeaktivitet och examinationsform Denna presentation är baserad på en studie av internationella lärarstudenters erfarenhet av studentorienterade litteraturseminarier om globala miljö- och hållbarhetsfrågor som examinationsform. Syftet med forskningsstudien är att undersöka hur en heterogen studentgrupp upplever en icke-traditionell examinationsform, sin lärandeprocess och kunskapsutveckling inom ämnesområdet globala utmaningar och hållbar utveckling genom ett studentdrivet litteraturseminarium. Kursen Teaching for sustainability (15 hp, http://edu.mah.se/en/Course/NM164E ) har ett holistiskt perspektiv på lärande för hållbar utveckling. Det teoretiska innehållet består av globala utmaningar, hållbar utveckling och didaktik. Kursen utgår från studentorienterat lärande och varierande arbetssätt. Kursdeltagarna utgörs av en heterogen grupp av lärarstudenter, av utbytes- och svenska studenter. Förkunskaperna varierar och likaså studenternas erfarenheter av olika examinationsformer. En av kursens första aktiviteter är att läsa boken World on the Edge. How to prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse (Brown 2011) och att formulera tre frågor om globala utmaningar. Frågorna ska vara inspirerade av boken och frågor som studenten vill diskutera i ett seminarium med 5-7 kurskamrater. Lärandemål som examineras: The student will be able to describe what effect humans have upon their environment, actively discuss the scope of environmental problems and challenges in sustainable development in the participants´ respective home country and worldwide. Inför litteraturseminariet väljer läraren ut en fråga per student och studenten får introducera och leda diskussionen kring sin fråga. Under diskussionen bidrar varje student med sin erfarenhet och kunskap. På så sätt bidrar alla med sina perspektiv på de frågeställningar som behandlas. Studenterna bedöms enligt en tregradig skala; väl godkänd, godkänd samt underkänd. Efter litteraturseminarier vid två kurstillfällen (2012 och 2014) genomfördes intervjuer med semi-strukturella frågor i fokusgrupper (7 grupper och sammanlagt 41 studenter). Intervjufrågorna fokuserades på studenternas tidigare erfarenheter av examinationer, läsande av kursboken, formulering av frågor och förväntningar litteraturseminariet, samt reflektioner efter genomförandet. Intervjuerna spelades in, transkriberades samt analyserades med en fenomenografisk ansats. För flertalet studenter var det studentorienterade litteraturseminariet en ny erfarenhet. Medan de läste boken fokuserade studenterna i huvudsak på de stora sammanhangen och inte på detaljer. De sökte vidare information kring frågor de ville veta mera om. Några studenter uppgav att de var nervösa inför seminariet och förklarade detta med att de var ovana vid att planera, leda och ansvara för en diskussion kring en fråga de själva valt. Studenter menade att alla i gruppen bidrog till en gemensam lärandeprocess då de delade erfarenheter, tankar och kunskap kring globala utmaningar och hållbar utveckling. Efter avslutat seminarium fortsatte de fundera kring frågorna som diskuterats.

Window farming - utmaningsbaserat och ämnesöverskridande lärande i slöjdsalen. Författarna till denna presentation fick i uppdrag av en kommun i Sydsverige att följa ett utvecklingsprojekt, ”Odling och hälsa”, initierat av ett lärarlag på en åk 6-9 skola. Under de tre åren skol- och forskningsprojektet pågick undersöktes och dokumenterades bland annat lärarnas utvecklings- och förändringsarbete genom individuella intervjuer och fokusgruppintervjuer med rektor, lärare och skolträdgårdsmästare. Forskningsansatsen var fenomenografisk. Skolans träslöjdslärare inspirerades av projektet och fick en idé om hur han kunde förändra arbetssättet i slöjdsalen, från ”presentfabrik” till kreativt samarbete mellan såväl elever som flera av skolans ämnen i projektet ”Window farming”. Syftet med projektet är att få trevligare klassrum med bättre inomhusmiljö, att utveckla elevernas kreativitet och samarbete, samt öka samverkan mellan olika skolämnen. Elever i årskurs 6 indelades i grupper och fick en utmaning: Att designa och konstruera en fungerande fönsterodling i ett stort fönster i slöjdsalen eller i salen som används i hem- och konsumentkunskap. I presentationen diskuteras hur projektet med ändade arbetsformer, utmaningsbaserat och ämnesintegrerat grupparbete, mottogs av eleverna, vilka utmaningar som lärarlaget ställdes inför samt hur det didaktiska nytänkandet motiverades av lärarna med hänvisning till Lgr 11.