Innovative Teaching Formats at the Science-Society Interface: Reflections and Future Directions in Swiss Higher Education

swiss-academies.ch Vol. 20, No 7, 2025 swiss academies Communications Innovative Teaching Formats at the Science-Society Interface: Reflections and Future Directions in Swiss Higher Education IMPRINT PUBLISHER Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences • Swiss Young Academy House of Academies • Laupenstrasse 7 • P.O. Box • 3001 Bern • Switzerland +41 31 306 92 20 • [email protected] • swiss-academies.ch CONTACT Karin Spycher • Head of Swiss Young Academy Swiss Young Academy • Laupenstrasse 7 • P.O. Box • 3001 Bern • Switzerland +41 31 306 92 35 • [email protected] • swissyoungacademy.ch MAIN AUTHORS Morgane Genin (lead) • Benjamin Hofmann (lead) • Sandra Bärnreuther • Clara Zemp CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS Jana Thierfelder (Art) • Hanna Hilbrandt (Collaborative research with vulnerable groups) • Marlene Mader (Coproduction with stakeholders) • Stefano Tardini (Counselling) • Eda Elif Tibet and Jinat Hossain (Multimodal media communication) • Paula Bialski (Podcast) • Saskia Bindschedler and Pilar Junier (Service learning) • Lucile Maertens (Simulation) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank Yves Flückiger (Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences), Philipp Burkard (Science et Cité) and Frédéric Darbellay (University of Geneva) for the review of this publication and all lecturers, students, and university employees who took part in the workshops or in bilateral exchanges about science-society teaching. TRANSLATIONS CMB Translations, Claudia Mozaffari-Bollier, Geneva LAYOUT AND COVER Push’n’Pull, Bern PRINTING Länggassdruck, Bern © 2025 Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences. This is an open access publication, licenced under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommericial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Recommended form of citation: Genin M., Hofmann B., Bärnreuther, S., Zemp C. (2025) Innovative Teaching Formats at the Science-Society Interface. Swiss Academies Communications Vol. 20 (7). DOI: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17311718 ISBN: 978-3-905870-01-5 (online) ISBN: 978-3-905870-02-2 (Print) ISSN: 2297-184X (online) ISSN: 2297-8275 (Print) 1 Swiss Academies Communications, Vol. 20, N° 7, 2025 Innovative Teaching Formats at the Science-Society Interface: Reflections and Future Directions in Swiss Higher Education Morgane Genin, Benjamin Hofmann, Sandra Bärnreuther, Clara Zemp 2 Innovative Teaching Formats at the Science-Society Interface SDGs: The international sustainability goals of the UN With this publication, the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences are contributing to SDG 4: Quality Education – Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are goals for sustainable development at the economic, social and ecological levels. In 2015, the heads of state and government of the United Nations adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These new goals are to be implemented globally by all UN member states by 2030 and serve to ensure sustainable development. > sustainabledevelopment.un.org > eda.admin.ch/agenda2030 3 Swiss Academies Communications, Vol. 20, N° 7, 2025 Table of Contents Summary 4 Summary English 4 Summary Deutsch 6 Summary Français 8 Introduction 10 Typology of teaching formats 12 Opportunities 14 Challenges 16 Illustrative examples 18 Art 18 Collaborative research with vulnerable groups 20 Co-production with stakeholders 22 Counselling 24 Multimodal media communication 26 Podcast 28 Service learning 30 Simulation 32 The way ahead 34 References 36 4 Summary (English) BACKGROUND Science-society dialogue is crucial for addressing pressing societal challenges. One important avenue for strengthening this link, in an interand transdisciplinary perspective, is teaching formats that encourage students to engage in the public sphere. Such courses equip students to incorporate perspectives of societal partners into their research and tailor the communication of their findings to specific target audiences. However, an illustrative collection of best practices in Swiss higher education has been lacking so far. In this context, members of the Swiss Young Academy (SYA) developed the project “Innovative Teaching Formats at the ScienceSociety Interface” to explore such teaching formats in Swiss higher education institutions (HEIs). This practice-driven report draws on a non-exhaustive stocktake of existing courses in Switzerland and participatory workshops among lecturers. KEY INSIGHTS First, the report introduces a new typology of science-society teaching formats. It enables the characterization of courses across six dimensions: academic foundation, direction of knowledge flow, orientation of the learning process, form of engagement with societal partners, target audience in the public sphere, and type of output. By outlining these dimensions, the typology supports lecturers in making reflective design choices. Second, the report provides illustrative examples of innovative