737329 Conceptualizing social-ecological transformations

Type
Seminar
Semester hours
2
Lecturer (assistant)
Pichler, Melanie , Gingrich, Simone
Organisation
Offered in
Sommersemester 2025
Languages of instruction
Englisch
Content

The course introduces different theories and perspectives on transformative change and discusses both historical and contemporary social-ecological transformation processes. We discuss major societal (i.e., economic, political, justice-related, cultural) challenges associated with such transformation processes as well as different strategies and instruments for transformative change, with a special focus on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the phase-out of fossil fuels (e.g., public policies, legal frameworks, market-based approaches, activism/bottom-up civil society initiatives).
Previous knowledge expected


Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

After completion of the course, the students have gained an overview on the societal challenges of the climate crisis and the reduction of resource use and greenhouse gas emissions – and how to analyze these.

Students have basic knowledge on historical perspectives on transformations, the industrial revolution and its legacies for dealing with the climate crisis. They have a basic knowledge of contemporary theories and perspectives on social-ecological change (e.g., green growth/ecological modernization, degrowth/sufficiency) and understand different strategies and instruments to deal with the climate crisis, including the role of technology, the state/legal aspects, the market and civil society in transformative change (e.g., phase-out policies, tax reform and emission trading, contemporary sectoral climate policies, activism/bottom-up civil society initiatives).

After the successful completion of the course, students will be able to understand the societal challenges of historical, contemporary, and future transformations as well as differentiate contested societal strategies and instruments to deal with the climate crisis.
Students are able to read, discuss, and critically evaluate different perspectives on societal change and their characteristics as well as to read, discuss and critically evaluate scientific literature on strategies and instruments for social-ecological transformations, both in oral and written form.
You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.