Syllabus for Actors and Strategies for Change: Towards Global Sustainabilities

Learning outcomes

On the completion of the course the student should be able to:

• from cross disciplinary perspective account for today's sustainability issues;
• describe and evaluate different societal actors' strategies, scope for action and limitations in the pursuit of a sustainable society;
• reason on individual/actor perspective versus structural/system perspectives on societial change;
• thoroughly reflect on their own role in the causes and solutions of sustainability issues.

Content

The course gives a broad orientation to the complex sustainability dilemma and highlights different approaches in the pursuit for change. In a multidisciplinary series of lectures with invited guest lecturers, the most serious environmental, development and sustainability challenges of today are discussed, as well as the strategies and scope of action of various actors to solve these problems. Concrete strategies for societal change, at a structural/societal level as well as from an individual perspective, are developed and discussed.

Instruction

The teaching consists of lectures, seminars and workshops. The lectures are given by guest lecturers from various academic disciplines and relevant areas of society. Ample opportunities are provided for active student participation and critical reflection. Participation in seminars and workshops is compulsory. Non-compulsory study visits or equivalent may occur.

Assessment

The student is examined through written preparation for (2 credits) and active participation in seminars and workshops (1.5 credits), and through written documentation (3.5 credits) and oral presentation (0.5 credits) of a project.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.

Other directives

Active participation is reassessed through a re-seminar. If a student after having been offered a re-seminar still does not meet the requirements to pass the active participation elements the examiner can choose reassessment by another method.