The ”acting/ thinking in complexity” competency
as an active learning tool for eco-engineers
The title of the course (“acting/ thinking in complexity” competency in individual and collective reflexive portfolio as an active learning tool for eco-engineers) needs explanation in two ways; namely the competency ‘thinking in complexity’ and the ‘reflexive portfolio’ exercise. Alone they would already add a value to teaching sustainability, but in combination, they make the core of the MSEI diploma and are truly efficient in dealing with sustainability issues with the help of holistic engineering tools and materials, provided by other courses.
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Seven generic rather than specialized competencies
INPT’s six engineering schools deliver diploma which cursus description puts forward skills that students should be proficient with. These skills are many and usually very technical and domain-specific. The MSEI cursus lies in another paradigm. Willing to deconstruct the narrow-minded, expert power embedded thinking that correlates too often with engineers (apologize for our biased appreciation), in favour of a more systemic and holistic approach, the MSEI lists instead seven competencies that have been co-devised by students and teachers. These are:
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ethics (individual and social values),
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agility (coping with the diversity of stakeholders involved in any project issues to install interdisciplinary dialog),
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mediation (encouraging cooperating and co-building of integrative solutions),
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systemic (being innovative in interdisciplinary project management),
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psychosocial involvement (being resilient to resisting change and persuasive to initiate change in organization and engineering),
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interdisciplinarity (preferring holistic approaches to expert ones)
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acting/thinking in complexity.
They are non-domain specific and are in our opinion what is truly needed for engineers to foster transitions towards a strong sustainability and actively participate to the necessary global change, with the help of already existing experts.
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Complexity is at the core of sustainable engineering
Among the seven competencies, the « acting/thinking in complexity » competency is the integrative and transdisciplinary competency for engineering sustainable transitions. It is rooted in the school of thought “La pensée complexe” initiated by Edgar Morin (1977, 1980, 1986, 1991, 2001, 2004, 2014)[1] and prolonged as “Agir / Penser en complexité” by Jean Louis LeMoigne (1999)[2]. E. Morin is a sociologist and philosopher that has promoted in the 70’s a thinking on the essence of complexity. In short, “all is link”. J.L. LeMoigne is an engineer that has built upon the thinking of complexity within the paradigm of constructivism to devise the modelling of complexity.
The “acting/thinking in complexity” supports a paradigm shift over the dominant Cartesian thinking that has dominated so far in engineering, at least in France. The Cartesian thinking roughly analyses systems with rationality as elements, and it defines complexity in the restrictive meaning of ‘complicated”. It has led to the current specialization of engineering schools and the – too systematic but not so successful– call upon experts to solve problems, as media and news TV show so often. But, being constantly in evolution in response to ever-evolving surroundings including stakeholders, systems cannot be represented only by the Cartesian way. Instead, Morin’s thinking in complexity insists on the wealth of links between elements and the embedded dynamics. It further postulates that systems in transitions do require a thinking in complexity and that engineering these transitions requires modelling in complexity as theorized by J.L. Le Moigne. Furthermore, the sustainability concept is not seen in that paradigm as the usual intersection of three pillars (‘economics’ ‘social’ ‘environment’) but rather as the integration of these three pillars, encompassing them fully and more.
[1] Morin E.. La méthode, Ed. Seuil. 6 volumes from (1977) to (2004). 1: La nature de la nature. 1980: La Vie de la vie. 1986: La Connaissance de la connaissance. 1991: Les Idées. 2001: L’Humanité de l’humanité - L’identité humaine. 2004 : Éthique. E. Morin (2014). Introduction à la pensée complexe. Seuil.
[2] Le Moigne J.L. (1999). La modélisation des systèmes complexes. Dunod.