sciencesociety courses at Swiss HEIs. These examples feature diverse methods, including art-based approaches, counselling, service learning, simulations, knowledge co-production with partners, and creation of multimedia outputs. They also demonstrate that science-society courses vary in terms of disciplines, study level, student group sizes, and societal partners. Third, the report examines the opportunities and challenges of sciencesociety teaching formats from the perspectives of lecturers, students, and societal partners. Generally, these formats offer multiple unique opportunities, such as networking among all three groups, educational value from lived experiences, trust building, and facilitating graduates’ integration into the labor market. Innovative Teaching Formats at the Science-Society Interface 5 At the same time, these teaching formats face challenges that need to be addressed. They require active management of relationships and communication between lecturers, students, and societal partners, which often leads to an increased workload. Moreover, a lack of financial resources and the rigidity of the academic framework can act as practical barriers to implementing science-society teaching formats. The report identifies three priority areas for strengthening innovative science-society teaching formats: (1) Exchange and network: Foster experience sharing among lecturers and build robust communities of lecturers, student representatives, and societal partners. (2) Institutional recognition: Integrate science-society teaching in institutions’ strategic plans, reduce administrative barriers, re-evaluate credit allocation to better reflect workload, develop micro-certificates for engagement in real-world problem solving, and create long-term funding mechanisms. (3) Evaluation and use of feedback: Develop general guidelines for evaluating the effectiveness of course formats and actively use students’ and partners’ feedback to refine course design. Swiss Academies Communications, Vol. 20, N° 7, 2025 6 Summary (Deutsch) HINTERGRUND Der Dialog zwischen Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft ist für den Umgang mit dringlichen gesellschaftlichen Herausforderungen von ausschlaggebender Bedeutung. Ein wichtiges Mittel zur Förderung dieses Dialogs aus interund transdisziplinärer Perspektive sind Lehrformate, die Studierende dazu anregen, sich in der Öffentlichkeit zu engagieren. In solchen Kursen lernen die Studierenden, wie sie die Perspektiven gesellschaftlicher Partner in ihrer Forschung berücksichtigen und die Kommunikation über ihre Forschungsergebnisse auf bestimmte Zielgruppen abstimmen können. Allerdings fehlte bisher eine illustrative Sammlung über die diesbezüglichen Best Practices an Schweizer Hochschulen. Daher starteten Mitglieder der Jungen Akademie Schweiz (JAS) das Projekt «Innovative Lehrformate an der Schnittstelle zwischen Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft», um das Angebot an solchen Lehrformaten in den Schweizer Hochschulen zu ergründen. Der vorliegende, praxisorientierte Bericht stützt sich auf eine nicht abschliessende Bestandsaufnahme des entsprechenden Kursangebots in der Schweiz und partizipative Workshops mit Dozierenden. WICHTIGE EINBLICKE Einleitend wird in dem Bericht eine neue Typologie der Lehrformate für den Dialog zwischen Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft eingeführt. Darin werden die Kurse nach sechs Aspekten gegliedert: akademische Grundlage, Richtung des Wissensflusses, Ausrichtung des Lernprozesses, Form der Zusammenarbeit mit gesellschaftlichen Partnern, Zielpublikum in der Öffentlichkeit und Art der Ergebnisse. Diese Typologie hilft den Dozierenden, die Kurse nach diesen Aspekten bedarfsgerecht zu gestalten. Anschliessend liefert der Bericht verschiedene Beispiele für innovative Lehrformate für den Dialog zwischen Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft, die an Schweizer Hochschulen eingesetzt werden. Diese Beispiele zeigen verschiedene Methoden auf, darunter kunstbasierte Ansätze, Beratung, Lernen durch Engagement, Simulationen, Koproduktion von Wissen mit Partnern und die Erstellung von Multimedia-Produkten. Sie zeigen auch, dass je nach Studiengang, Studienebene, Gruppengrösse und gesellschaftlichen Partnern unterschiedliche Kursformate zum Einsatz gelangen. Innovative Teaching Formats at the Science-Society Interface 7 Abschliessend werden in diesem Bericht die Chancen solcher Lehrformate und die daran gestellten Herausforderungen aus Sicht der Dozierenden, Studierenden und gesellschaftlichen Partner untersucht. Generell bieten solche Formate zahlreiche einzigartige Chancen, wie z. B. die Vernetzung zwischen den drei Gruppen, den Bildungswert gelebter Erfahrungen, den Aufbau von Vertrauen und die Erleichterung der Integration der Absolvierenden in den Arbeitsmarkt. Gleichzeitig müssen diese Lehrformate verschiedene Herausforderungen meistern. Sie erfordern ein aktives Management der Beziehungen und der Kommunikation zwischen Dozierenden, Studierenden und gesellschaftlichen Partnern, was häufig zu einer erhöhten Arbeitsbelastung führt. Zudem können mangelnde finanzielle Ressourcen