Research

Growing poverty and rising unemployment pose major challenges for biodiversity conservation in Costa Rica. The proposed project of UTN and UOS develops innovative inter- and transdisciplinary approaches in research and teaching in order to contribute to the solution of persistent socio-ecological conflicts in the Gulf of Nicoya.
The region around the Gulf of Nicoya in Costa Rica is representative of the conflicts between biodiversity conservation and economic development that can be found in many countries of the Global South. Agricultural water extraction and pollution as well as overfishing endanger marine and terrestrial ecosystems in the region and thus the livelihoods of poorer population groups. The complex problem situation requires interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary access to both universities. This includes a transformative approach through the active promotion of social and technical innovations (UTN) as well as the further development of nexus approaches and cooperative research based on participatory modeling and social network analyses (UOS).
The project aims to develop the capacity of students, PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and experienced scientists to conduct inter- and transdisciplinary research in the fields of biodiversity and development cooperation. The focus on the environmental conflict in the Gulf of Nicoya allows the involvement of key stakeholders and thus ensures the practical relevance of the teaching and research concepts to be developed.

Interview with Dr. Irina Rommel about the trip to Costa Rica (end of Nov. / beginning of Dec. 2021) as part of the project "Costa Rican Vocational Education and Training (CoRi VET)"

Conducted on 04.02.2022 by the Costa Rica Center service point (Lea Schlotterbeck)

Lea Schlotterbeck:
Could you please summarize what the project is about?
Dr. Irina Rommel:
The project has two main objectives. The first is to modify and revise an existing course of study for teacher qualification in the vocational education sector at the Universidad Técnica Nacional (UTN). This course has so far been very general education-oriented and is now to be adapted more specifically and better to the needs of the vocational training system by integrating vocational pedagogy and technology didactics into teacher training. In the course of this, further training will also be provided for lecturers within the course in order to support, among other things, the innovations of the course with regard to vocational pedagogical concepts and methods in the design of teaching and learning processes. The second goal is the institutionalization of VET research at the UTN, both on a structural and personnel level. For example, young academics who are involved in VET research at a national and international level are to be supported. There are also plans to promote Doctorates in cooperation between the UTN and the Vocational and Business Education Department at Osnabrück University (BWP). Naturally, topics of (inter)national VET research will also become part of the updated course. The main player on the Osnabrück side is the BWP. On the UTN side, the Center for Vocational Education and Training Technology (CFPTE) is involved. An important point or goal of CoRi VET is to integrate other important players in vocational education and training into these processes. There is an exchange with the Costa Rican Ministry of Education (MEP), the National Institute for Training (INA), representatives of business development, etc. In the long term, other Costa Rican universities are to be integrated in order to create a joint academic network in teacher training and to strengthen continuous academic exchange and research in this area.
Lea Schlotterbeck:
Why is the Universidad Técnica Nacional suitable for carrying out the project?
Dr. Irina Rommel:
The UTN is the only university in Costa Rica to offer this degree course and therefore has a unique selling point. In addition, we in Osnabrück can look back on many years of cooperation with the UTN and want to support them in their need to position themselves more specifically in Costa Rica and achieve a certain pioneering position.
Lea Schlotterbeck:
What did you and the project group do during your research stay in Costa Rica?
Dr. Irina Rommel:
As part of the kick-off for CoRi VET, we informed all relevant stakeholders from the various sectors about the project and its objectives and were also able to present initial results, milestones and next steps. Our initial aim was to promote acceptance and discourse on the topic in Costa Rica, to involve and inform people and thus increase their willingness to support our measures. Discussion rounds and presentations were held by German and Costa Rican representatives. Another important part of the trip was the workshop with the lecturers of the course, most of whom only work part-time on the course. We were able to identify specific needs that are considered important by the lecturers and are of course essential when updating the course and designing further education courses.
Lea Schlotterbeck:
What were the most formative experiences you had during your research stay? What significance does the research stay have for the further implementation of the project? Could you please describe which project steps are planned next?
Dr. Irina Rommel:
When you come into contact with a different culture, you realize how much you are stuck in your German academic context and are guided by specific ideas. You have to be very open to how different structures, ideas and procedures can be and how differently communication can take place - that is always a very enriching experience for me. At the same time, I am very impressed by the motivation and willingness shown to us by UTN and the other stakeholders. For example, employees were specifically assigned to the project, which is by no means a matter of course in bilateral international projects. This greatly encouraged us in our plans and showed how relevant the project is for the UTN. It is very important to emphasize that we do not want to implement something German in Costa Rica, but rather create something of our own for Costa Rica together. The face-to-face meetings made possible by the trip were very helpful for building relationships, especially in times of so much digital communication. Now that the needs have been identified, the next steps for 2022 are to implement the concept for the course, plan the modules, develop and implement the first further training measures with the lecturers and institutionalize vocational training research at the same time. Over the course of the next few years, this should then ideally lead to sustainable structures.
Lea Schlotterbeck:
Is there anything else you would like to mention?
Dr. Irina Rommel:
We are still at the relatively early stages of CoRi VET, which is scheduled to run for four years. It is particularly important to pay a lot of attention to the needs assessment process, as this is always a particular challenge that goes hand in hand with cultural, institutional etc. conditions. conditions. It is then important to set realistic goals that are adapted to the actual needs of the UTN, the students, the vocational training system and the lecturers of the degree program. This is no easy task. That's why we now have to work hand in hand with Costa Rica to ensure that the project is steered in the right direction. Among other things, we are confronted with the difficulty of a lack of data and have to carry out many of our own empirical studies and in some cases conduct basic research. Here we collect and generate important findings and information that are of significance in international VET research and bilateral VET cooperation. These findings are of course published and made available to the national and international scientific community.
Lea Schlotterbeck:
Thank you very much for the interview and good luck for the future!

