Jifke Sol - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Jifke Sol
In multi-actor innovation, social learning is the process in which actors share and confront thei... more In multi-actor innovation, social learning is the process in which actors share and confront their knowledge and perspectives to produce innovative solutions. Although the outcomes of social learning in multi- actor innovation are well-known, the process of social learning is not as widely studied. We introduce a new research framework for social learning, to improve our understanding of social learning processes in multi-actor innovation. We report on an explorative interview study to substantiate the framework. Our results substantiate the research framework, and suggest that it can be used to derive methods to facilitate social learning.
Sustainability is probably the most important societal challenge of our times. The local and regi... more Sustainability is probably the most important societal challenge of our times. The local and regional scale seems important for experimenting and learning with sustainability innovations in regional networks. On this scale, the so-called habitat contains success factors for experiments in their contribution to a longer-term regime change. In earlier research (van den Heiligenberg et. al., 2016) we found some indications that various types of experiments have distinctive favourite habitats. In addition to local/regional habitat factors, social learning and the transfer of learning experiences seems to be an essential factor. Social learning is however a big challenge. The diversity of actors is high, with different interests, perspectives, cultures and values. Currently, little is known on how different habitats may shape learning and transfer of learning experiences in different ways. We could argue that learning and the transfer of learning experiences is constituted through differ...
ABSTRACT Social learning in multi-actor innovation networks is increasingly considered an importa... more ABSTRACT Social learning in multi-actor innovation networks is increasingly considered an important precondition for addressing sustainability in regional development contexts. Social learning is seen as a means for enabling stakeholders to take advantage of the diversity in perspectives, interests and values for generating more sustainable practices and policies. Although more and more research is done on the meaning and manifestations of social learning, particularly in the context of natural resource management, little is known about the social dynamics in the process of social learning. In this contribution an integrated hypothetical framework that provides a better understanding of social learning as a generative process with outcomes is presented. This hypothetical framework is grounded theoretically in emergent social learning theory and empirically in a retrospective case study around multi-stakeholder sustainability-oriented regional learning in the North of The Netherlands. Our findings indicate that trust, commitment and reframing are interrelated aspects and emergent properties of interaction in the process of social learning. Hence, the framework presented reflects social learning as a dynamic process, in which trust, commitment and reframing are continuously produced and reproduced through the (inter)actions of the individual actors.
We live in the Anthropocene (Da Veiga, 2017); an era during which so-called planetary boundaries ... more We live in the Anthropocene (Da Veiga, 2017); an era during which so-called planetary boundaries are being exceeded and people all over the world are challenged to deal with the wicked and urgent sustainability problems (Rittel and Webber, 1973) created by one single species-homo sapiens. Solutions need to be found rather urgently at different governance levels and geographical scales. This thesis privileges localized regional approaches for addressing such challenges. A multi-level regional approach (Kaiser and Prange, 2007) to sustainable development has several advantages in that, for one, regional actors often have somewhat unique localised knowledge that is not available outside the region and that can help in identifying promising directions for sustainable development (Bohunovsky et al., 2010). Furthermore, at the regional level it is often possible to involve the actors that are in power and that have the capabilities to implement possible solutions-a capacity to act-(Horlings, 2006). This agency presumably emerges from a social learning process (Wals, 2007; Friedman, 1987;
Environmental Education Research
Education and competence studies, Wageningen university, Wageningen, netherlands; b radboud teach... more Education and competence studies, Wageningen university, Wageningen, netherlands; b radboud teachers academy, radboud universiteit, nijmegen, netherlands; c dutch research institute for transitions, Erasmus universiteit rotterdam, rotterdam, the netherlands; d new Business models for agrifood transition has university of applied sciences, den Bosch, the netherlands; e department of Pedagogical, curricular and Professional studies,
The educational experimental project 'Bridge to the Future' , which took place between 2002 and 2... more The educational experimental project 'Bridge to the Future' , which took place between 2002 and 2007, aimed primarily at supporting the regional development process by actionoriented student research. The second aim was to develop students' roles as boundary workers in the co-creation of knowledge in a regional setting. Our basic assumption, like Gaventa and Cornwall (2001), is that collaborative research is empowering and innovative because it links science and society in such a way that it involves peoples' own critical reflection and learning. Actors' roles need to be redefined during this process. This causes uncertainty which needs coaching and facilitation. The 'Bridge to the Future' project started with a kick-off meeting in the area with regional stakeholders, students, supervisors and a project leader. The integrated research question developed there represented the complexity of the regional issues and provided an interdisciplinary starting point for the students who had to conduct their thesis-research in the framework of the collaborative project. As such the research question became a boundary object, which created possibilities for communication, interaction, learning and reflection. During monthly meetings different viewpoints were exchanged and discussed in a multi-stakeholder setting, which slowly developed into a learning community, providing a base and network for regional actors to develop plans collaboratively. As boundary workers the students and their research empowered the people from the area and provided a stronger sense of identity. Important impact of the project in the area is a LEADER network, rural art and rural tourism projects, international exchange visits and the actual development of biomass installations. We conclude that collaborative landscape research can be valuable if actors learn to take on new roles, are supported in creating boundary objects, organise reflection and are able to develop new knowledge, for sustainable development and the management of landscapes.
