InnoHub team conducts real-life experiment with TheWEEK
As part of the Innovation Hub on socio-ecological sustainability based at the ZIN, the various sustainability activities at the University of Münster are to be interlinked with each other and with other European universities in the Ulysseus network.
The InnoHub team has now carried out a real-life experiment in which it tested the so-called TheWEEK format to explore how it can be used in teaching and in the context of Ulysseus.
TheWEEK is an offer for groups who want to work together on the central challenges of our time. The idea is to engage in a personal, intensive exchange in a group within a short period of time (three dates within a week) on the basis of films and to relate the issues of the world to one's own life.
The three films focus on social and ecological crises and pose the question of how a just and sustainable coexistence can be shaped. The didactic structure follows the U-process of the U Theory, so that the first part outlines the “descent” and highlights the problems, the second part “settles accounts” with superficial solutions and deceptive hope and the third part outlines the “adventure” of working for sustainable change.
However, the core of TheWEEK is not the films, but the group discussions that arise on this basis. Questions and stimuli are provided for the exchange that follows directly after watching the respective part of the film. The aim of the questions is to reflect together and share how what has been seen affects the individuals, how it relates to their own lives and what concrete possibilities for action all participants see for themselves.
The InnoHub team's real-life experiment created a unique, intense atmosphere on each of the three evenings. A space was created to face the facts together and to endure the status quo - without looking away or acting directly. This made it possible to be touched and to relate personally and emotionally to the state of the world. And on this basis, new perspectives could be developed and creative ideas released in the exchange, which would not have been created and shared in this way without this depth.
After getting involved in the real-life experiment and critically evaluating it, the Innohub team has the following summary of the use of TheWEEK:
- TheWEEK is well suited for use within courses in which larger groups can also be divided into small exchange groups (ideally 4-8 people). In the context of three two-hour sessions, the format can be integrated into lectures as well as seminars and practical courses, which can frame the experience with further content-related sessions beforehand - and especially with transformative action-oriented sessions/projects afterwards. Sustainability teachers at ZIN and elsewhere can easily incorporate the format into existing courses (or weave it into new didactic frameworks).
- The format is also suitable for transfer measures outside of university, as they are designed for a broad target audience (in the Global North). For example, students can easily invite friends or family, work colleagues or their leisure groups and clubs to their own round with TheWEEK. The completely hosted format, including free access to films and discussion guides, makes TheWEEK very easy to use and distribute.
- In Ulysseus, TheWEEK also offers a good opportunity to introduce sustainability dimensions into the network. The films are accessible in several languages (at least English, French and German) and the concept is also designed for exchange in the digital space. The InnoHub team is currently exploring the extent to which it can be integrated into freely accessible open classes, specific sustainability courses or the Teaching Innovation Lab in order to offer teachers from the various European partner countries a space to get to know and explore the possible uses in their different teaching settings.
The ZIN will provide information about specific offers and also invites you to eventually try it out for yourself in the respective context