Education comes from the latin “educere”, which means “to pull out”, to bring to light something hidden or dormant somewhere.
Education is not just about sharing and transmitting knowledge.
It is also about teasing out participants’ knowledge and experiences, as well as deep motivations, values, held beliefs. It is also about developing capacities for critical inquiry, experimentation, and collective thinking.
In this page, you can find a list of educational activities I taught, supervised, or tutored, in academic settings.
For courses I designed and/or taught with a transformative learning approach, see the dedicated page.
Picture by Giulia Corradini.
Teaching and tutoring within MA and PhD courses
Green care: from ideas to enterprise (6 ECTS)
Co-coordinated and tutored a MA course for students of Forest Sciences, School of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Padova. (Academic Years: 2023-2024; 2024-2025). Previously called: “Green Care: from theory to entrepreneurial practice”. [Held online]
Exploring with humans: from individual to collective data collection tools and techniques (3 ECTS)
PhD course at the School of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Padova. (AY 2023-2024; 2022-2023; 2022-2021). Since 2021, I teach the module “Knowledge co-production, creative methods, & (online) tools for participatory research.” The course was previously called: “Data collection: from questionnaires to participatory approaches”.
Economy Lab (3 ECTS)
Part of the International Master in Rural Development (IMRD), Dept. of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pisa (AY 2020-2021). Tutored MA students on issues related to social innovation and rural development; supervised and evaluated students in the production of a Policy Brief and a spoken presentation. [Held online]
Food and innovation in rural transition: the Tuscany case (10 ECTS)
Summer School of the International Master in Rural Development (IMRD). The Summer School is coordinated by the Dept. of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pisa. For the AY 2019-2020 [held online], I designed and facilitated the creative learning journey; taught two lectures on co-creative and visual methods; tutored students on issues related to social farming and rural development.
For the AY 2023-2024 (in presence), I taught a lecture on future thinking methods for rural areas, and facilitated a focus group with students and local stakeholders from various food systems’ sectors.
Sustainability Lab (6 ECTS)
MA Course for students of the International College, Ca’ Foscari University Venice (AY 2018-2019). I taught two lectures on participatory methods and co-creation; I tutored BA and MA students in the design and implementation of the participatory engagement process of a local community for an urban regeneration project.
Sustainability Science Concepts (15 ECTS)
Course of the Environmental Change and Global Sustainability Master Programme, University of Helsinki (AY 2017 – 2018). I supervised and evaluated six students in the design and writing of the final essay.
Picture by Giulia Corradini.
Invited Lectures & Workshops
- “Participatory methods for data collection and meaningful engagement”. Lecture. Doctoral Program in Asian and North African Studies, Ca’ Foscari University Venice (IT), 15/5/2024;
- “Designing meaningful engagement processes.” Workshop, with A. de Vrieze. Transformative and Participatory Research Methods – PhD course, Wageningen University (NE), 19/02/2024, 23/2/2021 and 21/2/2022;
- “Exploring human-nature relations in rural-mountain areas: a participatory action-research using PhotoVoice”. Lecture. Sociology, Places, and Cultures of Sustainability – MA course University of Padova, 20/11/2023;
- “A connectivist-inspired MOOC on care-full scholarship: design principles & tools”. Online lecture. Teaching, Learning and Capacity building for Sustainable Development – MA course of Wageningen University (NE), 9/6/2022;
- “Creating safe spaces online: Principles & tools for meaningful collaborative engagement.” Online workshop. Alternative Research Methods Remote Edition – MA and PhD course, OtherWise Foundation – Wageningen University (NE), 9/2/2021;
- “Creative & visual methods for online knowledge co-production.” Online workshop. Digital Humanities Lab, Freie University Berlin (DE), 2/12/2020;
- “Establishing transdisciplinary communities for socio-ecological transformations. Insights from the Belt & Road Initiative.” Lecture, with Daniele Brombal. Reset Dialogues on Civilization – Online summer school, 28/5/2020;
- “Re-storying our socio-ecological worlds: A storytelling webinar for communication, engagement, and unlearning purposes.” Online workshop. Human Beings and Nature through the Humanities and Social Sciences Lab, International College, Ca’ Foscari University Venice (IT), 27/4/2020;
- “Co-creation processes for place-based development. The role of participatory methods in enhancing community resourcefulness.” Lecture. Environment, Art & Sustainability: Venice & Beyond – Summer School. Institute of Marine Sciences, National Research Council (IT), 4/6/2019;
- “The undisciplined journey: Shaping places and practices through participatory methods.” Workshop. A Global Sense of Place: Place-based Approaches to Development, Wageningen University (NE), 9/4 and 11/4/2019;
- “Going beyond sustainability: A theoretical and practice-oriented introduction to transformative change, regeneration and care.” Workshop. Implementation of Sustainability: Prevention, Mitigation, Remediation, International College, Ca’ Foscari University Venice (IT), 21/12/2017;
- “Action-Hub. Arts-based methods for transformative design.” Workshop. SUSPLACE Autumn School: Shaping Places, Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries, University of Aveiro (PT), 04/10/2017;
- “Praticare le scienze sociali in Cina: approcci metodologici ed esperienza dalla ricerca sul campo. Due casi a confronto.” Lecture. Politica e Società della Cina Contemporanea, Ca’ Foscari University Venice (IT), 16/3/2016;
- “Istituzionalizzazione, sperimentazione, repressione: capire la partecipazione pubblica nei processi decisionali ambientali in Cina.” Lecture, with D. Brombal. Società Cinese Contemporanea, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Venice (Italy), 16/3/2016;
- “Cambiamento climatico in Cina: una prospettiva di genere.” Lecture. Società Cinese Contemporanea, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Venice (Italy), 21/4/2015;
- “Evaluating public participation procedures in China’s environmental decision making.” Lecture. Large Cultural Lab: Encounters and Exchanges between Europe and Asia, International College, Ca’ Foscari University Venice (IT), 23/2/2015;
- “Sviluppo sostenibile in Cina: quali spazi per la partecipazione pubblica?” Lecture. Sviluppo sostenibile in Cina. Crisi ambientale, politiche pubbliche e dinamiche sociali – Seminar, Department of Asian and North African Studies (DSAAM), Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Venice (Italy), 9/10/2014;
- “Governance ambientale in Cina: ridefinendo i confini della partecipazione pubblica.” Lecture. Società Cinese Contemporanea, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Venice (Italy), 24/3/2014;
- “Environmental crisis in China: seeking justice.” Lecture. Summer Institute on Climate Change and Environmental Protection (SICCEP), Peking University School of Government, Beijing (China), 15/08/2013.
Membership in PhD Evaluation Committees
- Wageningen School of Social Sciences, Wageningen University and Research. Examined a PhD proposal focusing on ecological regeneration, care ethics, and transformative change (2024).
- Faculty of Education, Southern Cross University (Australia). Examined a PhD thesis focusing on planetary ethics and business agency (2022).
Supervision
- Dept. of Land, Environment, Agriculture, and Forestry, University of Padova – Legnaro (IT). Co-supervised one BA thesis on the topic of participation in forest communities (AY 2021-2022). Co-supervised one MA internship on youth issues in rural areas (AY 2023-2024).
- Dept. of Asian and North African Studies, Ca’ Foscari University Venice – Venice (IT) (AY 2017;2018;2019). Co-supervised five MA thesis relevant to the following topics: social capital and climate change adaptation; ecofeminism, value systems and socio-ecological practices; social and environmental impacts of the Beijing Winter Olympics; alternative food netwporks and urban agriculture in China.