und der starre akademische Rahmen die Umsetzung von Lehrformaten für den Dialog zwischen Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft in der Praxis behindern. In diesem Bericht werden drei wichtige Bereiche aufgezeigt, die zur Stärkung von innovativen Lehrformaten für den Dialog zwischen Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft beitragen: (1) Gegenseitiger Austausch und Netzwerk: Förderung des Erfahrungsaustauschs zwischen Dozierenden sowie Aufbau robuster Gemeinschaften aus Dozierenden, Vertreterinnen und Vertretern der Studierenden und gesellschaftlichen Partnern. (2) Institutionelle Anerkennung: Aufnahme der Lehre zum Dialog Wissenschaft-Gesellschaft in die strategische Planung der Hochschulen, Abbau administrativer Hindernisse, Vergabe von Kreditpunkten, die dem Arbeitsaufwand besser Rechnung tragen, Entwicklung von Mikrozertifikaten für das Engagement zur Lösung realer Probleme und Schaffung langfristiger Finanzierungsmechanismen. (3) Kursbewertung und Berücksichtigung von Feedback: Entwicklung allgemeiner Leitlinien für die Bewertung der Wirksamkeit von Lehrformaten und aktive Nutzung des Feedbacks von Studierenden und gesellschaftlichen Partnern zur Verbesserung der Kursgestaltung. Swiss Academies Communications, Vol. 20, N° 7, 2025 14 Innovative Teaching Formats at the Science-Society Interface Opportunities Together with actors actively taking part in and developing innovative sciencesociety teaching formats, we identified opportunities that these formats provide for students, lecturers, and partners in society. Some of the opportunities relate to one particular group of stakeholders, whereas others cut across different groups. One key aspect benefiting all stakeholder groups is network building, which is fostered by science-society teaching. Students make first professional contacts, partners in society connect with scientists, and lecturers disseminate knowledge and extend the impact of their courses. Stemming from this enhanced networking capacity, other opportunities emerge at the intersections of stakeholder groups: For partners in society and students, courses allowing them to interact mean that partners contribute to education of younger generations and can learn about their concerns and wishes. They also support partners, as employers, in their search for promising job candidates, and students in finding work opportunities. For students and lecturers, innovative teaching formats support a wide variety of pedagogical methods. Moreover, higher learning retention may occur through “eye-opening,” “lived” experiences that students make in these more active learning settings. For lecturers and partners in society, interacting through these courses may increase partners’ trust in science. Additionally, these collaborations can test the relevance of research topics and help to integrate them into broader contexts. Finally, these courses foster increased accessibility and outreach of research. In addition, some opportunities are specific to certain stakeholders: For partners in society: – Partners in society can benefit from the fresh ideas and quality outcomes produced bottom-up by students that can help solve real-world problems. – Partners in society can use the course as a platform to network amongst them. 15 Swiss Academies Communications, Vol. 20, N° 7, 2025 For students: – Collaborating and learning in novel ways support skill and personal development. – By taking these courses, students gain insights into and prepare for professional life. – Science-society courses bring students into contact with real-world problems, make them embrace complexity, and enable them to get to know different types of knowledge. For lecturers: – Teaching innovative courses at the science-society interface is varied, routine-breaking, and fulfilling. – These courses enable lecturers to develop and gather experience with new topics and methods. 16 Innovative Teaching Formats at the Science-Society Interface Challenges Innovative teaching formats at the science-society interface also come with distinct challenges. The same approach as in the previous section is adopted, with an initial overview of commonly shared issues followed by more specific obstacles. Three central challenges have been identified that relate to all stakeholders. First, the potential for communication gaps, as lecturers have to mediate the relationship between partners in society and students. Students may misunderstand requests from partners in society. In turn, the latter may misinterpret the course concept and make demands that do not align with the expectations of lecturers and students. These diverse or unclear expectations mean that tailoring communication to the societal target group can be a challenge for both lecturers and students, e.g., in terms of framing knowledge in accessible and relevant ways. Second, relations between different stakeholders can affect the learning process and experience. Again, lecturers generally play a key role in finding a balance between the different stakeholders involved. Miscommunication can lead to challenges around the hierarchy of relationships that, for