WISO100535 Principles of sustainability in society and the economy

Type
course with non-continuous assessment
Semester hours
2
Lecturer (assistant)
Landon, Tess Margaret , Leonhardt, Heidrun Else
Organisation
Sustainable Economic Development
Offered in
Wintersemester 2025/26
Languages of instruction
Englisch
Content

This course we
1) introduce basic terms, concepts, and trends related to sustainable development;
2) give an introduction to multi-perspective thinking, and present different perspectives on sustainability-relevant topics;
3) apply these different perspectives to selected sustainability-relevant topics.

The aim is to recognize that in sustainability-relevant issues there is often not "the one" "right" perspective, but multiple perspectives, conflicting goals, etc. In addition, we want to instruct multi-perspective ("critical") thinking and thus to be able to critically analyze different points of view in sustainability issues.


Exam information:
The exam will be a written presence exam. Students will be required to (based on the learning objectives):
1. explain basic terms, trends and controversies or fundamental concepts of sustainability (presented in the VO), and
2. describe, compare, and apply different perspectives on sustainability-related topics.

Assessed are 1) correct and complete reproduction of technical knowledge about the VO content, 2) extent of ability to apply this knowledge appropriately to different topics, and 3) extent of ability to draw own conclusions from the application of different perspectives.

Sehr gut: 100 - 87.51%
Gut: 87.5 - 75.01%
Befriedigend: 75 – 62.51%
Genügend: 62.5 - 50%
Nicht genügend: <50%


.
Previous knowledge expected

none; openness to question and critically reflect different perspectives and arguments on sustainability-related questions
Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

After completing the course, students can
*) summarise and describe basic sustainability-related terms, trends and controversies (e.g. dimensions of sustainability; strong, weak sustainability); explain the concepts and trends and compare them where relevant
*) describe and contextualise selected sustainability-related indicators (e.g. inequality, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity decline, ...) in terms of order of magnitude, historical trends and country comparisons
*) describe and compare different perspectives on sustainability-related topics; use these perspectives to analyse topics relevant to sustainability (e.g., consumption, (economic) growth, monetary valuation of environmental goods); adopt and justify a position on sustainability challenges by using the argumentative diversity of these perspectives
*) derive proposals for solutions to problems with conflicting goals and/or multiple perspectives and interests based on theory and take decisions based on these
*) critically compare different points of view
*) apply techniques to structure arguments in order to make transparent decisions on complex issues and in decision-making situations with conflicting objectives

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You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.