What is “Strategic Doing?” An explanation of how we will be facilitating the break-outs

When I shared the final forum agenda yesterday I got a few questions about the break-outs we have scheduled in the morning.  The framing question for the breakouts is “What would it look like if OSU was the premier scholar community for water security studies, advocacy, and world-wide change?” Each table will explore diverse assets individuals could tap into for collaborative conversation and research. An asset could be mental or physical; for example, a knowledge base, a technical skill, access to a research facility, or a pedagogical tool.

You might consider ahead of time what assets you would be comfortable sharing on Friday, and what other assets might benefit from what you offer, or might benefit your research.  We hope your tables will come up with compelling questions that fill a gap in local/global water research, while also building upon our own strengths here at OSU. You also might simply brainstorm ways we can solve each other’s practical and logistical problems, or the types of grants or conference papers which would lead to more substantive projects.

The pedagogical assets are of particular value because, as educators we can all relate to this need in the classroom. Likewise, an essential part of interdisciplinary research is making your research lenses explicit in your own mind before sharing them with others – just as you do with your students.  I invite you to think about analytical lenses you are using right now in your research; e.g., “remote sensing,” “algae detection,” “land use,” “practitioner perspectives,” “gender,” etc.

For more information, check out the format for the break-outs which follows Purdue’s “Strategic Doing” methodology.

Image of an Oasis in Israeli Desert

Blueprint Negev trees in the Israeli desert. by David Shankbone, CC.2.0 Source: Flickr

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