Assignment 1 2019– Understanding Local Challenges

Time frame and activities

Identify your challenge: before the first session on 20.03.2018. Read the Local Challenge Example by Roxana Triboi, Odaia Creativa, Romania
Listen to the thematic input: Landscape as the arena of challenges by Jeroen de Vries, VHL, Netherlands
Listen to the thematic input: Introduction to Social Problem Thinking by Felix Toepler, NGU, Germany
Group reflection time: 22.03. - 28.03.2018
Present your findings: 29.03.2018, 16 00 – 17 30 CET

Social, economic and environmental problems appear everywhere in our everyday environment. It is our local landscape where we as individuals are directly confronted with these problems – and also able to react.
At the very beginning of the seminar you are invited to reflect on your local context and its specific challenges. Try to select a topic that really matters to you because you are going to work on it further during the seminar. The challenge identified will also be a criterion for defining the seminar working groups as we intend to (ideally) group students from different countries, different disciplines and similar interests.
Your first step will be to prepare a graphical representation of your challenge and to upload it on the seminar wiki. On this basis, the groups will be formed and your page will be moved to a team page.
In the further, your group will analyze the background of the challenge identified. What are important cause-effect relationships? Who are the actors? Who is disadvantaged? What are the wider consequences? You will further reflect on the differences and similarities observed in the different countries.
Your findings will be visualized with concept maps or other visual tools and presented to the plenary.

Individual work:

graphical representation of your challenge in JPG format
upload to the seminar wiki by simple file upload until 20th of March 2018,
use this file name: firstname_lastname_yourchallenge.jpg (!)
You may use any combination of graphics, text, images for representing your challenge. The end product should be one jpg file for upload on the wiki
One possibility is to use a powerpoint slide as a basis for representing your challenge. Go to 'save as' and save your PPT slide as a jpg

Group work:

we will form the working group based on the proximity of challenges addressed, further criteria will be international and interdisciplinary composition of the groups
based on your individual work you will reflect in your group about the wider context of your challenge (cause-effect relationships, similarities and differences of local conditions)
You can prepare this as a concept map and/ or any other visual thinking output
Each group prepares a 5 slides presentation until 29th of March 2018, 9am based on this presentation template
Please make sure that all visual materials on your slides are either your own or public domain. Do not take pictures from somewhere on the web, these are usually owned by others, unless they are declared creative commons.
Group presentation: 29th of March 2018, 16 00 - 17 30 CET
upload your presentation slides to your group wiki page after the presentation

For the further analysis of cause effect relationships we recommend concept mapping software. Some practical open source softwar is Cmaps and VUE:
- Cmap Tools
- VUE - The Visual Understanding Environment

Timely submission of required documents
Depth and logic of analysis (i.e. integrating multiple viewpoints and value schemes)
Visual quality of representation (readability, clarity, creative expression)
Quality of oral presentation (i.e. keeping time limits, clarity, expression)