Course content

This course gives students insight into social science issues surrounding sustainability. The course is based on the fact that climate change and environmental destruction are the major social challenges of our time. These affect society and people differently and create room for new and reinforced inequality. The challenge we as a society face is two-sided: How to deal with the consequences we already see today, and how to build a more sustainable society in the long-term? To find good solutions, social science expertise in the field is needed.

In this course, students learn about social science perspectives, traditions, and schools that connect people and society to the environment and climate. Students learn about how values affect the understanding of climate and environment, theories about how society can change, and how change can be understood as interaction between individual people's practices, social structure, technology, media and politics. We discuss the many roles of the sciences related to nature, climate and the environment, and the concept of sustainability and the inherent controversies of the sustainability goals. Students learn about risk and uncertainty and what role this plays in both long-term societal changes and society's ability to deal with the climate changes we see today. How can we become better at talking about and finding solutions to the sustainability challenges? What stimulates and hinders participation, social change, and the major societal shifts that are needed? What does climate change and policy mean for social inequality, power relations and and community life? How is climate and the environment communicated in various forums and debates (in the media, social media, politics, academia, everyday speech)?

The course offers research-based and varied teaching that integrates academic content with methodological training in current and controversial issues.

• The teaching combines lectures, discussions, group work and practical projects where a relevant climate and/ or environmental challenge is mapped and analyzed. A field trip may be relevant.
• The course encourages interactive learning through debate and joint reading and dissemination of texts.

Overall, the course provides students with both theoretical and analytical competence and practical tools to work with sustainability, climate and environmental issues in a broad field of practice, both within and outside academia.

Learning outcome

Knowledge - the student shall:

• have in-depth knowledge of the sociology's approach to sustainability.
• have in depth insight into the concept of sustainability, the sustainability goals and goal conflicts related to the fulfillment of these.
• have in-depth knowledge of the relationship between society and nature.
• understand how different knowledge regimes compete and cooperate within the climate and environmental field.
• be able to formulate and analyze socially relevant issues about climate, the environment and sustainability.
• be able to present knowledge and advice about measures and instruments in a structured and popularized manner.

Skills - the student shall demonstrate the ability to:

• develop a project within a current climate and environment-related public debate, and communicate this in writing and orally.
• independently analyze and discuss a topic that is addressed in the course and convey this in academic written form.
• reflect orally on the perspectives presented in the course and his/ her own work in the course.

Learning methods and activities

Lectures and seminars equivalent to 4 hours per week. If 6 or fewer students sign up for a planned course during the first 2 teaching weeks, the course will be offered as an instructed reading course.

Compulsory assignments

• Ongoing submissions that support project work and oral presentation of the project

Required previous knowledge

Master's degree in Sociology or equivalent.

Course materials

To be decided at the start of the course.

Credit reductions