Fostering transformative competencies: insights from Placemaking education

Acknowledging the need for a pedagogical shift to address complex societal challenges, this study explores how interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary Placemaking education supports students in developing skills for transformative learning. By examining the competencies gained through challenge-driven education, the research provides insight into students’ learning processes within the course. Grounded in theoretical frameworks on transformative, challenge-based, and authentic learning, the study draws on semi-structured interviews to investigate student experiences and reflections. The results show the value of authentic, place-based learning experiences in fostering transformative competencies. In this context, two elements come together through which transformative learning manifests itself in Placemaking education: personal and interpersonal transformation and affective and practical competencies. By bridging theory and practice and engaging with real-world challenges, students develop a deeper understanding of complex societal issues and their role as transformative practitioners. They reported gaining competencies such as collaboration, connecting perspectives, creative thinking, and perseverance. Students also emphasized communication skills and the ability to reconcile diverse viewpoints as central to transformative action. Notably, they highlighted values and attitudes—such as a creative mindset, perseverance, and trust—as essential in transformative learning. Training affective competencies alongside cognitive ones emerged as particularly important. In conclusion, the course Placemaking illustrates how integrating transformative learning principles into higher education can prepare students to drive societal change through action-oriented, collaborative, practical applicable and implicit interdisciplinary approaches. These insights contribute to a broader understanding of transformative learning in higher education and offer guidance to educators aiming to foster such competencies in their programs.