Cultural Studies of Science Education, 2014
In this contribution a key policy 'tool' used in the Dutch Environmental Education and Learning f... more In this contribution a key policy 'tool' used in the Dutch Environmental Education and Learning for Sustainability Policy framework is introduced as a means to develop a sense of place and associated ecological mindfulness. The key elements of this tool, called the vital coalition, are described while an example of its use in practice, is analysed using a form of reflexive monitoring and evaluation. The example focuses on a multi-stakeholder learning process around the transformation of a somewhat sterile preschool playground into an intergenerational green place suitable for play, discovery and engagement. Our analysis of the policy-framework and the case leads us to pointing out the importance of critical interventions at so-called tipping points within the transformation process and a discussion of the potential of hybrid learning in vital coalitions in strengthening ecological mindfulness. This paper does not focus on establishing an evidence base for the causality between this type of learning and a change in behavior or mindfulness among participants as a result contributing to a vital coalition but rather focusses on the conditions, processes and interventions that allow for such learning to take place in the first place. Keywords Ecological mindfulness Á Vital coalitions Á Hybrid learning Á Place-based education Á Reflexivity In recent years place-based education-which we consider a form of science education as a cultural, cross-age, cross-class, and cross-disciplinary phenomenon-has been receiving increased attention from educators and policy-makers as a means to help people, young and old, reconnect with the physical, material and socio-ecological world they inhabit. There
... This in turn creates mutual commitments to further contacts and joint efforts between partici... more ... This in turn creates mutual commitments to further contacts and joint efforts between participants (Gustavsen, 2004, cited in Braun, 2006). Page 6. 138 Knowledge in action Jifke Sol, Pieter Jelle Beers, Simon Oosting and Floor Geerling-Eiff ...
In multi-actor innovation, social learning is the process in which actors share and confront thei... more In multi-actor innovation, social learning is the process in which actors share and confront their knowledge and perspectives to produce innovative solutions. Although the outcomes of social learning in multi- actor innovation are well-known, the process of social learning is not as widely studied. We introduce a new research framework for social learning, to improve our understanding of social learning processes in multi-actor innovation. We report on an explorative interview study to substantiate the framework. Our results substantiate the research framework, and suggest that it can be used to derive methods to facilitate social learning.
Sustainability is probably the most important societal challenge of our times. The local and regi... more Sustainability is probably the most important societal challenge of our times. The local and regional scale seems important for experimenting and learning with sustainability innovations in regional networks. On this scale, the so-called habitat contains success factors for experiments in their contribution to a longer-term regime change. In earlier research (van den Heiligenberg et. al., 2016) we found some indications that various types of experiments have distinctive favourite habitats. In addition to local/regional habitat factors, social learning and the transfer of learning experiences seems to be an essential factor. Social learning is however a big challenge. The diversity of actors is high, with different interests, perspectives, cultures and values. Currently, little is known on how different habitats may shape learning and transfer of learning experiences in different ways. We could argue that learning and the transfer of learning experiences is constituted through differ...
ABSTRACT Social learning in multi-actor innovation networks is increasingly considered an importa... more ABSTRACT Social learning in multi-actor innovation networks is increasingly considered an important precondition for addressing sustainability in regional development contexts. Social learning is seen as a means for enabling stakeholders to take advantage of the diversity in perspectives, interests and values for generating more sustainable practices and policies. Although more and more research is done on the meaning and manifestations of social learning, particularly in the context of natural resource management, little is known about the social dynamics in the process of social learning. In this contribution an integrated hypothetical framework that provides a better understanding of social learning as a generative process with outcomes is presented. This hypothetical framework is grounded theoretically in emergent social learning theory and empirically in a retrospective case study around multi-stakeholder sustainability-oriented regional learning in the North of The Netherlands. Our findings indicate that trust, commitment and reframing are interrelated aspects and emergent properties of interaction in the process of social learning. Hence, the framework presented reflects social learning as a dynamic process, in which trust, commitment and reframing are continuously produced and reproduced through the (inter)actions of the individual actors.
