This chapter presents Critical Policy Discourse Analysis (CPDA) which merges critical discourse analysis (CDA) with critical policy studies (CPS). CPDA engages with a discursive analysis of a policy problem, generally drawing on critical discourse analysis for its methodology, in this case Text Oriented Discourse Analysis (TODA). The research addresses the problem of complexity reduction in the process of policy-making and illustrates this with an analysis of the UN Agenda “Transforming the World, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, which introduces the sustainable development goals (SDGs). It presents the reader with a detailed example of how to perform a TODA research. It indeed reveals mechanisms of policy reduction such as decontextualization, singularization, a limited spatio-temporal frame reduced to the timespan of the UN. It discusses the potential consequences of this for the effectivity of the SDGs and presents alternative theories and voices that do capture the complexity of real life events. The final section suggests further developments in CPDA and advocates bringing complexity to the fore.
From the article: The ‘Axiomatic Design Methodology’ uses ‘Axioms’ that cannot be proven nor derived from physical phenomena. The axioms serve as guidelines for the design process of products and systems. The latest contribution was the addition of the ‘Complexity Axiom’ in 1999. However, the underlying theory of complexity did not get much traction by designers and their managers yet. It emphasises difficulties in the design, not primarily focussing on solutions. The ‘Theory of Complexity’ is converted to a ‘Theory of Maturity’ in this paper. It is supported with a graphical way to plot maturity as it develops. It visualises the results in a way that can be understood by all entities in a company, engineers, managers, and executives. Understanding the maturity of a system enables selection of the right measures to control it. Visualisation enables communication between the interacting parties. If successful development trajectories are understood, eventually from earlier experience, even better corrective actions can be applied. The method appears an affirmative way to graphically represent progression in design, thus presenting advances in a positive context. Though positively presented, it is not the case that the method hides problems; presumed and legitimate project progression can be quite different, which challenges the designer to understand the process. In this way, the method sends out a continuous warning to stay critical on design choices made.
Value-loaded critical thinking refers to a combination of critical thinking, moral value development and reflection. It is important to teach value-loaded critical thinking in secondary education and philosophy seems the pre-eminent subject to do so. This article describes the theoretical foundations of value-loaded critical thinking, its educational objectives, and what is known about effective teaching strategies. Value-loaded critical thinking is best taught in teacher-led philosophical dialogues. Four design principles summarize effective teaching strategies for teaching value-loaded critical thinking in dialogue: teachers should (1) explicitly address moral values in dialogue; (2) apply moral values to engaging or realistic examples; (3) promote critical reasoning about moral values; and (4) provide opportunities for reflection.It is important that secondary school students learn to reason critically about normative issues. Philosophy teachers can contribute to this educational objective by promoting value-loaded critical thinking during philosophical dialogues. Value-loaded critical thinking is critical and reflective reasoning focused on deciding what is the right thing to believe or to do (Frijters et al. 2008). This paper describes the theoretical foundations of value-loaded critical thinking and presents four design principles for promoting value-loaded critical thinking during philosophical dialogues. The four design principles are: teachers should explicitly address moral values in dialogue (1), apply moral values to engaging or realistic examples (2), promote critical reasoning about moral values (3), and provide opportunities for reflection (4). To provide authentic illustrations and practical suggestions for teachers, each design principle includes selected excerpts of classroom dialogues of 10th grade philosophy classes in Dutch.
The transition to a circular, resource efficient construction sector is crucial to achieve climate neutrality in 2050. Construction stillaccounts for 50% of all extracted materials, is responsible for 3% of EU’s waste and for at least 12% of Green House Gas emissions.However, this transition is lagging, the impact of circular building materials is still limited.To accelerate the positive impact of circulair building materials Circular Trust Building has analyzed partners’ circular initiatives andidentified 4 related critical success factors for circularity, re-use of waste, and lower emissions:1. Level of integration2. Organized trust3. Shared learning4. Common goalsScaling these success factors requires new solutions, skills empowering stakeholders, and joint strategies and action plans. Circular TrustBuilding will do so using the innovative sociotechnical transition theory:1.Back casting: integrating stakeholders on common goals and analyzing together what’s needed, what’s available and who cancontribute what. The result is a joint strategy and xx regional action plans.2.Agile development of missing solutions such a Circular Building Trust Framework, Regional Circular Deals, connecting digitalplatforms matching supply and demand3.Increasing institutional capacity in (de-)construction, renovation, development and regulation: trained professionals move thetransition forward.Circular Trust Building will demonstrate these in xx pilots with local stakeholders. Each pilot will at least realize a 25% reduction of thematerial footprint of construction and renovation
The project Decolonising Education: from Teachers to Leading Learners (DETeLL) aims to develop a multi-site approach for interventions towards inclusion and decolonisation in order to change the hierarchical nature of higher education in the Netherlands. DETeLL identifies the model of the ‘traditional teacher’ as embodying the structural exclusions and discriminations built into the classroom and proposes the figure of a ‘Leading Learner’ as a first step towards a radical change in the educational system. In collaboration with the education departments in the Theatre and Dance Academy at ArtEZ, the post-doc will build up a research and teaching programme that engages with students and teachers in the faculty to create a prototype of an inclusive and diverse educational practice. RELEVANCE: Education should be the critical space in which changes occur in order to shape best possible futures. In DETeLL’s acceptation, decolonisation refers to a complete change in the way of thinking and behaving. It does not refer only to the urgency of dealing with historical colonial legacies embedded in society, but also to the subversion of the deeply oppressive colonial culture that (also unconsciously) regulates public and private living, whether this is related to gender, race, class or sexuality issues. RESULTS: 1) Create a theory and practice-based scientific base-line of decolonisation and art education; 2) Provide a definition of ‘Artist educator as Leading Learner’ following a practice- based methodology of intervention; 3) Design and Pilot a new teaching programme for theatre education at ArtEZ to be then upscaled to all educational departments in a follow-up project); 4) Produce a strong interdisciplinary and international output plan: 3 academic publications, 2 conferences, 4 expert group workshops. NETWORK: ArtEZ; University of Amsterdam (UvA); Ghent University; UCHRI; Hildesheim University; Cape Town University. The partners will serve as steering committee through planned expert group meetings.
Entangled Machines is a project by Mariana Fernández Mora that interrogates the colonial and extractive legacies underpinning artificial intelligence (AI). By introducing slowness and digital kinship as critical frameworks, the project reconceptualises AI as embedded within intricate social and ecological networks, thereby contesting dominant narratives of efficiency and optimisation. Through participatory, practice-based methodologies such as the Material Playground, the project integrates feminist and non-Western epistemologies to articulate alternative models for ethical, sustainable, and equitable AI practices. Over a four-year period, Entangled Machines develops theory, engages diverse communities, and produces artistic outputs to reimagine human-AI interactions. In collaboration with partners including ARIAS Amsterdam, Archival Consciousness, and the Sandberg Institute, the research seeks to foster decolonial and interdisciplinary approaches to AI. Its culmination will be an “Anarchive” – a curated assemblage of artistic, theoretical, and archival outputs – that serves as a resource for rethinking AI’s socio-political and ecological impacts.
