Abstract:

The design of cities has concerned both scientists and artists for a century. The push to design sustainable cities in recent years has often been pursued following discrete disciplinary approaches with mixed or even unsatisfactory results. Meanwhile, recent urban policy efforts in Europe, like the New European Bauhaus initiative, call for interdisciplinary and participatory approaches with the aim to achieve not only (technically) sustainable cities, but also beautiful and enjoyable ones, as well as cities that are inclusive and participatory. To achieve such a holistic vision, and given that cities are human-made ecosystems, (poly-)systemic approaches are needed which are formed through unusual and transformative collaborations of actors / bodies of knowledge / and practices that do not usually collaborate. At the same time, the often different paradigms and differing criteria for success that artists and scientists bring to this effort can create challenges in defining goals and methodology.

This presentation shares and reflects on the experience of the collaboration of two college courses – an Environmental Studies course and a Visual Arts one. It is an experience that was constructed as a transformative and empowering learning experience, informed by theories by Paulo Freire, Augusto Boal, Guy Debord and others. It discusses the initiation and design of the collaboration, the theoretical underpinnings of it and its desired outcomes, the activities and teaching methods, and the opportunities and difficulties faced. This experience is viewed as a learning experience for instructors and students alike. Qualitative and constructivist methods were used for the collection of the instructors’ and the students’ perspectives and reflections on the experience. Students’ views are extracted through a content analysis of their reflective pieces, visual documentation and oral feedback. Instructors’ views were compiled via reflections shared in common discussions and personal reflections on the process and outcomes of this learning experience. The paper concludes with reflections on implications for transformative higher education and multidisciplinary collaborations.

Keywords:

Science education, art education, higher education, transformative education, sustainable cities, beautiful cities, multidisciplinary collaboration.