B.02. Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) for Active Citizenship: Democratic Classroom-Laboratories for Resilient Crisis Solutions

This panel invites contributions exploring the use of Challenge-Based Learning (Università di Trento, 2024) as an innovative pedagogical methodology to cultivate a responsible and sustainable citizenship. In line with the goal of transforming school and university classrooms into "laboratories for democracy," CBL offers an ideal participatory framework for addressing socio-economic challenges, such as those posed by climate change (Baggen et al., 2024).
We seek proposals that analyze how the CBL approach, focused on real-world problem-solving, develops the critical thinking, collaboration, and civic engagement necessary for a democratic response to crises. Ecological challenges—such as promoting biodiversity, intergenerational justice, and sustainability—become the engine for learning, enabling students and teachers to act as agents of transformation (Höffken at al., 2024).
The panel encourages a critical analysis of the monitoring and assessment methods associated with CBL, exploring how they can be reimagined as instruments of empowerment rather than control, supporting a more inclusive and active school culture. We will also examine the systemic barriers that limit pedagogical innovation: what competencies are necessary for teachers, and how can institutions overcome the constraints that prevent CBL from effectively addressing complex societal issues like climate change? We welcome interdisciplinary (sociological, anthropological, pedagogical, socio-ecological…) and empirical contributions that position schools and universities as living spaces for democracy in action, capable of shaping critical and aware citizens who can propose long-term solutions for the complexities of environmental and socioeconomic crises (.