Course content

In transitions to climate-friendly and socially sustainable societies, trust, security, inclusion, and equitable access to social goods such as mobility, energy, work, education, and a good local environment are key success factors. Social sustainability works to ensure that all people have equal opportunity for democratic participation, access to education and work, and to pursue a stable, healthy life without discrimination of any kind.

This course will focus on how social equality diversity and participation affect societal development and just sustainable transitions. The course adopts a critical approach to the relationship between sustainable development and social justice and will examine what efforts are required of citizens and of public and private actors to pursue socially sustainable societies. The course will discuss inequality, accessability, competence and accessibility of sustainable services and measures at individual and system level.

The course emphasizes socio-material change, with particular focus on the quality of participation and co-determination and on citizens' rights in sustainable transition processes. Working towards just and socially sustainable transitions requires the development of translation skills related to transdisciplinarity, the ability to work in an interdisciplinary manner (within and outside academia), develop teams, and the capacity to reflect critically on one’s own work. The course will examine various cases and practices concerning the implementation of both sustainability initiatives and the development of services in public and private sectors. The course creates space for participants to work on their own projects and problems.

Learning outcome

Knowledge:

The student:

• has knowledge of just and sustainable transformation and participation processes
• knows measures and policies that promote inclusion and can use theories to analyze inclusion in transition processes
• has insight into the development and use of knowledge processes and technological solutions at individual and system level
• can make assessments of knowledge and technological measures to support citizens' resources, opportunities for coping and the right to participate
• can apply professional knowledge to initiate and be able to contribute to transdisciplinary interaction across businesses and levels
• has insight into what impact societal knowledge needs and technological solutions can have on transition processes
• has insight into the existing processes and measures citizens receive and is able to make an adjustment to their own professional practice

Skills:

The student

• can evaluate knowledge and technological measures to support the populations' resources and right to participation
• can provide empirical and theoretical knowledge to create change
• can use knowledge about sustainability for different social groups

General competence:

The student:

• has insight into diversity and inequality conflicts
• can apply professional knowledge to initiate and be able to contribute to transdisciplinary collaboration across public and private activity and different societal levels
• can acquire knowledge empirically and theoretically in order to implement measures to facilitate transition
• can apply knowledge about and take care of sustainability concerns for different social groups
• can reflect critically on their own work and related sustainability processes
• can identify the need for innovation and innovative work

Learning methods and activities

The course is taught as a combination of lectures, seminars, and project work. In order to take the exam, the student must have 1 approved work requirement.

Compulsory assignments

• Compulsory assignment

Further on evaluation

The form of assessment is a term paper. Final assessment requires approved exercises consisting of 1 approved work requirement. The exercise can be written individually or in groups of max. three students. The final term paper is delivered individually or in groups.

Specific conditions

Required previous knowledge

See the Master program in organization and management.

Course materials

Will be announced at beginning of semester