B8200 - SUSTAINABILITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION IN SCIENCE

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students will develop a solid understanding of the role of climate change within science education. They will gain the ability to analyze and apply transformative educational approaches that foster decision-making and promote agency. Students will also be able to integrate scientific literacy into educational practices and approaches that address environmental challenges while promoting social justice and equity in both local and global contexts. Additionally, students will develop critical perspectives on how issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion, including gender, intersect with scientific inquiry and education, empowering them to advocate for more inclusive and equitable educational environments.

Course contents

The course explores the relationships between science and society through the perspectives of sustainability, equity and inclusion. Starting from the premise that scientific knowledge is produced, validated and mobilised within specific historical, cultural and institutional contexts, the course critically examines the role of science and science education in a society shaped by climate crises, technological transformations, inequalities and conflicts of values.

The course is organised into two complementary modules: a 16-hour Module 1 and a 12-hour Module 2.

 

Module 1 – Sustainability, climate change and agency

The first module situates science education within the context of contemporary systemic crises, with particular attention to climate change. Polycrisis is analysed as a configuration of interdependent phenomena involving Earth systems, political institutions, the production and circulation of knowledge, public trust in science, and the collective capacity to imagine and build sustainable futures.

The module addresses the following topics:

• contemporary crises and their interconnections: climate change, Earth-system instability, geopolitical conflicts, disinformation, polarisation and the crisis of cooperation;
• the co-constitutive relationship between science and society and its implications for science education;
• climate change as an epistemological, systemic, temporal, cultural and political challenge;
• the social production of scientific knowledge, validation processes, scientific consensus and trust in science;
• science denialism and the strategic manufacture of doubt;
• the limitations of the information-deficit model and the complex relationship between knowledge, orientation and action;
• situated knowledge, the social epistemology of science and post-normal science;
• the role of models, simulations, causal reasoning and complex-systems science in understanding climate change;
• the plurality of possible, plausible and desirable futures;
• Futures Studies and the development of competences for imagining, anticipating and discussing future scenarios;
• future-scaffolding skills and the future as a space of possibility, deliberation and action;
• the relationships between climate science, political decision-making, international negotiations and climate finance;
• historical responsibility, inequalities in emissions, vulnerability and climate justice;
• the personal, political and practical dimensions of transformation;
• the relationship between individual action, collective action and systemic change;
• agency as a relational, situated and multidimensional process;
• the epistemic, ethical-reflective and systemic-pragmatic dimensions of climate agency.

The lectures integrate contributions from science education research, philosophy, Futures Studies, climate science, economics and climate-policy studies. The module also includes a seminar devoted to the relationship between science, policy, finance and climate justice.

Module 2 – Equity, gender and feminist epistemologies of science

The second module examines the relationship between the production of scientific knowledge, gender, power and the social organisation of research. Drawing on contributions from the history and philosophy of science, gender studies and feminist epistemologies, the module challenges the image of science as an activity detached from the social and cultural contexts in which it is practised.

The module addresses the following topics:

• data and indicators concerning the presence of women in science and academic careers;
• horizontal and vertical segregation, access to scientific careers and processes of exclusion;
• stereotypes, implicit prejudice and bias in scientific and academic contexts;
• the historical construction of scientific spaces and the conditions shaping women’s access to knowledge production;
• women’s contributions to the history of science and the processes through which these contributions have been rendered invisible;
• the relationships between scientific institutions, the division of labour, epistemic authority and recognition;
• the question of whether a “feminist science” exists and the distinction between sex, gender and scientific practices;
• a feminist introduction to the philosophy of science;
• the demarcation problem and the historical construction of objectivity;
• the relationship between methods, methodologies and epistemologies;
• critiques of the presumed neutrality and universality of the knowing subject;
• standpoint epistemologies and situated knowledge;
• strong objectivity and the epistemic role of a plurality of perspectives;
• the relationship between facts, values and decisions in scientific research;
• the ideal of value-free science and its limitations;
• the role of scientific communities, critical dialogue and diversity in the construction of objectivity;
• feminist empiricism, social epistemology and neo-materialism.

The module shows that questions of inclusion concern more than access to scientific professions. They also involve which research questions are regarded as relevant, which methods are adopted, which subjects are recognised as legitimate knowers, and which criteria are used to validate scientific knowledge.

Readings/Bibliography

Study materials will be made available on the Virtuale platform. The reference bibliography includes a selection of suggested readings for each module.

Module 1

European Commission, GreenComp: The European Sustainability Competence Framework, 2022.

Funtowicz, S. O., & Ravetz, J. R., “Science for the Post-Normal Age”, Futures, 1993.

Ghosh, A., The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, University of Chicago Press, 2016.

Haraway, D., “Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective”, Feminist Studies, 1988.

Jensen, B. B., & Schnack, K., “The Action Competence Approach in Environmental Education”, Environmental Education Research, 1997.

Latour, B., Facing Gaia: Eight Lectures on the New Climatic Regime, Polity Press, 2017.

