General structure and dynamics

This School represents an opportunity for shared learning and discovery. Each activity is designed to build upon and interact with the others. The distinction between Speakers and Audience is dissolved in a climate of co-construction and collaborative dialogue where everyone takes the role of a participant who brings unique contributions to the discussions. The School is designed with many moments of collective reflection and shared construction of (new) and integrative ideas.

The School will use a variety of platforms and techniques to support rich interactions and dialogues between the participants and ensure conditions for the emergence of novel and creative ideas. It will combine lectures/seminars and guided moments of group discussion, with activities aimed at promoting creativity, co-construction and the integration of knowledge and experiences towards the production of new ideas and projects.

The presentation of posters will take place on the first day and will be reconstructed collectively during the School.

To ensure full engagement in the group activities, participants will be asked to guarantee a minimum number of conditions and to have at their disposal a list of materials (cf. Requirements on the APPLICATION section).

The School will produce a variety of outputs, targeting different audiences, which will synthesise the contributions of the group for the rehearsal and experimentation of alternatives towards the construction of a more positive and sustainable future for all. The outputs will be shared with a wider audience, following the end of the School. A graphic artist will contribute to the facilitation of the event and the production of the School outputs.

The development of the School will be reported daily on our Facebook page allowing all of those interested in its subjects to follow our work and contribute to our discussions with comments and questions which will be brought back to the group for reflection. Organizations, institutions, initiatives, groups, practitioners or activists committed to addressing global challenges are invited to share their work on our Facebook page.

PREVIOUS EDITION

The 1^st Edition of this CES Winter School, named “Sustainable development, complexity and change: thinking and practices for the SDG and other objectives”, took place in December 2020 and gathered a diverse group of participants. It was an intensive, creative, inspiring and productive week, allowing for in-depth discussions on topics around Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Some of the main moments and outputs were - and will be - shared on our Facebook page.

Participants and facilitators highly rated the experience:

“I was simply amazed by the methods used and the emergent products following from it.”

“I would like to thank you immensely for the commitment, high dedication and professionalism of you, teachers and organizers that made this week so special!”

“Loved the collaborative energy flowing.”

“I enjoyed really much being part of the Winter School. It was a really nurturing experience, specially regarding the methodologies that were proposed for the different form of interactions, the dialogues that emerged, the reflections that they promoted, as well as the general deep engagement of the participants and the guidance of the coordinators. I was very moved by the kind of interactions that could emerge in a virtual environment, with unknown people, the emergence of discussions and dialogues.”

“The school was one of the best and most productive intellectual activities in which I took part in these last times. (…) I left with the impression of having known more, and having to know me more as well.”

“I was very much impressed with the grandiosity of the School! It has exceeded all expectations. I had not yet had the opportunity to think about "sustainable development" with such critical depth and/or through the lens of complexity. These nuances deconstructed some certainties, and I can already see new perspectives for my research.”