STEPestudiants (STEPstudents) is an initiative born to embed sustainability culture among the university community and very specially to the students. It pretends to break down the classical top-down philosophy used by the institutions when planning new programs that would affect the whole university community, and participatory processes based on collective learning are used instead.
STEPestudiants pretends to be a place suitable not only to make reflexions around the university and its compromise with sustainability in any field (teaching, university's management, its relation with the society...), but also a place where it is possible to make proposals, work on them and take actions to bring them into reality.
In 2005 the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) developed the Pla UPC Sostenible 2015 (UPC Sustainable Plan 2015), which marked a milestone in the philosophy followed by the university and pretended to affect all the aspects related with the university, from its management to aspects related with mobility, accessibility, teaching, waste management, etc.
One of the programs developed under this framework was STEP2015 (Sustainability, Technology and Excellence by 2015), which main goal is to implement the generic competence of Sustainability and Social Compromise in all the new degrees (appeared as a consequence of the Bolonia process and the application of the European Higher Education Area) given at the university.
The conception that lies under the STEP program tries to give a high degree of authonomy to each center when applying the program. Thus, and without forgetting the reason for which STEP is created, the members of each center are the main responsibles to guarantee a proper implementation of the program. It is a non top-down methodology that ensures much more success, since the people affected by the program knows its own reality by the day-to-day practice to its place of work.
In a similar way, and bearing in mind that sustainability is a holistic concept that implies participation of all the actors, STEPestudiants is born. Its main goal it is not different than the goal established by the STEP program (STEPestudiants is a “STEP's son”), but once again the way to develop its work has a high degree of authonomy, and are the students the last responsibles for its success.
The first thing that STEPestudiants has developed is its own speech. Although the goal of the STEP program is clear and shared by STEPestudiants, it seemed necessary to do not close the door to any of the multiple factors related with sustainability, but to highlight those ones that might have interest to work with. These factors are:
- The curricula: the ideas given at class (either in the old or in the new degrees) does not only imply knowledge, but also habilities and ethics, so it becomes important to be conscient of it and engage a critical reflexion about these terms.
- Teaching methodologies: the unequal relation between teacher and student is changing and has to keep changing. A master class is not the only, and many times nor the best, way to transmit knowledges and experiences, and the student's role must evolve from a passive behaviour (being object) to an active position towards its own education (becoming subject). At the same time, it is necessary to get out of the classroom to complement theoric knowledge with the practical experience.
- Relationship with society: the university is a source of knowledge. Its most important objective is (or should be) to give answers at what society demands. However, comunication must be reciprocal, and the university must be receptive to the inputs given by the society.
- University's management and change capacity: becomes imperative to be consistent. A simple program or good idea does not make any sense as long as there are other fields that push in opposite direction. An inner analysys is needed to fight these inconsistences. When the philosophy is clear it becomes possible to set a plan. In the case of STEPestudiants, the plan has been following the next steps:
- Be visible: since the process it pretends to be participatory, it is necessary to be known by the whole university community.
- Generate frameworks to engage participation and creation of proposals: the framework must let develop the thought from a simple criticism of the university to a positive proposal to improve the aspect considered and imply everyone in the application of this proposal.
- Take action: it does not make sense to let the effective implementation of the proposals be done by the facilitators alone. The student's empowerment gets multiplied when they are involved in the real application of their own ideas.
STEPestudiants (STEPstudents) is an initiative born to embed sustainability culture among the university community and very specially to the students. It pretends to break down the classical top-down philosophy used by the institutions when planning new programs that would affect the whole university community, and participatory processes based on collective learning are used instead.
STEPestudiants pretends to be a place suitable not only to make reflexions around the university and its compromise with sustainability in any field (teaching, university's management, its relation with the society...), but also a place where it is possible to make proposals, work on them and take actions to bring them into reality.
To include students in the design of new programs and projects in a transversal manner (i.e. break down the top down managerial approach of teaching)
To nourish and promote a participatory-approach among the students in order to empower the University's community.
To implement working groups, meetings and open spaces of participatoin where the students and people interested can bring ideas of how to better embed sustainable philosophy throughout all the University's programmes.
The methodology followed since april 2009 based on the action plan has showed several aspects to be considered.
First of all, it has been proven that students and the university community in general is concerned about sustainability and participation, and that there is a will to take part in the decisions done at all levels.
Second, it is important to highlight that there have been 23 specific proposals to improve the university towards sustainability in some of the fields that this concept has. The proposals have been developed collectively, being the final result much more complete. Some of these proposals are being implemented.
Last, but not least, STEPestudiants process it has been and it is still being developed transparently, being all the decisions taken and all the activities accessible to everyone, and it is receptive to any criticism that can improve either its philosophy or its management.
STEPestudiants has the particularity to be an institutional program created from “the top” -in this case the university- that looks for a non top-down philosophy in a non easy to manage target sector like is the student field.
The inherent risks associated to this program depend pretty much on the students, which become the main character of the film and have the responsibility and, at the same time, the opportunity, to show their capacity to promote changes at the university.
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