PINS9520 Society and Sustainability Course description

The course addresses sustainability transitions, and how societal institutions, technical infrastructures, and culture constitute frames within which practices evolve. The course especially focuses on theories of social change, and how institutions may inhibit or enable transitions toward sustainability. The course will provide the candidates with tools for engaging in constructive discussions of how sustainable practices can be facilitated and stimulate interdisciplinary investigation of these issues. The syllabus may be abbreviated and adapted to fit the interest of the participants of the course in cooperation with the supervisors.

The course will address the following, non-exclusive list of themes:

• Socio-ecological, socio-technical, socio-economic and action-oriented perspectives on sustainability transitions.

• Institutional theory, as well as theories of social inertia and change.

• Sustainable alternatives to dominant political, economic and social structures.

Completed Master’s degree (120 ECTS credits) or equivalent education level.

Upon completing the course, the candidates are expected to have gained the following learning outcomes (knowledge, skills, and general competence).

Knowledge

The candidate:

• is at the forefront of knowledge for analysing how societal institutions, forms of organization, and infrastructures influence sustainability practices
• can contribute to the development of novel and cross-cutting sustainability methods in their own profession

Skills

The candidate:

• can formulate questions, plan and carry out research on sustainability issues related to their professions
• can engage in discussions of how sustainable practices can be facilitated at institutional, organizational and infrastructural levels
• can challenge established knowledge in their own professions and identify critical success factors for sustainable transformation

General competence

The candidate:

• can adopt a societal perspective on sustainability challenges in society at large and within their own professions
• can contribute with new, advanced knowledge and insights on sustainability transformations
• can communicate sustainability research and development work to society as well as through recognized academic channels such as scientific workshops, conferences and journals

Lectures, workshops, seminars.

Active participation in the seminars is necessary to adequately understand the course material and themes. Participation is therefore mandatory, and candidates are expected to attend all days of teaching and required to attend at least 80 percent of teaching days. In special cases of documented illness, the course leader may accept exceptions to this requirement. In these cases, lack of participation can be substituted with alternative arrangements such as writing a reflection note. Course requirements are assessed as confirmed or not confirmed. The course requirement must be completed and confirmed within the given deadline in order to have the right to submit a final essay.

The course requirements are:

• A plenary presentation on a subject decided in collaboration with the course lecturer.
• A prepared opposition to at least one other presentation.
• 80 % attendance is required.

An individual portfolio consisting of three assignments. The assignments are designed for the candidates to document and reflect on their learning process throughout the course, and to discuss the most important theoretical aspects from the syllabus, with relevance for the candidate’s PhD project. The portfolio will consist of 4000-5000 words in total. Cover page, illustrations, and list of references come in addition.

If an essay is graded fail, the candidate has one opportunity to resubmit a revised essay within a given time-period.

All examination support material is allowed as long as source reference and quotation technique requirements are applied.

Assessment is pass/ fail.

The final essay is assessed by the course lecturer and one other examinator. External examinators will be used regularly. The assessment of the essay is based on the learning outcomes for the course.

Sveinung Legard

Gavin McCrory