Our Transdomain Learning Community

We (all) need some TLC!

When it comes to sustainability, we all recognize the urgent need for action, that something needs to change. Most of us agree that our society or, to be more precise, the socioeconomic system that we – as humanity – have created to organise ourselves, needs rethinking to ensure that it operates within planetary boundaries, promotes well-being and is fair to everyone.

Simultaneously, students, professionals and organizations alike sometimes struggle to navigate a path that allows them to make a meaningful contribution to this transition. This is quite understandable because sustainability transitions are complex, sometimes messy, often confusing, and there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to your own personal and professional role and contribution.

What is it?

This is where our Transdomain Learning Community (TLC) comes in. This TLC, hosted by the BUas’ Transversal Professorship on Sustainability Transitions, is an experimental, meaningful space that aims to support students, lecturers, R&D specialists, support staff and other professionals, within and outside BUas, in crafting their own sustainability transition pathways. 

It offers a (physical and virtual) place where students, across academy borders, can get together to share their ideas, dreams and fears when it comes to the future of our planet and society. The TLC also assists them in collaboratively shaping and working on exciting sustainability projects, which will help them to further develop their own personal and (future) professional perspective and identity in relation to sustainability transitions. The TLC is also the place where lecturers and R&D specialists (researchers, developers and designers) can get inspired and inspire others on how to incorporate sustainability principles and topics into their teaching and R&D, exploring innovative approaches and making (even more) meaningful contributions to their own field. It is where support staff can share ideas, build new collaborations, and seek support and advice when it comes to turning BUas into a climate positive organization. The same goes for professionals beyond the borders of BUas.

In other words, this TLC seeks to build capacity in its wide diversity of members to enable them to contribute to the transitions required for creating fair, safe and inclusive societies on a thriving planet. This means that through a wide variety of activities, it aims to assist all its members in developing qualities and capabilities (individually and collectively) relevant to sustainability transitions.

How?

The learning community offers a space for organizing and participating in activities such as  dialogues, games playing, developing projects, co-design workshops, and much more. All of these activities are guided by the following key principles:

• building capacity in participants;
• developing through questioning the status quo;
• understanding the link between systems change and personal development;
• collaborating and co-creating through adopting a systems thinking approach;
• respecting and caring for the world around us;
• welcoming diverse perspectives;
• building communities in action.

This means that most of our activities will be designed to encourage and facilitate experimentation and developing ideas together, in a way that explicitly allows us to make mistakes and supports us to learn through collaborating. We will apply the same approach and principles to the way in which we will slowly but surely create this TLC; through experimenting, collaborating and learning. The first stage of building this community is done through rapid prototyping; organizing and trying out a number of activities, and using these to gather input for a soft launch early 2025, leading up to a full formal launch in September 2025.

Join us!

First, we will meet with specific groups – students, lecturers, R&D specialists, and support staff – in a variety of settings and engaging in a range of activities. Each session focuses on a particular topic and is designed to encourage active participation and gathering valuable insights from all involved.

We will keep you in the loop here and through a range of other communication channels. Help us to spread the word!

We would love for you to join some of our sessions and join us in collaboratively turning them into the foundation for our TLC and help to turn it into a supportive network of allies who are committed to driving sustainability transitions at BUas and beyond!

We will also make sure to post updates on how we are progressing on this page. Feel free to contact us if you have questions, suggestions, ideas and more! Just send one (or all) of us an email:

Frans: [email protected]

Celiane: [email protected]

Anna: [email protected]

Upcoming activities

October 8: co-design workshop for R&D specialists on SDGs, Pact for the Future and the role of BUas

October 10: game playing (Zero Hunger Game) for students and lecturers