ABSTRACT
Learning underpins the evolution of our worldview and creates space for new ways of thinking and knowing to emerge. Social learning provides tools and methodologies that push back against fragmented, disciplinary-based modes of learning and wrestle instead with the complexity of social-ecological systems. These include deliberate experimentation, on-going deliberation and reflection, social-ecological co-evolution, loop, situated and transformational learning as well as deliberative democracy. Social learning is not a panacea, however; it needs to be embedded in a larger theory of change that includes a critical appraisal of power, participation and gender dynamics, clear definition of the expected outcomes, as well as ongoing monitoring and evaluation to see if the expected changes are occurring.