instance, could hinder knowledge co-production on an equal level. Third, the workload that comes with innovative science-society courses can be high for different participating actors. On the side of partners in society, stakeholder fatigue may occur, which refers to diminished engagement and interest due to prolonged involvement and repeated requests for inputs. This can endanger the relationship between lecturers and their partners in society as well as the long-term feasibility of courses. On the students’ side, managing the workload and complexity of these courses may be challenging. For lecturers, organizing such courses requires additional time and coordination efforts, which are often not rewarded institutionally. These three challenges are reflected in the other issues that emerge at the intersections of stakeholder groups: For partners in society and students, requirements regarding the openness of the process differ. While the learning process of students involves the need to structure messiness, the inherent uncertainty may conflict with partners’ preference for clear-cut solutions. For students and lecturers, the intergenerational gap that sometimes exists between them can affect the learning process in terms of communication, hierarchies, goal setting, and expectations. Different prior knowledge of students 17 Swiss Academies Communications, Vol. 20, N° 7, 2025 and group dynamics are challenges for fair grading. Keeping up student motivation in light of unforeseen challenges inherent to open-ended processes is another challenge. For lecturers and partners in society, the biggest challenge is to properly manage expectations, which are greatly dependent on good communication and collaborative engagement among all actors involved. Another important point is confidentiality issues that might emerge with partners in society, for example, when sharing students’ outputs with a broader audience. In case more extensive communication of results is desired, effective dissemination of students’ deliverables to the right target audience may be a challenge. Finally, bridging the gap between scientific theory and real-world practice is another challenge in implementing science-society courses. Some challenges are also specific to certain stakeholders: For partners in society: – As outcomes strongly depend on student engagement and skills, the quality of some final outputs may not meet the expectations of partners in society. For students: – Partners in society sometimes require outputs that demand certain skills or competencies that students do not necessarily possess. – Innovative science-society courses demand a high level of cooperation and commitment, which is not always self-evident, especially as work styles may differ. For lecturers: – Setting up innovative science-society courses often requires financial resources, especially to ensure a long-term perspective for the course. However, these funds are not always available or only available for initial course development. – Given that students receive academic credits for these courses, lecturers often need to grade them. They have to navigate the dual role of coach and assessor. Grading can hamper aspired knowledge co-production and be challenging given the novel nature of certain deliverables. – Lecturers need to provide a safe learning space for students, where they are allowed and encouraged to make mistakes to improve themselves. This requires specific competences from the lecturers and trust from students. – The academic system’s rigidity in terms of course administration, implementation, accreditation, grading, and funding opportunities can prevent lecturers from developing and/or offering innovative science-society courses. 18 Innovative Teaching Formats at the Science-Society Interface Illustrative examples To illustrate the typology of teaching formats and to inspire future teaching at the science-society interface, this section highlights illustrative examples of innovative courses from Swiss HEIs. They showcase how students successfully engaged and collaborated with diverse partners in society. The examples were selected from presentations of course formats at the workshop for lecturers organized by SYA and on additional bilateral contacts of the project group with lecturers. The aim was to include a diverse set of course formats with respect to student deliverables as well as in terms of geographical distribution of HEIs and disciplines. The selection of examples does not intend to be representative or exhaustive for the entire teaching landscape at Swiss HEIs. To obtain accurate descriptions of the teaching examples, these were collected directly from the responsible lecturers and only edited by the authors of this report. ART Age, Time and Change - Temporal Explorations on the Furka Pass PRACTICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION • Classroom size: 11-25 students • Curricular status: core elective • Discipline/program: MA Transdisciplinarity in the Arts • Duration of engagement with societal partners: 1 semester INSTITUTION AND LECTURERS Jana Thierfelder, Caroline Baur, Ulrich Görlich, lrene Vögeli → [email protected] Zurich University of the Arts COURSE TOPOLOGICAL PROFILE Academic foundation Disciplinary Interdisciplinary Knowledge flow Transfer Co-production Orientation Problems Solutions Engagement lndirect Direct Audience Homogenous Heterogenous Output Product Service 19 Swiss Academies Communications, Vol. 20, N° 7, 2025 COURSE DESCRIPTION In this course, students from diverse artistic backgrounds − fine arts, design, film, music, art education, publishing, dance − engage with ecological topics during an annual project week. The course is co-taught at the Alpfor research station on the Furka Pass, where ecologists share their expertise through presentations and field visits. Each year, a focus theme is chosen, such as water, landscapes, plant life, human-nature relationships, or perceptions of time. During the week, artists develop projects informed by the scientific insights they gain, addressing the focus theme. Mentoring and feedback sessions help refine these projects, which are presented at the end of the week. A key aspect of this course is the interaction between scientists and artists. Both present different perspectives and may be considered representatives of society. Discussions about scientific inputs and artistic perspectives during the project week allow both groups to reflect on their respective practices, thought styles, and worldviews. Another layer of science-society engagement occurs in the public exhibition of the final projects. The artistic results often explore scientific ideas, processes, and ways of thinking, making them more accessible to a wider audience. By thematizing scientific artefacts and rhetoric, the artists create bridges between science and society, making the sciences more tangible and relatable. This arts-science interaction highlights the unique role of artists as both societal representatives and mediators. Their ability to translate scientific concepts through art fosters deeper public engagement with science, demonstrating the potential of transdisciplinarity to make science more approachable through creative intervention. Figure 1. View of the “Furka” exhibition 2023, which makes the results of the Arts and Science Project Week accessible to the public. The exhibition was shown at the Zurich University of the Arts in the Toni-Areal. 20 Innovative Teaching Formats at the Science-Society Interface COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH WITH VULNERABLE GROUPS Urban Geography: Research and Methods PRACTICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION • Classroom size: 11-25 students • Curricular status: core elective • Discipline/program: Human Geography • Duration of engagement with societal partners: 1 semester INSTITUTION AND LECTURERS Hanna Hilbrandt, Ifigeneia Dimitrakou, Julie Ren → www.zueri-urban.com/toolkit University of Zurich COURSE TOPOLOGICAL PROFILE Academic foundation Disciplinary Interdisciplinary Knowledge flow Transfer Co-production Orientation Problems Solutions Engagement lndirect Direct Audience Homogenous Heterogenous Output Product Service COURSE DESCRIPTION Although knowledge is increasingly developed in collaboration between academic, industry and civil society partners, knowledge production in teaching often remains entrenched in traditional roles and formats. To integrate collaborative research within the university curriculum, research-based projects have become a particularly fruitful teaching format. The collaborative research-based teaching project “KoLab: Kollaborative Lehrforschung in der Stadt,” is one such format. The project encompassed the collaboration between the Sans-Papiers Anlaufstelle Zürich (SPAZ), an association advocating for the rights of undocumented immigrants (known as Sans-Papiers) in Zurich, and Züri Urban, the research-based teaching project of the Social Geography and Urban Studies unit at the University of Zurich. The context of this project was the master’s-level elective course “Urban Geography: Research and Methods” in 2023. It involved course instructors, members of SPAZ, master students in geography and Sans-Papiers who teamed up to conduct qualitative research about Sans-Papiers’ housing conditions in Zurich. 21 Swiss Academies Communications, Vol. 20, N° 7, 2025 The course instructors developed a toolkit to facilitate the development of collaborations with non-university partners in research-based teaching projects. Its target audience are educators interested in collaborative and innovative teaching that benefits learners and supports vulnerable partners while fostering interdisciplinarity to address real-world challenges. The objectives of this toolkit are to provide guidance and reflect on the challenges of (1) developing meaningful research-teaching collaborations with non-university partners (NGOs, community and advocacy organizations, and individuals) that account for their capacities and vulnerabilities; (2) synchronizing these collaborations with the university curriculum and the schedules of non-university partners; (3) creating formats, assignments and activities that integrate practical experiences and promote in-class collaboration, active learning, reflection and critical thinking; and (4) evaluating the results of the collaboration as well as the quality of the collaboration itself. 