Levrini, O., Tasquier, G., Branchetti, L., & Barelli, E., “Developing Future-Scaffolding Skills through Science Education”, International Journal of Science Education, 2021.

Magnason, A. S., On Time and Water, Open Letter, 2020.

O’Brien, K., & Sygna, L., “Responding to Climate Change: The Three Spheres of Transformation”, 2013.

Oreskes, N., Why Trust Science?, Princeton University Press, 2019.

Oreskes, N., & Conway, E. M., Merchants of Doubt, Bloomsbury Press, 2010.

Tasquier, G., Knain, E., & Jornet, A., “Scientific Literacies for Change Making: Equipping the Young to Tackle Current Societal Challenges”, Frontiers in Education, 2022.

Additional selected articles on climate change, Futures Studies, agency, complexity, justice and transformation.

Module 2

Haraway, D., “Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective”, Feminist Studies, 1988.

Harding, S., The Science Question in Feminism, Cornell University Press, 1986.

Harding, S., Whose Science? Whose Knowledge? Thinking from Women’s Lives, Cornell University Press, 1991.

Lacey, H., Is Science Value Free? Values and Scientific Understanding, Routledge, 1999.

Longino, H. E., Science as Social Knowledge: Values and Objectivity in Scientific Inquiry, Princeton University Press, 1990.

Longino, H. E., “Subjects, Power, and Knowledge: Description and Prescription in Feminist Philosophies of Science”, in Feminist Epistemologies, 1993.

Schiebinger, L., The Mind Has No Sex? Women in the Origins of Modern Science, Harvard University Press, 1989.

Additional selected books and articles on the history of women in science, standpoint epistemologies, feminist empiricism, and the relationships between science, values and power.

Reports and documents produced by national and international organisations, audiovisual materials, podcasts and public science communication resources will also be used. The final list of compulsory readings for the assessment will be communicated at the beginning of the course.

Teaching methods

The course combines lectures, dialogic seminars, case analyses, the reading and discussion of texts, and individual and group activities.

The lectures provide the conceptual tools needed to critically analyse the relationships between science, society, sustainability, gender and equity. The seminar sessions encourage dialogue across different disciplinary perspectives and provide opportunities to discuss the epistemological, ethical, political and educational implications of the topics addressed.

During the course, students will engage in activities such as:

• analysing and discussing data, graphs, scenarios and scientific documents;
• comparing different sources and forms of knowledge production and communication;
• discussing cases related to science denialism, trust in science and the public circulation of knowledge;
• constructing and interpreting causal maps and systemic representations;
• exploring climate and socio-economic scenarios;
• carrying out anticipation and scenario-building activities, and reflecting on possible and desirable futures;
• participating in simulations and discussions concerning climate negotiations, responsibility and justice;
• analysing data on women’s participation in scientific research;
• reconstructing historical cases concerning spaces of access to, exclusion from and production of knowledge;
• discussing texts in the philosophy of science and feminist epistemology;
• engaging in reflective activities on the relationships between evidence, values, positionality and decision-making.

The teaching approach values peer dialogue, the plurality of perspectives and active participation. Particular attention is devoted to the ability to formulate questions, argue positions, make assumptions explicit and recognise the tensions shaping the relationships between scientific knowledge, values and action.

The course is taught in English. Teaching materials and the main learning activities are also provided in English.

Assessment methods

For attending students (those who attend at least two-thirds of the module)

• Group activities during the course (discussion and presentation of thematic insights)
• Short written essay in English (2,000–3,000 words) on a topic covered in the module (chosen by the student)
• Oral exam of approximately 20 minutes, including presentation and discussion of an in-depth article selected by the student from those recommended by the lecturers

 

 For non-attending students

• Written essay in English (3,500–4,000 words) on a topic covered in the module (chosen by the student)

• Oral exam of approximately 30 minutes, including presentation and discussion of an in-depth article selected by the student from those recommended by the lecturers, plus specific questions on the course content.

Teaching tools

The course makes use of a variety of tools to support different learning styles and to foster active engagement among students. In addition to in-person lectures, the following resources will be provided:

• Handouts and slide presentations summarising key content;
• The Virtuale platform as the main hub for sharing materials and facilitating asynchronous interaction;
• Interactive digital tools, such as Wooclap, Jamboard, and virtual whiteboards, to encourage brainstorming, individual reflection, and group discussion;
• Videos and podcasts by leading experts, offering accessible yet rigorous insights into the course themes (including selected video lectures by Telmo Pievani and Stefano Mancuso, as well as contributions from scientists, educators, and activists);
• Official documents and resources from international organisations (e.g., UNESCO, European Commission);
• Selected articles from academic and popular scientific journals (Nature, Science, Science Education, etc.).

 

Students with Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs) or disabilities are invited to contact the lecturers at the beginning of the course. Individualised learning and assessment accommodations will be arranged in accordance with University guidelines, to ensure an accessible, equitable, and inclusive learning experience for all.

Office hours

See the website of Giulia Tasquier

See the website of Francesca Vidotto