This course aims at understanding sustainability as a concept and a process. It provides you with foundational material that gives the conceptual underpinnings required for rigorous analysis. We start with a brief historical overview of the concerns revolving around environmental sustainability in the modern era. We work primarily with Andrea Nightingales (2019 ed.) “Environment and Sustainability in a Globalizing World”, complemented with supplementary readings on alternative development concepts like “buen vivir” and “Ubuntu”. You will become familiar with key concepts and theoretical constructs through in-depth text study and debates, which define the global context for sustainable environmental practices, such as key thinkers and theories pertaining to sustainable environmental practice. We explore various models and ways to measure sustainability, the range of environmental domains at play in the sustainability dialogue, and the controversies surrounding them. The course is guided by the question “sustainability of what and for whom?” underlining the contingency of the concept.

The course is designed to be interactive and participatory. Sessions combine short inputs with group discussions, debates, and case study analysis.

The course is complemented by the public lecture series "Habitability in times of global crisis". Students are expected to attend these lectures and complete short reflection tasks that connect the lecture themes to the course content.