22 Innovative Teaching Formats at the Science-Society Interface COURSE DESCRIPTION “Tackling Environmental Problems” is a mandatory first-year course in the Bachelor in Environmental Sciences at ETH Zurich. Each year, a different sustainability case study in a Swiss region is addressed, such as regional development in the Jurapark Aargau, achieving net zero in the city of Zurich, or creating a climate-positive canton Uri. Students are confronted with wicked real-world problems to foster their transdisciplinary competences, including problem framing and solving, systems and critical thinking, communication, and reflection. This is not possible without the involvement of regional stakeholders who are represented in an advisory group, which includes representatives from administration, business, science, and civil society, as well as course lecturers, tutors, and student representatives. Together, they develop the specific questions for the case study. Around 120 students work in self-organized groups of five to seven members. Initially, they acquire knowledge on a subtopic, guided by local experts who contribute their expertise and participate in the grading process. On the basis of this foundation, students learn to identify challenges using a problem-solving CO-PRODUCTION WITH STAKEHOLDERS Umweltproblemlösen ( Tackling Environmental Problems) PRACTICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION • Classroom size: 100+ students • Curricular status: mandatory • Discipline/program: Bachelor in Environmental Sciences • Duration of engagement with societal partners: 2 semesters INSTITUTION AND LECTURERS Marlene Mader, Christian Pohl, Carole Rapo, Ariane Wenger → [email protected] ETH Zurich COURSE TOPOLOGICAL PROFILE Academic foundation Disciplinary Interdisciplinary Knowledge flow Transfer Co-production Orientation Problems Solutions Engagement lndirect Direct Audience Homogenous Heterogenous Output Product Service 23 Swiss Academies Communications, Vol. 20, N° 7, 2025 Figure 2. Students with their prototypes for the “Umweltproblemlösen” course at ETH Zurich. Picture credit: Yuri Schmid, 2020. approach – a combination of design and systems thinking. They then develop actionable solutions in collaboration with local stakeholders. Students independently contact approximately 200 different stakeholders. The course is special due to its size, with around 120 students, and its status as a compulsory course in a bachelor’s program’s first year. Additionally, stakeholders participate at all course levels: from topic development, through knowledge contribution, as partners in the implementation of the solutions, and in the evaluation of students’ reports. Lecturers accept the high time commitment involved as they are convinced that both students and stakeholders benefit from this collaboration. Students learn to understand the needs of affected people and what is required to develop sustainable solutions. Stakeholders, in turn, benefit from the creative insights of young people. 30 Innovative Teaching Formats at the Science-Society Interface COURSE DESCRIPTION Launched in 2020, the program “Microbes go to school” builds new connections between academia and society by using schools as connectors. The program aims to inform children on essential topics in microbiology like antibiotic resistance and microorganisms’ roles, such as waste degradation or bioactive compound production, while training biology students in science communication for a lay audience. The approach used is based on the pedagogical concept of service learning, which aims to link learning, teaching, and community service. Service learning is relatively new in Switzerland and not often used in the context of the natural sciences. Concretely, bachelor students and PhD candidates in biology are trained to communicate scientific knowledge to a non-specialist audience, in this case children at school. SERVICE LEARNING Service Learning: Microbes Go to School PRACTICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION • Classroom size: 11-25 students • Curricular status: elective • Discipline/program: Biology, Biology & Ethnology, Biology & Sports, Natural Systems • Duration of engagement with societal partners: 1 semester INSTITUTION AND LECTURERS Saskia Bindschedler, Pilar Junier, Arthur Schneiter → [email protected] → [email protected] University of Neuchâtel COURSE TOPOLOGICAL PROFILE Academic foundation Disciplinary Interdisciplinary Knowledge flow Transfer Co-production Orientation Problems Solutions Engagement lndirect Direct Audience Homogenous Heterogenous Output Product Service 31 Swiss Academies Communications, Vol. 20, N° 7, 2025 Figure 5. Example of a playful activity in which two pupils use a game designed by students taking part in this class to learn concepts in microbiology. During the program, participants learn a key skill: how to present scientific concepts to school pupils aged 6 to 12. In turn, pupils explore microbiology topics rarely covered in school curricula and engage in enriching educational workshops both in and outside the classroom. This includes visits to university premises, thereby bridging the gap between academia and society. This mutual relationship provides many societal benefits by enhancing scientific literacy in the next generation of decision-takers. 