Would you like to know more about the governance of societal change? Are you interested in learning not only about transformative solutions but also in how these solutions can be put in practice? Then this course is for you.
The course is structured around the three spheres of transformation – the practical, political, and personal dimensions – to help students understand the ways in which transformation is interrelated. The course asks questions such as for what and for whom societal transformation is taking place; who has/is given agency in transformation processes; how emergent and controlled transformations interact; what driving forces and interventions are important for transformation; what ideas, values and narratives are mobilized to justify transformative processes; what economic and political interests are at stake; and where the opportunities and structural obstacles are to be found.
The course, taught from a multidisciplinary perspective, addresses the various transformative dimensions of the sustainability agenda such as social, economic, cultural, political, and technical aspects of social change, while drawing on real-world examples of transformative practices in both resource-rich and resource-poor contexts.
Examples of some of the issues explored by past students in their case studies include:
- Approaches to spur transformative change in social-ecological systems
- Adoption of sustainable agricultural practices by smallholder oil palm farmers in Nigeria
- Solid waste management in Zambia
- Community-based ocean conservation and environmental education
- The future of ocean farming
- Street design as a tool for societal transformation
- Community, sense of place and the inner dimension of sustainable transformations