Activities and Methodology

Title	Hours	ECTS	Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed
HANDS-ON PROJECT DEVELOPMENT	24	0.96
LECTURES WITH THE THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS	26	1.04
Type: Autonomous
GROUP PROJECT DEVELOPMENT	34	1.36	CM22, KM29, SM27, CM22
INDIVIDUAL STUDY	30	1.2	CM22, KM29, SM27, CM22

This course will allow students to acquire foundations of challenge-based innovation to foster equity and sustainability in complex urban systems. In order to break down real-world complexity, we will apply participatory multi-criteria analysis to the problem structuring and solution evaluation (Salgado et al., 2009; Langemeyer et al., 2016). The course will be based on the collaborative development of a multidisciplinary, social-ecological-technological systems approach to specific sustainability challenges, considering both technological innovation systems and nature-based solutions (Van Der Jagt et al., 2020). In addition, the course will transmit basic knowledge on tools for reporting and presentation, including and introduction to LATEX, report structuring, and the preparation of oral presentations.

The person in charge of coordinating a training challenge experience is a Research Teaching Person (PDI), who coordinates and dynamises the group of participants and is the connecting element between the group and the agent of the territory that provides the challenge.

 

Work will be conducted in small groups of 4-6 students. Ideally the working groups are multidisciplinary, and each member contributes his/her knowledge and experience to the analysis of the challenge and the formulation of the final proposal. In this sense, it is important that teams of students with different backgrounds are formed.

 

Real-world challenges will be chosen at the campus of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). The sustainability challenges include energy, transport and green infrastructure. The Campus of the UAB will be the living lab of reference to address challenges, which will be connected to the similar challenges appearing in different cities. Students will participate in all parts of the challenge definition life-cycle, and will have assigned specific roles, so that their teaching experience will be implemented in a living lab model approach.

 

The course is based on a practical implementation aimed at solving challenges. Therefore, the class will follow a stepwise approach, including:

 

(1)   Proposal / selection of challenges

(2)  Breakdown of challenges through multiple criteria

(3)  Definition of alternatives to address the challenge

(4) Evaluation of impacts of action, including selection of indicators

(5)  Participatory criteria weighting

 

For each step, students will be provided with the fundamental theoretical concepts, which will be applied in the context of challenge-based innovation approaches. The challenge-based learning approach is divided into theoretical classes and practical exercises.

 

The citizen-centric approach will be a recurrent pivotal point in the discourse of the subject: The Citizen as member of the Community and as an actor for challenge-solving. Students will engage in groups in a process to generate a deliverable for one specific challenge definition, interacting with stakeholders under the supervision of the teaching staff. An evaluation of the challenge definition provided will be carried out based on contents and impact of the project, in such a way that students must demonstrate their ability to manage the process and point out potential measures of its transformational impact. This methodological vision allows working cooperatively in complex or uncertain environments and with limited resources, in a multidisciplinary context, assuming and respecting the role of the different members of the team.

In this subject, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is allowed as an integral part of the work development, provided that the final result reflects a significant contribution from the student in the analysis and personal reflection. The student must clearly identify which parts were generated with this technology, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how they influenced the process and the final outcome of the activity. Lack of transparency in the use of AI will be considered an academic dishonesty and may result in a penalty in the activity's grade, or greater sanctions in cases of severity.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.