• describe, classify and critically discuss the concept of sustainability from a holistic perspective;
• explain the systemic nature of sustainability, drawing from earth, production and business interaction systems thinking;
• identify the interactions and links between different parts of these systems;
• account for the main approaches to examining sustainability, such as planetary boundaries, life cycle assessment, cradle-to-cradle, and the triple bottom line
• reflect upon the sources of risk, uncertainty and controversy in carrying out actions targeted at sustainability – from the points of view of business, government and civil society actors
• be able to identify various technological, scientific, business and political solutions to specific sustainability challenges and their interactions

Overview

Business, government and civil society are facing complex sustainability challenges that they cannot solve alone. These challenges have financial, managerial, political, social and environmental components, and tackling them often requires partnerships between the private and public sectors, or multi-stakeholder initiatives that also involve non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, venture capital and universities.

There is an increasing need, and demand for, managers and employees who have specialist skills, but who can also operate in multi-disciplinary teams. They need to have developed a common language and understanding with specialists in other fields so they can bridge the gaps between science, technology and business solutions to sustainability. Many scientific discoveries, technological developments or business innovations on sustainability fail because of the lack of understanding from each of these fields of the complex challenges that are involved. Business plans fail because of lack of understanding of their technological complexities; scientific breakthroughs are abandoned because they are miscommunicated to the public or the political system; technological innovations end up financially unfeasible.

This course seeks to fill this gap. It is taught by faculty members and includes students from CBS, KU and DTU (see details below). The aim is to provide a new generation of specialist professionals with the relevant skills to properly operate and communicate in multi-disciplinary teams that seek to tackle and find innovative solutions to the complex sustainability challenges society and business face. The course will consist of lectures from faculty in the three participant universities, group work, discussion, presentations and hands-on exercises; groups will include students from all three universities.

Format

• 33 contact hours organized in 11 blocks (3x45 min each) twice a week:
  • 1 block: joint introduction and overview
  • 9 blocks on specific topics (see below), delivered in rotation at the three participating universities
  • 1 block: joint conclusion and sum-up

Provisional programme

- Joint introduction

- Blocks 1-3: Earth system & planetary boundaries (@KU)

• Earth system and planetary boundaries: Overview
• Global assessments of nine planetary boundaries 1
• Global assessments of nine planetary boundaries 2

- Blocks 4-6: Production systems & system thinking (@DTU)

• Sustainability of products and systems: Introduction
• Frameworks for assessing sustainability of products and systems
• Societal challenges and environmental economics

- Blocks 7-9: Business and sustainability (@CBS)

• Consumer behaviour and sustainability 
• Business strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship for sustainability
• Sustainability governance and business-government-civil society interactions

- Joint conclusion

This course is mandatory for students wishing to obtain the COSI ‘Joint Certificate in Sustainability: Science, Technology and Business' (CBS/KU/DTU)

The certificate is assigned by a joint COSI committee from the three participating universities. To obtain the certificate, students need to pass the two SC1 and SC2 courses.

For more info on this initiative, please see: http://cosiuni.weebly.com

CBS students:
CBS students not seeking to obtain the joint certificate can also take SC1 or SC2 as self-standing electives.

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