Transformative learning in graduate global change education drives conceptual shift in invasive species co-management and collaboration

Many graduate training programs in global change recognize the importance of policy and appreciate the complex, multi-stakeholder nature of policymaking in practice. However, few engage directly with diverse stakeholders, an important goal in transformational education, through traditional curricula. We present the results following analysis of a course designed to provide graduate students with an immersion-based experience focused on the flow of information between science, advocacy, policymaking, and management as they relate to invasive species, an important driver of global change threatening many facets of the human condition. In this course students constructed a conceptual model of these interactions. Then, in an immersive experience, they directly engaged with a diverse group of stakeholders, including government agency officials, policymakers, and land managers. Finally, to drive transformational learning, students were challenged to refine the conceptual model and develop a revised framework that more accurately reflected the true co-production (transdisciplinary) nature of these interactions. Thematic analysis of student perceptions revealed a shift from a science-centric view to one where science was but one of many inputs responsible for shaping invasive species policy. This immersive approach, founded in face-to-face interactions among diverse stakeholders, represented a transformative shift in student thinking toward the importance of co-management and collaboration in addressing invasive species.