🌍 As part of the ENVIHEI pilot implementation phase, 9 students from Montanuniversität Leoben (MUL) participated in a two-week learning experience within the Intercultural Competence and Communication elective course. The activity integrated intercultural communication, interdisciplinary perspectives, and sustainability competences through a problem-oriented learning approach.
⛏️ The central challenge was the Green Horizon Project, a fictional but realistic scenario involving a proposed lithium mine. Students adopted different stakeholder roles to explore competing interests, analyse potential conflicts, and negotiate sustainability trade-offs. Through this activity, they examined how cultural differences, disciplinary perspectives, and communication approaches can influence collaboration when addressing complex sustainability challenges.
🌱 Sustainability was integrated throughout the course, drawing on the European Commission’s GreenComp framework, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the planetary boundaries framework. Students considered different perspectives on sustainability, explored potential solutions to the mining challenge, and reflected on competences such as systems thinking, critical thinking, problem framing, and collective action.
🤝 Through intercultural case studies, group activities, and guided reflection, students explored Erin Meyer’s eight dimensions of cultural differences and used the OSEE reflection tool to examine their assumptions and interpretations. The learning experience culminated in a simulated stakeholder meeting involving all nine students, where participants presented different interests, negotiated conflicting perspectives, and explored possible solutions. A subsequent group discussion, adapted from “de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats”, encouraged them to consider risks, opportunities, and alternative approaches.
💡 The course also encouraged students to reflect on their own cultural assumptions and professional perspectives. Final written reflections provided evidence of emerging intercultural awareness and an understanding of the connections between intercultural collaboration, disciplinary practices, and sustainability. Students recognised the importance of considering alternative perspectives and communication approaches when addressing global challenges.
📚 This ENVIHEI pilot implementation illustrated how intercultural and sustainability competences can be integrated into a short, problem-oriented course, providing students with opportunities to explore the role of communication, perspective-taking, and interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing complex sustainability challenges.
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