Examination arrangement

Course content

For information about planned courses and admission, please see: https://www.ntnu.no/kult/forskerutdanning

This course provides PhD students with concepts and tools to understand what environmental sustainability (ES) is, the kinds of challenges it raises, the actors involved in such issues, and how academics can help initiate societal transformations towards this goal. With an interdisciplinary approach, the course takes the model of strong sustainability as a point of departure, i.e., the biosphere is considered a life-supporting system that restricts and renders possible human activity. Consequently, the course will explore how this affects technological and scientific development, economic issues, policymaking, and the organization of society. Students are introduced to ES with the UN's sustainable development goals as background, to the history of ‘sustainable development’, environmental concerns and environmental movements. The course presents students with critical accounts of the concept of sustainability, including potential controversies between sustainability concerns and the conservation of nature. This includes an introduction to the concept of biodiversity and biodiversity policy as well as to environmental ethics. The course engages with the challenges of providing sustainability measurements, and methods and approaches to assess the sustainability of industrial products and processes and human lifestyles (industrial ecology). The course also provides an overview of theories and approaches to the field of sustainability transitions, including a focus on participation and engagement, innovation, circular economy, and policymaking for sustainable energy, climate mitigation and urban sustainability. Finally, the course will prepare for the writing of individual essays, which, together with participation in the course, forms the course’s formal approval.

Learning outcome

Knowledge: The candidate is able to document a good understanding of the important dimensions and challenges of ES and how the SDGs can be used as a basis for strategies and actions for change. The candidate must show command of the most relevant environmental systems tools. The candidate should be able to explain the advantages and disadvantages of continuous societal innovation vs radical change, in the context of sustainable development implementation. The candidate must be able to demonstrate the potential role of science and ethics in contributing to the actual change in real-life problems. The candidate should also be able to show how different systems (the political system, the economic system, the technological system, the biological system, etc.) are interlinked and how problems and solutions in one system may interfere with other systems. It is required of the student to recognise and reflect upon the political, social and ethical tensions associated with the design and implementation of measures towards SD.

Skills: The candidate should be able to formulate research questions related to ES and the SDGs. The candidate must be able to discuss how theory and methodologies covered in the course can be applied in sustainability strategies. Additionally, the candidate must show a reflexive and inquisitive approach to the subjects of the course. The candidate must be able to demonstrate and justify how the concepts and tools taught can be used in concrete research work and real-life problems.

General competence: The candidate must be able to access distinctive pathways towards SD implementation while showing how and why it is appropriate to apply a multidisciplinary approach to sustainability. The candidate must be familiarised with the most relevant theoretical and practical SD frameworks and be able to argue about their advantages and limitations.

Learning methods and activities

The course is delivered by use of a series of seminars, each focusing on themes as indicated above. Seminars contain expert lectures, student presentations, discussions and time for discussion of essay writing and topics. Students write individual essays that must be evaluated "Bestått" (equivalent to grade B or better) in order to pass the course.

Compulsory assignments

• Participation

Further on evaluation

The assessment is a written essay where the candidates demonstrate their understanding of theories and methods taught in the course and how it relates to their own discipline or a specific topic or practical application. The essay is an expanded version compared to KULT8123.

Recommended previous knowledge

Master's degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline.

Course materials

Selected scientific articles and reports, to be decided.