Transformative Geographical Education

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Eva Nöthen
• Subject Area: Human Geography
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 576755115

Transformative approaches to teaching and learning have emerged as key drivers in contemporary geography education. These perspectives focus on socio-ecological challenges and crises, alongside a critical-emancipatory educational mission. They emphasize the need for a just and future-oriented transformation of society and human-environment relations, challenging dominant educational paradigms. However, the field of transformative education remains less clearly defined and more diverse than the term suggests. Against this backdrop, the proposed Scientific Network aims to explore and enhance the pedagogical, methodological, and practical potential of transformative education for German-language geography education, aligning it with international debates on transformative teaching and learning. The network pursues two main objectives: (1) reconstructing different theoretical perspectives, research approaches, and teaching methods and synthesizing them into a cohesive didactic framework; and (2) developing and sharing innovative curricula, guidelines, and practical teaching-learning settings for both schools and universities. These objectives shape the network’s structure and will be further elaborated within the work program. Supporting early-career researchers is a cross-cutting priority throughout all network activities.

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks
• Co-Investigator: Professorin Dr. Verena Schreiber