Sustainable Transitions

What it is about

You learn how climate change and energy use (including mobility) as well as agriculture and land-use changes drive societal transformation processes. You gain knowledge about historical and current socio-technical transitions, political instruments, financing and innovation dynamics – with view to opportunities and risks for industrialized and developing countries.

What you will be able to do

• Understand the importance of the pace and direction of technological innovation for urgent sustainability problems (e.g., SDG13)
• Be able to explain reasons for slow socio-technical transitions and political levers to accelerate them
• Recognize opportunities and risks of sustainability transitions for developing countries
• Assess the role of financing and investments for large-scale transitions
• Link your own scope of action with different impact pathways on sustainability problems

What the module consists of

• LectureIntroduction to concepts, frameworks and empirical findings on drivers and barriers of sustainability transitions
• SeminarCritical discussion of literature and current events; application of lecture knowledge to tasks

Teaching method

• LectureConveying theories, concepts and empirical results
• SeminarDeepening through discussions, literature critique and real-world tasks
• Case studies and data tasksApplication of what has been learned to real-world transition problems in OECD and non-OECD countries
• Media mix (PowerPoint, audio, whiteboard)Support for different learning formats and visualization