The Scientific Council

This scientific council allowed to adopt the rules of operation of the scientific council, to share the training and research news of the Campus and finally to discuss the strategy of the Campus for the next 3 years.

All participants re-engaged for 3 years for the Council.

They also made recommendations on the visibility of the Campus, fund-raising and motivation of researchers.

The Transition Campus team quickly presented the significant progress of the projects since the last Scientific Council, then focusing on the presentation of the current work on the 3-year training strategy.

Several strategic directions were presented. In view of the strengths and the founding objective of the Campus, the Scientific Committee indicated that it was appropriate to focus on the academic community and on audiences already involved in the Transition. For greater impact, it was suggested to focus on training of trainers.

The Transition Campus team presented the progress of the various training and research projects. The Scientific Committee welcomed the progress made in a short time. The issue of the dissemination of the campus' pedagogy to the international community has returned.

Several aspects of this approach were discussed, including the carbon impact of bringing foreign learners or sending a trainer, the existence of similar initiatives in several countries, the uniqueness of each context and the need to adapt form and content to the local context. From this discussion emerged the idea of moving towards the creation of an international consortium of doctoral students, some of whom will become tomorrow's university teachers.

The Transition Campus team presented all its educational projects (academic training, Vocational training and trainer training) and ongoing research (project ORFEE,MC2,Mobility), its successes and challenges.

Considering the energy deployed by the Campus to develop its pedagogy, the Scientific Committee suggested the development of research projects around this pedagogy. He also suggested to the Campus to broaden the scope of training and dissemination of his pedagogy to international. The Scientific Committee asked the Campus team to present its training strategy to a next board so that they could provide advice.

On 17 May 2019, at the premises of the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, in Paris, the first meeting of the Campus Scientific Council was held.

Hosted by Gilles Lhuillier, she gathered - via video conference or physically - a large part of the members of the Scientific Council:

• Patrick Caron (geographer, CIRAD & University of Montpellier)
• Eve Chiapello (sociologist, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris)
• Celia Deane-Drummond (biologist and theologian, Oxford, Great Britain)
• Gaël Giraud (economist, CNRS, Paris)
• Hervé Le Treut (climateologist, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, Paris)
• Jenny Stephens (Professor of Environmental Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, USA)
• Mark Swilling (politicist, Stellenbosch University, South Africa)
• Lawrence Tanner (geologist, LeMoyne College, Syracuse, USA)
• Nancy Tuchman (biologist, Institute of Environmental Sustainability, Chicago Loyola, USA)
• Sandra Waddock (Professor of Management, Boston College, USA)
• Christian Wagner (politicist, Georgetown University, USA)
• Frédéric Worms (philosopher, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris).

After an introduction by Gilles Lhuilier, and a presentation by the various members present of the Scientific Council and the Laboratory of the Campus (Cécile Renouard, Pierre-Jean Cottalorda, Christian Koenig, Antoine Rieu), Cécile reported on the academic activities of the Campus in 2018-2019 and on future prospects. Most of the time was devoted to a rich exchange on the issues that the Campus initiative wants to address. There is a strong incentive to continue the link between the implementation of the project in one territory and the global networking, through links with other similar initiatives, with networks of teachers-researchers - such as theTransition Research NetworkorSustainability Transitions Network, through the development of certificates that can accommodate students from different institutions, through the pooling of cases and pedagogical innovations, etc. The importance of valuing the specificity of the Campus in its experimental, reflexive and holistic dimension was supported, as a key to success.

Like other institutions around the world, and in every unique way, can unfold the epistemological transition, open, applied, of teaching and research, on ecological and social issues. With regard to networking, the specific nature of the Campus as an inter-academic place was also stressed, with the debate still open about future endorsement, if conditions were met, at a university - such as Schumacher College at the University of Plymouth (UK) or the Sustainability Institute at the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa).

In the exchanges there was also strong support for a strategy to train trainers, in particular to contribute to the continuing training of teachers in higher education. Finally, some participants wanted this Scientific Council to be an advisory board, with a strong involvement of its members.

The Scientific Council is complementary to the Academic Council, which brings together teachers-researchers and practitioners more directly involved in campus training activities.

Former members

• Celia Deane-Drummond (Biologist and theologian, Oxford, Great Britain)
• Gaël Giraud (Economist, CNRS, Paris)
• Hervé Le Treut (Climateologist, Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute, Paris)
• Mark Swilling (Politist, Stellenbosch University, South Africa)
• Lawrence Tanner (Geologist, LeMoyne College, Syracuse, USA)
• Frédéric Worms (Philosophist, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris)