The politics and practice of sustainability
Den här kursen syftar till att öka din teoretiska och praktiska förståelse för komplexa hållbarhetsproblem i dagens samhälle. Fokus ligger på politiska aspekter av hållbarhet - hur olika värderingar, möjligheter till deltagande och målkonflikter formar hållbar utveckling.
Course evaluation
The course evaluation is now closed
HU0003-40122 - Course evaluation report
Once the evaluation is closed, the course coordinator and student representative have 1 month to draft their comments. The comments will be published in the evaluation report.
Additional course evaluations for HU0003
Academic year 2024/2025
The politics and practice of sustainability (HU0003-40094)
2025-03-25 - 2025-06-08
Academic year 2023/2024
The politics and practice of sustainability (HU0003-30001)
2024-03-20 - 2024-06-02
Academic year 2023/2024
The politics and practice of sustainability (HU0003-40005)
2024-03-20 - 2024-06-02
Syllabus and other information
Syllabus
HU0003 The politics and practice of sustainability, 15.0 Credits
Hållbarhetens politik och praktikSubjects
Sustainable DevelopmentEducation cycle
Bachelor’s levelModules
| Title | Credits | Code |
|---|---|---|
| The politics and practice of sustainable development | 6.0 | 0001 |
| Practical exercises | 3.0 | 0002 |
| Groupwork: the practice of sustainable development | 6.0 | 0003 |
Advanced study in the main field
First cycle, has less than 60 credits in first-cycle course/s as entry requirementsBachelor’s level (G1F)
Grading scale
The grade requirements within the course grading system are set out in specific criteria. These criteria must be available by the course start at the latest.
Language
SwedishPrior knowledge
15 credits Sustainable development.Objectives
The aim of the course is to develop students theoretical and practical understanding of the complexity of sustainability issues of today. The course emphasises political aspects of sustainability – how different values, opportunities for different actors to participate in decision-making, and goal conflicts shapes sustainable development. The course provides a thorough understanding of different theoretical perspectives on sustainable development and how sustainability is expressed in policy (in Sweden and internationally). During the course the students analyse current sustainability challenges from a practical and problem-oriented perspective, including social, economic and environmental consequences.
Upon completion of the course the student should be able to:
account for different goal conflicts and how these can be handled in the management of sustainability based on critical social theories on dialogue, participation and conflict;
critically analyse the different ways in which sustainability is expressed and implemented in Swedish and international policy, as well as in different research and disciplinary fields;
through problem-based case studies, analyse a current problem relating to sustainable development and its social, economic and environmental dimensions and consequences;
orally and in writing present findings to different concerned actors.
Content
The course consists of a mixture of lectures, seminars and independent work, individually and in groups. The literature provides a basis for lectures, seminars and will also be used in other assignments, such as case studies and practical work.
The course consists of two parts:
The first part discusses how sustainable development is conceptually used in different theoretical fields and traditions. It presents important critical and theoretical perspectives on the role and function of politics in sustainable development, for example, political ecology and environmental communication. Emphasis is on how values, participation and conflicts influence different proposed solutions to sustainability issues, in policy and practice.
The second part consists of practical work. The aim is to have student groups working with current sustainability problems engaging with different actors/stakeholders. By working in groups students take shared responsibility for investigating, analysing and reporting possible solutions to current real-world problems, and gain insights into specific sustainability challenges and from a coupled social, economic and environmental perspective. The students will practice their skills of practical problem-solving, presentation, academic writing and discussing findings from different viewpoints and with different actors, including administration and decision-makers at the external partner organisations. This part may entail travels.
Grading form
The grade requirements within the course grading system are set out in specific criteria. These criteria must be available by the course start at the latest.Formats and requirements for examination
Examination through:
passed written exam;
passed oral and written project;
passed active participation in mandatory seminars.
If a student has failed an examination, the examiner has the right to issue supplementary assignments. This applies if it is possible and there are grounds to do so.
The examiner can provide an adapted assessment to students entitled to study support for students with disabilities following a decision by the university. Examiners may also issue an adapted examination or provide an alternative way for the students to take the exam.
If this syllabus is withdrawn, SLU may introduce transitional provisions for examining students admitted based on this syllabus and who have not yet passed the course.
For the assessment of an independent project (degree project), the examiner may also allow a student to add supplemental information after the deadline for submission. Read more in the Education Planning and Administration Handbook.
Other information
The right to participate in teaching and/or supervision only applies for the course instance the student was admitted to and registered on.
If there are special reasons, students are entitled to participate in components with compulsory attendance when the course is given again. Read more in the Education Planning and Administration Handbook.
Responsible department
Department of Urban and Rural Development
Litterature list
Hållbarhetens politik och praktik, kurslitteratur 2023
Material kring temaveckorna, projektarbetet och gästföreläsningar tillkommer.
Kursböcker
Jagers, S.C. & Matti, S. (2020). Miljöpolitikens villkor. (Upplaga 1). Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Bacchi, C. L. (2009). Analysing Policy: What's the Problem Represented to Be?. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Pearson
Vetenskapliga artiklar och rapporter
Omställning:
Nalau, J. & Handmer, J. (2015). When is transformation a viable policy alternative?, Environmental Science & Policy, Volume 54, 2015, Pages 349-356, ISSN 1462-9011, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2015.07.022.
Hajer, M., Nilsson, M., Raworth, K., Bakker, P., Berkhout, F., De Boer, Y., ... & Kok, M. (2015). Beyond cockpit-ism: Four insights to enhance the transformative potential of the sustainable development goals. Sustainability, 7(2), 1651-1660.
Hagbert, P., Nyblom, Å., & Isaksson, K. (2021). Approaching Change: Exploring Cracks in the Eco-Modern Sustainability Paradigm. Environmental Values(5), 613-634.
Sahlström, E. & Norrby, T. (2022). Social innovation och samhällsentreprenörskap - verktyg för omställning? En studie av fem projekt inom Leader Höga Kusten. Rapport. Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet.
**Lokala perspektiv på Hållbarhetens politik och praktik: **
Copus, A., Perjo, L., Berlina, A., Jungsberg, L., Randall, L. & Sigurjónsdóttir, H. (2017) Social innovation in local development: Lessons from the Nordic countries and Scotland. Nordregio Working Paper 2017:2. (sida 8-16 samt delen om Sverige på sida 30-32)
Cras, P. (2022). Lokalt samhällsentreprenörskap. I Johan Gaddefors & Josefina Jonsson (red): Nycklar för en levande landsbygd. Uppsala. https://issuu.com/landsbygdensnycklar/docs/nycklar_f_r_en_levande_landsbygd
Cras, P. & Norrby, T. (2022). Kommunernas (o)organiserade gränssnitt. I Johan Gaddefors & Josefina Jonsson (red): Nycklar för en levande landsbygd. Uppsala. https://issuu.com/landsbygdensnycklar/docs/nycklar_f_r_en_levande_landsbygd
Neumeier, S. (2017) Social innovation in rural development: identifying the key factors of success. The Geographical Journal, vol.183(1), pp. 34–46. DOI: 10.1111/geoj.12180
Norrby, T. & Cras, P. (2022). En framtida struktur för samverkan mellan Region Gotland och lokala utvecklingsaktörer. En vägledning för att dra lärdomar från Region Gotlands pilotsatsning på samverkan genom projektet ”Landsbygdsutveckling 2.0”. Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, Institutionen för stad och land. https://www.gotland.se/104817
Syssner, J. (2018). Visioner och visionslöshet-idéer om framtidens landsbygd. Nya visioner för landsbygden, 15.
Olausson, A. & Svensson, P. (2019). Nya förvaltningsideal - byråkrater och entreprenörer i samhällsbyggnadsprocessen. I Josefina Syssner (red): Ett nytt kontrakt för samhällsbyggande. Boxholm: Linnefors förlag.
Kumpulainen, K. (2017). The discursive construction of an active rural community.
Community Development Journal, 52(4), 611-627.
https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsw009
Osäkerhet, komplexitet och risk:
Steffen, W., Richardson, K., Rockström, J., Cornell, S. E., Fetzer, I., Bennett, E. M., . . . Sörlin, S. (2015). Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet. Science, 347(6223).
, A. & R. (2018). Nine lives of uncertainty in decision-making: strategies for dealing with uncertainty in environmental governance, Ur Policy and Society, Volume 37, Issue 4, December 2018, Pages 441–458
**Deltagande och Rättvisa: **
Zachrisson et al. (2021). Participatory comprehensive planning to handle competing land-use priorities in the sparsely populated rural context. Journal of Rural Studies, Volume 88, 2021, Pages 1-13, ISSN 0743-0167, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.09.031. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0743016721002953)
Raworth, K. (2012). A safe and just space for humanity. Can we live within the doughnut? Oxfam Discussion Papers Oxfam. Oxford. https://www-cdn.oxfam.org/s3fs-public/file_attachments/dp-a-safe-and-just-space-for-humanity-130212-en_5.pdf
Ramcilovic-Suominen, S. (2022). Envisioning just transformations in and beyond the EU bioeconomy: inspirations from decolonial environmental justice and degrowth. Sustain Sci. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-022-01091-5
Verktyg för kritiska ansatser i hållbarhetens politik och praktik:
Hagbert et al. (2018). Framtider bortom BNP-tillväxt. Slutrapport från forskningsprogrammet ’Bortom BNP-tillväxt: Scenarier för hållbart samhällsbyggande. https://www.bortombnptillvaxt.se/download/18.72aeb1b0166c003cd0d1d12/1543239101524/2.Slutrapport_Bortom%20BNP.pdf
Westin et al. (2020). Att utveckla samverkanskompetens genom utbildning Praktisk klokhet och reflekterande praktik. Socialmedicinsk Tidskrift. 2020, volume: 94, number: 4, pages: 663-674, available at https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/21280/1/westin_m_et_al_210119.pdf
Joosse et al. (2020) Critical, Engaged and Change-oriented Scholarship in Environmental Communication. Six Methodological Dilemmas to Think With, Environmental Communication, 14:6, 758-771, DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2020.1725588
Fördjupning
Berg et al. (2019). Naturens rättigheter: att skapa fred med jorden
Omställningshandboken – Guide till att skapa blomstrande lokala gemenskaper, 2019, Omställningsnätverket