32 Innovative Teaching Formats at the Science-Society Interface SIMULATION Politics of International Organizations PRACTICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION • Classroom size: 11-25 students • Curricular status: elective • Discipline/program: International Relations, Political Science • Duration of engagement with societal partners: 1 semester INSTITUTION AND LECTURER Lucile Maertens → [email protected] Geneva Graduate Institute (Initially the course took place at University of Lausanne) COURSE TOPOLOGICAL PROFILE Academic foundation Disciplinary Interdisciplinary Knowledge flow Transfer Co-production Orientation Problems Solutions Engagement lndirect Direct Audience Homogenous Heterogenous Output Product Service COURSE DESCRIPTION This course is organized in a three-step interaction between students and stakeholders – practitioners working for international organizations (IOs) like the United Nations: (1) Students conduct a research interview with an aid worker from the field of humanitarian action or (sustainable) development. (2) Building on the knowledge shared by the stakeholders and a desk study, students design a simulation kit. (3) With the lecturer’s support, students organize a role-reversal simulation for IO practitioners working in humanitarian emergency action and development aid workers. After the simulation, stakeholders share their feedback and students produce different outputs (videos, podcasts, blogposts, etc.) publicly shared online to give visibility to the role-play. This course targets social learning for all parties involved in a ludic manner. Students get to learn about the everyday life of the practitioners they aim to become, understanding their daily practices and struggles. In the role-play, participating stakeholders experience the constraints of their counterparts. This 33 Swiss Academies Communications, Vol. 20, N° 7, 2025 hopefully helps short-term humanitarian aid practitioners understand longterm development work, while IO staff from the development sector gain insight into the challenges faced by emergency responders. This course is very rewarding for the lecturer as it creates a sense of purpose to the pedagogical project, which extends beyond the classroom. It offers a stimulating learning environment for students while also allowing a better transmission of academic knowledge through a very practical activity. In this case, teaching at the science-society interface requires in-depth knowledge of stakeholders’ field of action, a strong partner network, and significant time and logistical organization. 34 Innovative Teaching Formats at the Science-Society Interface The way ahead As illustrated by the examples, teaching at the science-society interface holds great potential to innovate learning experiences. Three topics have been identified for advancing and promoting these formats at Swiss HEIs: 1. EXCHANGE AND NETWORK Exchange between interested lecturers to spark ideas and share best practices should be encouraged. Involving other societal actors as partners and knowledge contributors in these conversations would enhance networks and learning experiences. Concretely, this requires investing time in relationship-building between lecturers, partners in society, and student representatives. Constructing robust communities and networks is crucial for the longterm success of innovative science-society formats. 2. INSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITION There is a need for increased institutional recognition of innovative sciencesociety teaching formats, which can take several forms: – valuing and promoting innovative teaching at the institutional level, e.g., by reducing administrative barriers for courses that span different study programs and faculties; – embedding science-society teaching in institutions’ strategic plans as a sign of public engagement and social responsibility; – creating frameworks that recognize interdisciplinary, experiential and co-creative learning for academic achievement; – creating long-term relationships with societal partners through the development of Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), jointly designed curricula and regular dialogue forums; – allocating time to innovative teaching formats in teaching schedules; – re-evaluating credit allocation for innovative courses to better reflect the workload required; – developing micro-certificates or digital badges that recognize engagement in real-world problem solving; – creating long-term funding mechanisms and teaching innovation prizes that reward engaged lecturers. 