Before we met in person in Amsterdam, we had four online sessions focusing on getting to know each other and deep diving into the sustainability, system thinking and inclusion perspective. Meetings online created a confidential, safe and familiar environment for the following meeting in Amsterdam. Without these online sessions, I doubt none of would have felt comfortable to write a love letter to Apple or a breakup letter to Windows and read them out loud. What a way to start the week <3
During the week we had very inspirational workshops kept by different participating universities. Here are some of the highlights and take aways from the BIP week:
Educational Escape Room (EER)
Escape Rooms are very popular worldwide. These experiences can also be part of learning activities – educational escape rooms! We were absolutely fascinated by this experience – I assume the students would be too! In the game you are required to apply your knowledge, teamwork, communication and creative thinking skills to accomplish a specific goal. And all of this in a limited time.
During the course, a teacher can create an EER for the students to play. In addition, EERs can be created by students as group works, and later the students can play these activities. In the design team you may have more people, but the optimal team size for playing is three. With three students you ensure that all off them will participate to solve the goal.
In Amsterdam, we got to play one EER designed for us. It was a blast! In another group work, few of us started to design a Sustainability Escape Room. Hopefully we are able to work with this topic in the future!
Diversity and biodiversity
If we want to challenge our thinking and ways of working, we need to bring people with different backgrounds together. Different cultures, careers, educational backgrounds and objects of interest make the discussion flourish. I have to admit that it might be a bit chaos in the beginning, but absolutely worth it.
After the online meetings and first workshop, we get to know each other. Ideas started to build on each other. Points of views were critically and constructively challenged and together broadened. We ended up with much wider perspectives than you could never imagine achieving alone.
Most of the workshops included a group work. The group works were presented to the other participants and discussed. Still broadening the perspective and knowledge.
The workshops are demanding. We need to have few good breaks during the day. Just for the rest, but also for socialising. The atmosphere has everything to do with this. We also need to have fun during these workshops.
Combing the interaction and fun in outdoor environments, it is a winner! In the middle of the week, we went on a bicycle ride to the flower fields and had some snacks at locals after the ride. Some of us went the whole way, 22 kilometres, some took a shorter route. The smell of the hyacinths was incredible. Before returning to Amsterdam, we went for a quite a long walk on the beach. Totally different environments for one-to-one discussions. Could not have happened indoors.
Text & image: Appu Haapio-Karjalainen, Senior Lecturer, Circular Economy and Sustainability
