The TdLab Winter School

What we did

The goal of the TdLab Winter School "Science meets Practice", which run until 2020, was to offer scientists the knowledge and experience to generate and cultivate fruitful dialogue with people outside of academia. Our vision was to provide structure, time and space for scientists to learn how to make a meaningful connection between science and their own research to the wider public.

In addition to providing a theoretical basis for transdisciplinary research, we tried also offer the chance to practice skills and strategies scientists can implement in their own research to engage with the public. Participants had hands-on experience in communicating and interacting with stakeholders. The program was designed for Doctoral students and Postdocs from a wide array of disciplines, (primarily the environmental and natural sciences, engineering, and the social sciences), who were working on topics related to sustainability and sustainable development. Interested Masters students could also apply.  

History

The Winter School "Science meets Practice" was initiated in 2011 by the Competence Centre Environment and Sustainability (CCES) of the ETH domain. As of April 2017, TdLab has taken over the responsibility of hosting and organizing the programme. The following persons have been essential to the design and successful implementation of the Winter School over these seven years: Claudia Zingerli, Carolina Adler, Patricia Fry, Pius Krütli, Christian Pohl, Michael Stauffacher, Martina Mittler, Claudia Frick, René Schwarzenbach, Nikolaus Gotsch, and Gabriela Schenk.