SOMMERSEMESTER

Course aims:

This seminar is intended to provide scientific and professional skills training. It introduces participants to key concepts in sustainability thinking and practice, focusing in particular on the assessment of sustainability processes and outcomes. This interactive seminar revolves around reading, (critical) thinking and reflective discussions regarding diverse sustainability assessment tools.

Learning objectives:

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:

• Understand and critically reflect on the theoretical, conceptual and methodological dimensions of sustainability assessment
• Develop and apply criteria to assess the quality of different sustainability assessment tools
• Recognise key sustainability assessment approaches
• Identify the advantages and drawbacks of key sustainability assessment approaches and defend their perspective through the effective use of quality criteria and evidence

Assessment (pass/fail):

Participants are expected to regularly attend scheduled sessions and to prepare for in-class discussions by reading the recommended material in advance. In addition, participants are required to prepare and deliver a 20-minute-presentation (per person) that covers sustainable assessment tools discussed and evaluated in the seminar and lead the subsequent discussion by providing a set of opening questions and moderating the subsequent conversation. A list of presentation topics will be made available in Session 1.

Participants are expected to prepare and circulate a one-page handout for distribution to the  class, to complement their in-class presentation. The use of presentation software (e.g. Powerpoint, Prezi) is encouraged but not compulsory. 

The course yields 3 ECTS, matching 30 contact hours in class and an additional 60 self-study hours.