A specific transdisciplinary co-design workshop model to teach a multiple perspective problem approach for integrated nature-based design

Inter- and transdisciplinary place-based learning by international groups of students formed an integral component of the Partnerships for International Research and Education Coastal Flood Risk Reduction (PIRE-CFRR) program “Integrated, multiscale approaches for understanding how to reduce vulnerability to damaging events.” The program aimed to create “authentic learning environments” that supported and benefitted from ongoing research on flood risk management. Accordingly, an eight-step transdisciplinary, collaborative design workshop method was developed and applied to two problem situations: (i) the erosion hotspot of the southwest coast of Texel island and (ii) the future noncompliance of the old Hondsbossche Pettermer Sea Dike with Dutch flood defense standards. The effects of the workshop method were evaluated in terms of the process of co-design, the substantive outcomes, and the learning outcomes of individual students. Findings indicate that the co-design process created an open and authentic environment in which students from different disciplinary backgrounds could experience undertaking integrated, nature-based design. Wide-ranging nature-based solutions were produced with diverse biogeophysical and social features in all designs. This indicated that the students were equipped to work collaboratively to produce novel designs that incorporated multiple perspectives. Survey results affirmed the success of the transdisciplinary co-design workshop method as a means of teaching integrated, nature-based infrastructure design.