Julio Lumbreras

Working for sustainability transformation

in an academic environment: the case of itdUPM

OutlineAn introduction to itdUPM

How do we frame Campus contribution to sustainability?

Students & sustainable experiences

A niche within a traditional University regime?

Some examples

Four organizational design issues. Framework

OutlineAn introduction to itdUPM

How do we frame Campus contribution to sustainability?

Students & sustainable experiences

A niche within a traditional University regime?

Some examples

Four organizational design issues. Framework

• Large (40.000 Graduate and Post-graduate Students)

• Decentralized and muti-disciplinar (20 “Schools”)

• Internationally focused• Strong relations with Industry

Technical University of Madrid (UPM)

UPM evolution on studies and research for developmentOrigins

20 action-research groups in international development were promoted

.

90s

UPM evolution on studies and research for developmentOrigins

20 action-research groups in international development were promoted

First steps to create an interdisciplinary centre

Masters Degree in Strategies & Technology for Development

90s

2008

2010

UPM evolution on studies and research for developmentOrigins

20 action-research groups in international development

First steps to create an interdisciplinary centre

Masters Degree in Strategies & Technology for Development

itdUPM is constitued

90s

2008

2010

2012

OutlineAn introduction to itdUPM

How do we frame Campus contribution to sustainability?

Students & sustainable experiences

A niche within a traditional University regime?

Some examples

Four organizational design issuesA preliminary framework

Four Organizational Design Issues

Leadership and governanceStructureIncentivesIdentities

Leadership and governance

What team do we need to pilot the process in terms of capabilities, leadership style...?

“From Egosystems to Ecosystems”

Structure: a network organization

How to create new spaces that really promote cross-unit relationships, fostering a sense of community and an open culture of trust?

A networked organization is…

More than a “sexy” organization chart based on nodes and links.More than a word that is repeated insistently.

An enabling, organic space where interactions are crucial,… where processes and management systems are far from

bureaucracies,… where strategic behaviour is far from formal planning, reinforcing

emergent strategies.

Incentives

Which are the incentives that we really have at our disposal to stimulate internal collaboration?

3 Ms: • Meaning• Mastery • Membership

When only intrinsic motivators are available

Identities

How to wear two or three hats simultaneously (belonging to a node, to a cluster and to a network)?

A new institutional framework had to be negotiated (former institutional options -institutes and research centres- were not conceived for networked institutions)

Some sources of inspiration

Multi Level Perspective (Geels, 2012)

Regenerative sustainability (Robinson, 2014)

Interdisciplinarity and the “star model” (Bursztyn, 2013)

“Design, when everybody designs” (Manzini, 2015)

StudentsSustainable Experience

s

Problem solvingSense making and behavioral change

Campus as a multi-stakeholder space(diffuse domain)

University community(expert domain)

Inspired in Manzini 2015

How do we frame our contribution?

StudentsSustainable Experience

s

Problem solvingSense making and behavioral change

University community(expert domain)

Inspired in Manzini 2015

How do we frame our contribution?

Interdisciplinaryresearch and

training

StudentsSustainable Experiences

Dialogic and transformativeconversations

Partnerships for

sustainability

NICHES FORSUSTAINABILITY

Campus as a multi-stakeholder space(diffuse domain)

OutlineAn introduction to itdUPM

How do we frame Campus contribution to sustainability?

Students & sustainable experiences

A niche within a traditional University regime?

Some examples

Four organisational design issues. Framework

StudentsSustainable Experience

s

Problem solvingSense making and behavioral change

University community(expert domain)

Inspired in Manzini 2015

Interdisciplinary research and

training

StudentsSustainable Experiences

Dialogic and transformativeconversations

Partnerships for

sustainability

NICHES FORSUSTAINABILITY

Campus as a multi-stakeholder space(diffuse domain)

Examples

StudentsSustainable Experience

s

Problem solvingSense making and behavioral change

University community(expert domain)

Inspired in Manzini 2015

How do we frame our contribution?

Interdisciplinar research and

training

StudentsSustainable Experiences

Dialogic and transformativeconversations

Partnerships for

sustainability

NICHES FORSUSTAINABILITY

Campus as a multi-stakeholder space(diffuse domain)

Two universities: technical and social science Interdisciplinary

Partnership university-corporate

Open sessions – open knowledge

Master Degree as ecosystem

StudentsSustainable Experience

s

Problem solvingSense making and behavioral change

University community(expert domain)

Inspired in Manzini 2015

How do we frame our contribution?

Interdisciplinary research and

training

StudentsSustainable Experiences

Dialogic and transformativeconversations

Partnerships for

sustainability

NICHES FORSUSTAINABILITY

Campus as a multi-stakeholder space(diffuse domain)

Collaborative design

Focus on real problems

Application of theoretical knowledge

Collaborative process: diffuse and expert design

Green wall between agronomist and architects

Bench between architects and industrial engineers

Testimony: “An amazing experience both from academic and human perspective, thanks to the method to build upon knowledge sharing”

itdUPM today (after 4 years)

Growing figures: more than 200 members; increasing budget, high numbers of applicants to the Master Degree

A wide international network (companies, NGOs, international agencies, other universities…)

And a new infrastructure designed as an enabling and collaborative spaces

Final thoughtsSustainable ecosystem?

How to increase collective leadership? How to implement efficient incentives?

Long term impact on behaviour? From concrete experience to systemic change

How to measure this impact? Do we need other form of measuring?

www.itd.upm.es @itdupm