35 Swiss Academies Communications, Vol. 20, N° 7, 2025 3. EVALUATION AND USE OF FEEDBACK The effectiveness of the teaching formats depends on the viewpoint of the stakeholders (i.e., learning objectives for students differ from the objectives of the partners in society). While the effectiveness is related to the specific objectives of the course and of the curricula, developing general guidelines for evaluating the effectiveness of the format according to views of different stakeholders is needed. This might include indicators to assess changes in student attitudes, stakeholder satisfaction, or changes in their perspectives and practices. By actively considering and using students’ evaluations and feedback from partners in society, lecturers can continually refine their course syllabi. This contributes to maintaining a high-quality experience for all actors involved and to strengthening the long-term perspective of innovative teaching formats. Enhanced exchange and networking, institutional support, and integration of feedback will support the long-term perspective, scalability, and impact of teaching formats that engage with partners in society. More generally, such formats contribute to a fruitful role and use of science in societal debates. Further efforts are needed to analyze in depth how to scale up or transfer the sciencesociety teaching formats to other contexts or disciplines. 36 Innovative Teaching Formats at the Science-Society Interface References Caniglia, G., Luederitz, C., von Wirth, T., Fazey, I., Martín-López, B., Hondrila, K., König, A., von Wehrden, H., Schäpke, N. A., Laubichler, M. D., & Lang, D. J. (2021). A pluralistic and integrated approach to action-oriented knowledge for sustainability. Nature Sustainability, 4(2), 93–100. → https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-00616-z Courter, J. R. (2012). Graduate students in conservation biology: Bridging the research–implementation gap. 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CBE—Life Sciences Education, 17(2), es3. → https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.17-11-0239 Horn, A., Visser, M.W., Pittens, C.A.C.M. et al. Transdisciplinary learning trajectories: developing action and attitude in interplay. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 11, 149 (2024). → https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02541-w Lang, D. J., & Wiek, A. (2022). Structuring and advancing solution-oriented research for sustainability. Ambio, 51(1), 31–35. → https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-021-01537-7 Pearce, B., Adler, C., Senn, L., Krütli, P., Stauffacher, M., Pohl, C. (2018). Making the Link Between Transdisciplinary Learning and Research. In: Fam, D., Neuhauser, L., Gibbs, P. (eds) Transdisciplinary Theory, Practice and Education. Springer, Cham. → https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93743-4_12 Ruggerio, C.A., Morales-Magaña, M., Paneque-Gálvez, J. et al. Teaching–learning environmental conflicts through case studies and experiential immersion: introducing students to transdisciplinary research. Sustainability Science 19, 935–948 (2024). → https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-023-01448-4 Springer, L., Stanne, M. E., & Donovan, S. S. (1999). Effects of Small-Group Learning on Undergraduates in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology: A Meta-Analysis. Review of Educational Research, 69(1), 21–51. → https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543069001021 Vernon, D. T., & Blake, R. L. (1993). Does problem-based learning work? A meta-analysis of evaluative research. Academic Medicine, 68(7), 550. → https://doi.org/10.1097/00001888-199307000-00015 37 Swiss Academies Communications, Vol. 20, N° 7, 2025 Who are we? Swiss Young Academy: As part of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, the Swiss Young Academy provides young researchers the opportunity to carry out interand transdisciplinary projects and activities at the many intersections of science and society. The Young Academy gives voice to young academics within the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences and serves as a networking platform to bring together individuals from many different scientific fields and institutions of higher education. Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences: The Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences (a+) are an association of the five scientific academies of: the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT), the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (SAGW), the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS), the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW) and the Swiss Young Academy (SYA). In addition to the academies, they include the TA-SWISS and Science et Cité centres of excellence as well as other scientific networks. The Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences network the sciences regionally, nationally and internationally. They represent the scientific communities in a disciplinary, interdisciplinary and independent manner, regardless of institutions and subjects. Their network is long-term oriented and committed to scientific excellence. They advise politicians and society on knowledge-based and socially relevant issues. More Information Innovative Teaching Project Swiss Young Academy