Teacher Registration
D.Game – Young Innovators
Funded by the EIT Climate-KIC
22, 24, 29 November and 1 December 2021
at 16h – 19h CET
Training Description
D.Game is an international project on sustainable education and community engagement co-funded by EIT Climate-KIC through the Young Innovators Program which is aimed at secondary schools.
The project is carried out in nine countries and is led by Aalto University in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, University of Lausanne, and Stantec SpA.
The D.Game is an international project promoting sustainability education and community engagement co-funded by EIT Climate-KIC through the Young Innovators Program, which is aimed at secondary schools. The project is carried out in nine countries and is led by Aalto University in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, University of Valencia, and Stantec SpA.
D.Game project’s organizers will offer an online course on sustainability education for high school teachers on the 22nd, 24th, 29th of November and 1st December 2021. The online course consists of 4 meetings of 3 hours each and is taught in English through Zoom.
The course will provide teachers with novel tools for understanding systemic innovation and for the co-creation of local sustainability initiatives. In addition, it proposes a pedagogical method that stimulates creativity and participation.
During the three sessions of the course, participants will:
1) Explore key aspects of sustainability transitions such as social, cultural, and behavioural factors
2) Learn techniques that encourage active listening and collective intelligence in the classroom
3) Become familiar with collaborative teaching tools and group facilitation methods
4) Apply systems thinking and visual maps to the goals of sustainable development
Besides the teacher training, the D.Game team will organize an online training for students, offering young people the possibility to participate in co-creation events in collaboration with students from various European countries, city representatives, and local stakeholders.
The D.Game project aims also to conduct scientific research on the impact of sustainability education in secondary schools. For this reason, the course participants will be asked to complete an anonymous survey before and after the training.
The link to the online survey will be sent before the course starts. Once the survey has been completed, the course participants will receive a Zoom link through which they can attend the meetings.
At the end of the online course, the course participants will receive a certificate of attendance.
Contact:
salvatore.ruggiero@aalto.fi
elena.poli@upc.edu
nicola.mapelli@stantec.com
Our Vision
1. Sustainability Education
D.Game harnesses the creative power of the youth empowering them with skills and competences that are crucial for a flourishing world. The D.Game’s approach to sustainability education finds solutions for sustainability starting from the young generation mobilizing their desire to act in societal transformation. How? By broadening soft skills, fostering systems thinking, and providing the necessary tools to help students discover their talents and values so that they can actively participate in local sustainability transitions.
3. Co-creation with Stakeholders
The training offers a unique opportunity to secondary schools to become involved with local sustainability projects. Mobilizing and encouraging greater collaboration between stakeholders, we aim to find win-win solutions that are neither top down nor bottom up, but emerge as the result of the exchange of knowledge and experiences of multiple societal actors. To facilitate this exchange of knowledge and experiences, we use the transition arena method to co-create local sustainability projects in collaboration with local authorities, enterprises and leading sustainability experts.
2. Ecosystem Building
D.Game creates an ecosystem of local stakeholders preparing the ground for a new collaborative culture. It aims to bring together relevant societal actors so that they can explore together collective needs to be fulfilled and find solutions to local sustainability challenges. To foster unity of purpose and cooperation at the ecosystem level, a vision for a sustainable future is developed through collective intelligence.
4. Scientific research
Four universities from across Europe are involved in scientific research that supports and enriches the activities of the D.Game. Transformative change requires a deep cultural shift, so we designed an experimental study to understand the most effective sustainability education methodologies in promoting change in environmental attitudes and values, fostering willingness to act for the environment, and broadening crucial competencies such as systems thinking, self-awereness and emotional inteligence. For this reason, the course participants will be asked to complete an anonymous survey before and after the training.
The Team
Elena Poli
Polytechnic University of Catalonia
Dr. Elena Poli is a researcher at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Spain). Her research focuses on social capital (knowledge exchange, co-learning and co-creation) and community-based action for sustainable development. She will coordinate the D.Game activities in Spain.
Contact: elena.poli@upc.edu
Nicola Mapelli
Stantec S.p.A.
Nicola Mapelli is a consultant on Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainable development and Community Engagement. He has extensive on-the-ground experience in the co-creation and management of projects focused on supporting local economies and community development with a multi-stakeholder approach. In the D-Game he coordinates workshops design and facilitation activities.
Contact: nicola.mapelli@stantec.com
Salvatore Ruggiero
Aalto University
Dr Salvatore Ruggiero is a research Fellow at Aalto University and visiting lecturer at the University of Jyväskylä. He is an expert in sustainability transitions, systems thinking and sustainability-oriented innovation. He is the project coordinator and one of the course teachers.
Contact: salvatore.ruggiero@aalto.fi
Matteo Rudello
Stantec S.p.A.
Matteo Rudello, MSc Environmental Sciences, has more than 18 years of experience in the field of environmental services for the industrial sector. He’s currently leading the “Sustainability and Innovation Hub” of Stantec Italy.
Contact: matteo.rudello@stantec.com
Diane Brüggemann
EIT Young Innovators
Diane Brüggemann is a consultant for entrepreneurship and innovation in climate change. As an expert in system thinking and learning design she supports Climate KIC’s Young Innovators programme. Within the project she acts as one of the course teachers.
Contact: diane.brueggemann@match2b.com
Maddalena Galloni
Aalto University
Maddalena Galloni is a research assistant at Aalto University where she is completing a master’s degree in Creative Sustainability. Within the D-Game project, she is responsible for communication and stakeholder engagement.
Experience: One Year of D.Game in numbers
2020
Students
Teachers
schools
Countries
Don’t take our word for it
“A great course that I highly recommend to others. The course was fascinating and engaging and made me really think about my ideals.”
“I enjoyed everything about the course, especially the evolution of the workshops throughout the weeks, starting from your personal idea of an ideal world, and from there from proposing to change the world that surrounds us. We should all reflect on this concept.”
“The practical elements of the course that emotionally stimulate students’ willingness to make changes are absolutely valuable and necessary to achieve the goal of improving our world.”
“In short to love, to love in every way, because there is nothing more comforting than feeling that you have done something good. It is not an easy task, but if we all “fight” together, perhaps in the future, some of that ideal world will come true. We must get it done with enthusiasm!”