Challenging Practice

Challenging Practice is an independent-learning programme that seeks to enable built environment practitioners to engage reflexively with the challenges of inclusive and sustainable urban development. The course is based on principles of active, dynamic, and action-based learning. Its pedagogical framework is grounded in theories of situated knowledge and reflective practice, and places a strong emphasis on the ethical component of engaged learning.

The Challenging Practice programme is structured into 3 stages.

Stage A. Learning in Action (former Stage 1+2)

The first stage of the programme provides an overview of the knowledge required to engage with vulnerable groups in an urban context. It includes a series of readings, and a live seminar that allows participants to test their knowledge through scenario-making and role-playing exercises set in real urban contexts.

Stage B. Reflecting in Action (former Stage 3)

The second stage of the course involves learning through action in urban environments marked by inequality and vulnerability. The aim is to offer participants a live immersion into critical and participatory modes of built environment practice.

Stage C. Reflecting on Action (former Stage 4)

The final stage is designed to provoke critical reflection on both the theoretical and fieldwork components of previous stages. The focus is on post-action reflection, and the aim is to encourage participants to situate their live experience within wider theoretical debates and approaches to practice, and within their own learning paths.