Nominee
Sustainability &
Ethics
The science communication project raises awareness of the promises of our digital age and its environmental consequences: over 62 million tonnes of electronic waste each year. From the cobalt mines of Congo to the dumping grounds of Ghana, the global electronics industry reproduces colonial patterns—resources flow outward, while waste and harm return. By situating e-waste within histories of extraction and exploitation, this exhibition traces hidden lifecycles to reveal how planned obsolescence, consumer culture, and environmental racism sustain global inequalities.
Implementation of the Course
The in-person seminar is designed as an interdisciplinary, practice-oriented format in which students critically engage with science communication projects. The course integrates individual and collective learning dynamics in both synchronous and asynchronous settings, combining classroom-based instruction with on-site activities in scientific collections and museums. Structured as a block seminar with monthly meetings, the format incorporates remote preparatory and follow-up sessions in order to enhance accessibility and support flexible learning. The seminar is organized into three distinct phases: 1. Phase I focuses on the development of conceptual and practical competencies in exhibition-making, ethical curation, and inclusive storytelling. To this end, students participate in guided visits to relevant exhibitions in Zurich and Neuchâtel. 2. Phase II requires the completion of two individual written assignments: (a) a report on a conference I organized on the topic, which featured contributions from leading scientists and curators, and (b) a museum review chosen independently by each student. 3. Phase III centeres on the collaborative design of an exhibition project addressing the theme of electronic waste. The choice of topic resultes from a collective discussion and reflected students’ interests, its broader societal relevance, and the educational role of academic institutions in engaging with this issue. This phase is conducted in a largely self-organized manner and included systematic student peer feedback, thereby fostering critical reflection, communicative competence, and a sense of responsible agency.
Innovative Elements
As an innovative pedagogical approach, the seminar relied on the students’ interests, skills, and backgrounds. It can be conceptualized as a form of “grassroots learning”: the seminar provided a thematic and structural framework, while students’ perspectives constituted the core of the learning experience. In this context, the seminar functioned as an integrative environment, in which students were actively engaged and empowered through horizontal learning dynamics. This process unfolded in two stages. Initially, students were assigned individual tasks, allowing them to reflect upon their personal skills. Subsequently, as an exercise in collaborative responsibility, students jointly developed the exhibition project, incorporating peer feedback and co-creative decision-making. Innovation resided in the orchestration of both individual and collective learning processes, leveraging interdisciplinary perspectives, and strengthening individual competencies and collaborative capacities.
Effects on Student Learning
As the seminar was structured around a collective model project, the open sessions of discussion fostered dynamics of exchange, reflexivity, and trust. By cultivating such an environment, the seminar demonstrated the effectiveness of foregrounding students’ active role in the pedagogical process. The participants engaged not only with the central subjects, but also with the organization of a process of creative and critical design within a collective framework. Students collaboratively prepared the exhibition model and provided reciprocal feedback, thereby enacting practices of shared responsibility. An important dimension was the students’ chosen focus. By reworking the infrastructural conditions of learning, they interrogated the environmental and social legacies of electronic waste. In this way, the seminar fostered a praxis that linked reflection with action, advancing individual and collective agency while exemplifying the pedagogical potential of collaborative learning.
Which Elements of Your Project Would You Recommend to Others?
The three-part structure constitutes an effective organizational framework for fostering collective action. It comprises three components: theory and methods, individual learning (including remote preparatory activities), and the collective model project. This structure has proven particularly suitable for block seminars organized through monthly meetings. Moreover, it is scalable, allowing for implementation in larger student cohorts. Student self-organization functioned effectively when supported by a schedule of short assignments and iterative rounds of peer feedback. The most significant outcome was the collective agreement among students on the subject of the model project. This decision emerged through open-ended discussions and the articulation of critical thinking arguments.
