Ecological Pedagogies

This double Issue of OASE explores the growing role of ecological thinking in design education. By documenting a hetero-genous collection of 34 situated initiatives - including course descriptions, reflective articles and student projects - it captures a pivotal movement of transition: one where design pedagogy turns into a laboratory of ecological thinking and design is redefined not by what it realises, but by how it relates to its context. Rather than conceived as a blueprint these compiled initiatives act as an innovation to dialogue and demonstrate how diverse, situated and urgent this development has become. 

Henri Uijtterhaegen and Laurens Bekemans contributed the essay "Hybrid Pedagogies of Building: From Ecological Necessity to Pedagogical Practice." They approach collective building as a form of ecological pedagogy, detailing how BC’s hybrid practice model—spanning BC architects, BC materials, and BC studies—emerged out of ecological necessity to challenge conventional construction norms. They outline their "critical making" learning method, which merges theoretical reflection with physical, full-scale building interventions, shifting the architect from an individual genius to a participant in a collective process. Finally, they highlight the importance of physical hybrid learning environments, using the new Stadsatelier-de-Ville circular hub in Brussels as a prime example of how to anchor these multi-layered, ecological pedagogies into practice.

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