Contested futures for lighting in urban spaces: drawing on ideas about messiness and resistance to inform lighting education strategies against light pollution. Author Mary-Anne Kyriakou

Critical educational practices

The three-hour course draws on educational concepts of rethinking educational practices in terms of mess. Using lighting education and light pollution as a metaphor, reductive and normative methods discussed in education, are explored in citizen science as a site for digital education and public education.

Concepts of mess in education are discussed in terms of complexity theory and applied to the understanding of light pollution and how the current government system to control it, fails to minimise the problem. Concepts of mess in  lighting education include:

1.    Subjectivity of lighting design

2.    The convenience of light and the production of light pollution

3.    Governance of light pollution

The area of citizen science as a resistant and emergent digital education practice is explored with the potential to push against top down governance and provide a platform for the public education on light pollution reduction.  Limitations and concerns regarding citizen science and public education are discussed in terms of complexity reduction and practice.

To keep in line with the author's intent of improving education on light pollution, there is an additional section that provides activities and further information.

The aim of the three modules is to gain an insight to concepts of complexity, messiness in education, and finally consider citizen science as potential for digital education.