We live in the Anthropocene (Da Veiga, 2017); an era during which so-called planetary boundaries ... more We live in the Anthropocene (Da Veiga, 2017); an era during which so-called planetary boundaries are being exceeded and people all over the world are challenged to deal with the wicked and urgent sustainability problems (Rittel and Webber, 1973) created by one single species-homo sapiens. Solutions need to be found rather urgently at different governance levels and geographical scales. This thesis privileges localized regional approaches for addressing such challenges. A multi-level regional approach (Kaiser and Prange, 2007) to sustainable development has several advantages in that, for one, regional actors often have somewhat unique localised knowledge that is not available outside the region and that can help in identifying promising directions for sustainable development (Bohunovsky et al., 2010). Furthermore, at the regional level it is often possible to involve the actors that are in power and that have the capabilities to implement possible solutions-a capacity to act-(Horlings, 2006). This agency presumably emerges from a social learning process (Wals, 2007; Friedman, 1987;
Environmental Education Research
Education and competence studies, Wageningen university, Wageningen, netherlands; b radboud teach... more Education and competence studies, Wageningen university, Wageningen, netherlands; b radboud teachers academy, radboud universiteit, nijmegen, netherlands; c dutch research institute for transitions, Erasmus universiteit rotterdam, rotterdam, the netherlands; d new Business models for agrifood transition has university of applied sciences, den Bosch, the netherlands; e department of Pedagogical, curricular and Professional studies,
The educational experimental project 'Bridge to the Future' , which took place between 2002 and 2... more The educational experimental project 'Bridge to the Future' , which took place between 2002 and 2007, aimed primarily at supporting the regional development process by actionoriented student research. The second aim was to develop students' roles as boundary workers in the co-creation of knowledge in a regional setting. Our basic assumption, like Gaventa and Cornwall (2001), is that collaborative research is empowering and innovative because it links science and society in such a way that it involves peoples' own critical reflection and learning. Actors' roles need to be redefined during this process. This causes uncertainty which needs coaching and facilitation. The 'Bridge to the Future' project started with a kick-off meeting in the area with regional stakeholders, students, supervisors and a project leader. The integrated research question developed there represented the complexity of the regional issues and provided an interdisciplinary starting point for the students who had to conduct their thesis-research in the framework of the collaborative project. As such the research question became a boundary object, which created possibilities for communication, interaction, learning and reflection. During monthly meetings different viewpoints were exchanged and discussed in a multi-stakeholder setting, which slowly developed into a learning community, providing a base and network for regional actors to develop plans collaboratively. As boundary workers the students and their research empowered the people from the area and provided a stronger sense of identity. Important impact of the project in the area is a LEADER network, rural art and rural tourism projects, international exchange visits and the actual development of biomass installations. We conclude that collaborative landscape research can be valuable if actors learn to take on new roles, are supported in creating boundary objects, organise reflection and are able to develop new knowledge, for sustainable development and the management of landscapes.
Cultural Studies of Science Education, 2014
In this contribution a key policy 'tool' used in the Dutch Environmental Education and Learning f... more In this contribution a key policy 'tool' used in the Dutch Environmental Education and Learning for Sustainability Policy framework is introduced as a means to develop a sense of place and associated ecological mindfulness. The key elements of this tool, called the vital coalition, are described while an example of its use in practice, is analysed using a form of reflexive monitoring and evaluation. The example focuses on a multi-stakeholder learning process around the transformation of a somewhat sterile preschool playground into an intergenerational green place suitable for play, discovery and engagement. Our analysis of the policy-framework and the case leads us to pointing out the importance of critical interventions at so-called tipping points within the transformation process and a discussion of the potential of hybrid learning in vital coalitions in strengthening ecological mindfulness. This paper does not focus on establishing an evidence base for the causality between this type of learning and a change in behavior or mindfulness among participants as a result contributing to a vital coalition but rather focusses on the conditions, processes and interventions that allow for such learning to take place in the first place. Keywords Ecological mindfulness Á Vital coalitions Á Hybrid learning Á Place-based education Á Reflexivity In recent years place-based education-which we consider a form of science education as a cultural, cross-age, cross-class, and cross-disciplinary phenomenon-has been receiving increased attention from educators and policy-makers as a means to help people, young and old, reconnect with the physical, material and socio-ecological world they inhabit. There
... This in turn creates mutual commitments to further contacts and joint efforts between partici... more ... This in turn creates mutual commitments to further contacts and joint efforts between participants (Gustavsen, 2004, cited in Braun, 2006). Page 6. 138 Knowledge in action Jifke Sol, Pieter Jelle Beers, Simon Oosting and Floor Geerling-Eiff ...