3.3.3. Transformative Learning

The key challenges of the Anthropocene demand transformative changes to society. In the field of sustainable development one faces uncertainty, poorly defined circumstances, and conflicting interests and realities. Still, these unknowns of the future need to be coped with a creative transformative commitment, rather than inaction [40].

Transformative or "experiential learning", as UNESCO [41] terms it, aims to challenge the core assumptions and values that teachers, students and as society hold. The teaching of SUD in HEIs should be transformative [35,42], focusing on the topics that are needed the most for societal transformation [43]. It shifts attention from the teacher to the student and emphasizes immediate experiences and close interaction with local communities [44]. Experiential learning can be further divided to several distinct—and partly overlapping approaches. Some of these emphasize students' contribution to meeting the needs of local communities (e.g., service learning), while others focus on bridging scientific knowledge and practice by developing evidence-based solutions to real-life problems (e.g., problembased learning and solution-oriented learning), and still others focus on empowering students to acknowledge their capacity to make a difference (e.g., participatory action learning) [33,45–47]. Practical forms of learning and teaching associated with these approaches include project-based courses, studios, and workshops. The common denominator in these approaches is that they put significant emphasis on "how" to teach instead of focusing on "what" questions or the accumulation of knowledge related to SUD [19].

These forms of learning and teaching can be supported by teaching strategies that foster open-mindedness and open-ended trajectories, enabling and encouraging both teachers and students to confront hegemonic or conventional ideas, think about alternatives, and acknowledge different or opposing positions as well as underlying value. For example, interdisciplinary team-teaching brings together teachers from multiple faculties, schools, or disciplines to collaborate in planning and delivering courses [48]. This practice may be beneficial, not only because it encourages teachers to seek integration of different approaches and viewpoints, but also because it breaks existing boundaries. As Brewer [49] has noted, "the world has problems, but universities have departments". Thus, challenging or changing the institutional context in which knowledge is being (re)produced may ultimately enable universities to flexibly and effectively respond to the real-world sustainability problems.
