Ingrid Mulà Pons de Vall
University of Gloucestershire, December 2009
I have always believed that undertaking a PhD entails much more than completing a thesis. To me, doing a PhD is a learning journey about getting to know who I am as a researcher and what type of researcher I would like to become in the future.
I joined the International Research Institute in Sustainability (IRIS) at the University of Gloucestershire as a PhD student in May 2008. I started my PhD writing a paper about the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), an important framework for any researcher working on education for sustainable development (ESD). Although it took me around six months and a large number of drafts, the paper was finally published in June 2009 in an international peer-reviewed journal of ESD. In this process, I learned to work together with my first supervisor, Prof Daniella Tilbury, and to write and structure ideas in an academic style. I also learned about the academic demands of publishing in a peer-reviewed journal.
Over the last 18 months IRIS has opened many doors which has influenced my thinking but also connected me to key experts and international agencies in the field. It has also lead to extending my portfolio of experience in the field. During the summer 2008, I was commissioned by UNESCO Paris as the European and North American Data Coordinator of the UNESCO DESD Monitoring & Evaluation. I worked closely with the UNESCO ESD section team analysing several questionnaires from different countries in Europe and North America and writing a report to summarise the key findings. This report would assist in developing the DESD Global Monitoring & Evaluation Report. Working closely with such a prestigious international organisation was an exceptional opportunity for me.
After the summer, I started writing my thesis proposal on indicators for social learning for sustainability at Higher Education, which was approved by the University’s Research Committee in February 2009. During this process, I attended several international conferences on ESD. This assisted me in both consolidating and challenging my thinking on ESD. Together with my supervisor, I facilitated a workshop on ESD indicators at the IUCN Conference in Barcelona in October 2008. At this conference, I had the opportunity to meet change agents, researchers and academics from the Commission on Education and Communication (CEC) of this organisation which is internationally recognised for its pioneering work on ESD.
In October 2008, I also had the opportunity to facilitate a workshop on social learning for sustainability with an IRIS fellow, Roel van Raaij, at the Bordeaux Conference on ESD. This Conference gathered international experts and policy-makers in ESD to review the contributions of the UN DESD during its first five years. In this conference, I had the opportunity to work closely with the Environment and Schools Initiatives (ENSI) organisation, and, together with Daniella, we prepared the report on the session which formed part of the final conference report. Much of this travel has been funded by the international partners which work closely with IRIS.
Just after my RD1 was accepted, I started a pilot study here at the University of Gloucestershire to assess the methodology I use in my thesis. I worked with eight members of staff who have changed their commitment to or understanding of sustainability while working at this institution. The pilot study provided me with a very valuable reflection platform to improve the research design and planning.
In March 2009, I was funded by UNESCO-Germany to be a workshop rapporteur at the UN World Conference in Education for Sustainable Development held in Bonn, Germany. This was a unique experience as this conference was celebrating and reviewing the first half of the UN DESD. The DESD Global Monitoring & Evaluation Report in which I had participated was released in this conference.
After Bonn, I also had the opportunity to work on an IRIS project commissioned by UNESCO-Culture. This project consisted in reviewing nine ESD policies from a cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue perspective. UNESCO will be releasing this review as a formal publication in early 2010. From this arose the opportunity for Daniella and I to submit a paper to be published in the Comparative Education Review special issue on ESD. This is an international peer-reviewed journal which has an important impact factor.
This year, I have also been funded by the Qatar Foundation to attend the World Innovation Summit in Education (WISE) in Doha, Qatar. I felt privileged to attend this conference as it was an exceptional opportunity to meet international experts on education. ESD researchers sometimes work in isolation only with ESD people and within the ESD world. The WISE Conference helped me to broaden my perspectives about education and pedagogy.
By the end of this year 2009, I have no doubt that I am starting to discover who I am as a researcher and what type of work I like to do. There is still a long way to go and many things that I still need to learn. A couple of months ago, I met the Heads of Sustainability from the University of Bradford and the University of Bristol, where I will collect the data for my thesis. Both agreed to help me in forming a research group with members of staff of the university. I am very excited about undertaking research at both universities.
In short, the experience gained at the University of Gloucestershire so far, has meant that I now have a research portfolio and list of publications as well as international contacts which improve my career prospects. Importantly, I feel more able and confident in undertaking a life-time ambition – the attainment of a PhD.