Two training seminars for alumni and alumnae will be held as part of the project. The first seminar took place in cooperation with the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago de Chile/Chile (October 13-16, 2022). The second seminar will be held in cooperation with the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica in Heredia and Limón/Costa Rica (17-20. November 2023), under the title:
"The Cry of the Earth" - decolonial, indigenous and ecofeminist perspectives of an "integral ecology"
The central challenge of international cooperation and intercultural scientific work is the ecological crisis, which, although it takes on different regional dimensions, is not a regional but a global crisis and calls upon the countries of the northern hemisphere in particular to take responsibility for the future of creation and to place their own actions and reflections in the service of sustainability and a "good life" for all of creation in a process of transformation. As early as 1972, the Club of Rome referred to "The Limits to Growth" in its first report; today, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research speaks of "planetary boundaries"; Pope Francis spoke of the "cry of the earth" in his texts "Laudato Si'" and "Querida Amazonia".
These are the leitmotifs that form the starting point for fundamental theological and ethical, but also sociological and pedagogical reflections on the relationship between God - man - world in the two consecutive alumni training seminars and from which perspectives for sustainable education are to be developed in an interdisciplinary discourse.
In various sciences, including theology, philosophy and education, there has been a new approach to questions of creation theology in recent years. Sustainability is not only a genuine topic of social ethics, but is also being explored through a fundamental approach to the relationship between God and man, to basic anthropological questions of human freedom and responsibility and the associated ethical perspectives, as well as being addressed in the field of education in new approaches to education for sustainability.
In the Latin American context, indigenous theologies have emerged that develop new ecological perspectives, such as those taken up by Pope Francis in his letter "Querida Amazonia", and eco-feminist perspectives have been developed at grassroots educational centers. At the first seminar, the foundations for an integral ecology and education for sustainability were laid in an interdisciplinary discourse; in the second seminar, the new indigenous, Afro-Caribbean and ecofeminist approaches are brought into focus, but both perspectives are related to each other in the context of the training seminars. The new actors are of particular importance, as they challenge the European scientific discourse and provide important impulses for a "transformation" of science in the service of sustainable education. In view of the limits to growth and the finite nature of planet Earth, it is important to seek and pursue new paths that make a shared and good life on this one planet possible.
In this sense, the alumni training seminar in Costa Rica is directly linked to the BMZ's 2030 reform concept of giving special space to reflection on the ecological challenges in international cooperation. In this sense, the seminar reflects on the concept of "integral ecology" from a theological, philosophical, social science and pedagogical perspective in a "world in transition" (cf. Reform Concept 2030) from a liberating perspective and in the service of sustainable education. The contribution of religion in an intercultural and interreligious perspective plays a special role, particularly with regard to these central questions of the future. The new social and church actors - indigenous peoples and women - are a particular focus of both training seminars.

Project management:
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Margit Eckholt, Institute of Roman Catholic Theology, Osnabrück University;
Stipendienwerk Lateinamerika-Deutschland e.V.

Project coordination and collaboration:
Nikola Götzl M.A., Institute of Roman Catholic Theology, Osnabrück University;
Lateinamerika-Deutschland e.V.;
Johannes Bausenhart, Stipendienwerk Lateinamerika-Deutschland e.V.

Cooperation partners involved:
Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica (UNA): Escuela Ecuménica de Ciencias de la Religión;
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC): Facultad de Teología and Facultad de Filosofía;
Stipendienwerk Lateinamerika-Deutschland e.V. (ICALA)

Funded by the DAAD with funds from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)