Barcelona Training School – on Inter and Transdisciplinary Urban Research (13-16 February 2017)

Barcelona Training School provided methodological foundations and experience in designing and implementing inter/ transdisciplinary urban research.

The Training School was organised around a common framework of sustainable urban research and problem solving based on the interplay of the following five key competences:  System thinking competence, anticipatory competence, normative competence, strategic competence and interpersonal competence.

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Barcelona Training School was linked to the Contemporary Culture Centre of Barcelona (CCCB) events focusing on Climate Change.  Thus, the training school also addressed questions as:

• How academic institutions translate to the citizens the need for behavioural change regarding to Climate Change? –communication/educational challenge.
• How scientific research is influenced by social values and preferences and is able to integrate citizens’ knowledge? –knowledge creation challenge.
• How cultural institutions could contribute towards the process of involving citizens, artists and scientists, as well as practitioners and politicians, in co-creation processes related to both knowledge and political action?  -political challenge.

Training School Sessions related documentation

Setting the stage for Inter-transdisciplinary research by Jean-Paul Vanderlinden

• Session outline
• Jean-Paul Vanderlinden Presentation
• Pre-requisites to interdisciplinary research for climate change: lessons from a participatory action research process in Île-de-France
• Dissipating the fuzziness around interdisciplinarity: the case of climate change research
• Approches interdisciplinaires du changement climatique

Transdisciplinary research framework of competences by Henrik Von Wehrden & Daniel Lang

• Session outline
• Daniel Lang & Henrik Von Wehrden Presentation
• Key competencies in sustainability: a reference framework for academic program development
• Learning through evaluation – A tentative evaluative scheme for sustainability transition experiments
• Transdisciplinary research in sustainability science: practice,principles, and challenges
• The role of universities in fastering urban and regional sustainability
• Transformational sustainability research methodology
• A review of transdisciplinary research in sustainability science
• Transdisciplinary research in sustainability science: practice,
  principles, and challenges

Systems and anticipatory thinking competences by Carlo Sessa

• Session outline
• Carlo Sessa Presentation
• Systems Thinking and the Future of Cities
• Three Horiszons working with change
• Future Search Workshop

Normative & Strategic Competences by by Andreu Ulied 

• Session outline
• Andreu Ulied Presentation
• The Discipline of Cost-Benefit Analysis

Participatory and interpersonal competences by Roderick Lawrence

• Session outiline
• Roderick Lawrence Presentation
• The Ecology of Team Science: Understanding Contextual Influences on Transdisciplinary Collaboration

Revisiting transdisciplinary research framework of competences by Henrik VON WEHRDEN.  Discussion of methods and resources trainers and trainees by Henrik Von Werhden

• Session outlines

Art, Science and Policy Design experiences related to Climate Change by Jean-Paul Vanderlinden

• Session outline
• Performativity slides
• Paradigm Shifts, Coastal Zones, and Adaptation to Fast-Paced Change: Moving Toward Transdisciplinary Community-Centered Approaches
• The ARTisticc project (http://artisticc.net)
• The ECLIPS project (http://www.eclips.cearc.fr,

Different Ways of Tackling Climate Change by David Bravo (CCCB) and Josep Perelló (OpenSystems- University of Barcelona)

• Examples from the European Prize for Urban Public Space 
• Environmental Health Clinic by Natalie Jeremijenko: Merging participatory processes and artistic practices 

Co-production towards Sustainable and Just Cities by David Simon 

• Session outline
• David Simon Presentatation
• Simon & Schiemer (2015) Crossing boundaries – transdisciplinarity and applied impact agendas 
• http://www.mistraurbanfutures.org/en/annual-conference/conference-book

Toolboxes for co-producing knowledge by Josefine Fokdal

• Session outline
• Presentation_Fokdal
• Toolboxes:
  • The Belbin Test: For assessing team roles
  • Online Toolboxes for Inter and Transdisciplinary research
• Exercises:
  • Knowledge Production Tool: Brainstorming,
  • Cultural and Social Tool: Teambuilding Check-in
  • Linguistic Tool: Common Language
  • Short Interdisciplinary Guide 5: Troubleshooting some common interdisciplinary research management challenges
  • Short Interdisciplinary Guide 3: Building and managing interdisciplinary research teams

What is Barcelona doing to face climate change:

• How Barcelona Faces Climate Change?
• Barcelona Sustainable Development Strategy and Vision: Barcelona
  Citizen Commitment to Sustainability 2012-2022
  http://www.sostenibilitatbcn.cat/attachments/article/413/Commitment_22_UK_web.pdf

• Barcelona, a city committed with the environment: Environmental report of Barcelona 2013. Complete report:
  http://bit.ly/2kpHtf2
• Barcelona Works Towards Sustainability
• Circular and Collaborative Economy in Barcelona
• Barcelona Fab Athenaeums: a new service of public interest unique in the world
• http://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/superilles/ca

For 2017, the Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB) is organising a series of events focusing on Climate Change, such as the literature platform Kosmopolis, a public exhibition “Another World“ planned for October 2017, and thematic debates. The Training School will be linked to these CCCB activities.

Check trainees’ feedback  and reflections on Barcelona Training School.