Greening the Economy — How to engage university students in a collaborative learning course about creating change?
In this article, Kes McCormick at Lund University in Sweden, reflects on a Special Area Studies course on the topic of greening the economy for students in different disciplines and faculties. The course takes an interdisciplinary approach that addresses sustainable development, climate change and how to combine prosperity and economic development with a healthy environment.
In this course, the teachers and students together explore greening the economy from four perspectives — individual choices, business strategies, sustainable cities and national policies. A key aspect of the course is to critically discuss and analyse practical examples of the complexities and solutions that exist within, between and across the perspectives as well as to creatively explore synergies for change.
A particular focus is placed on examples from Scandinavia, as a pioneering place in advancing sustainable development and combating climate change, and a unique starting point for learning about greening the economy. But the course also explores experiences from Europe and around the world as well as connecting global challenges with local innovations.
A fundamental learning objective is to improve the ability of students to analyze, evaluate and make critical judgements on strategies and approaches to greening the economy. To help achieve this goal, the course applies a “flipped classroom” in which students watch films, listen to podcasts and complete readings before engaging in webinars and workshops.
The webinars tackle the four perspectives of the course — individual choices, business strategies, sustainable cities and national policies — as well as the concepts of the green economy and sustainable development. The workshops delve into focused topics that engage with greening the economy in different ways, including doughnut economics.
The concept of doughnut economics uses social and planetary boundaries as an approach to framing the challenge of sustainable development. The environmental ceiling consists of nine planetary boundaries beyond which lie unacceptable risks and tipping points. The twelve dimensions of the social foundation are derived from internationally agreed minimum social standards.
Interestingly, this course on greening the economy is based on a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) called Greening the Economy: Lessons from Scandinavia that started in 2015 on the Coursera Platform. The MOOC has attracted 25,000 participants. It delves into the question of “How can we live a good life on one planet with over seven billion people?” The MOOC has provided the foundations for this course through access to films.
Course introduction: What is a green economy and why is it important? In this module we discuss the key issues that a green economy seeks to address and the underlying concepts and definitions of a green economy. The aim is to provide students with an understanding of the problems arising from the interaction of the economy and the environment as well as the concept of a green economy and related concepts and indicators.
Individual choices: In this module we discuss how individual choices can help or hinder progress towards a green economy. The aim is for students to gain an understanding of patterns and levels of consumption as well as looking at theories of consumer behavior and the limitations of working with consumer choice in isolation.
Business strategies: This module focuses on the business level and how companies and businesses choose strategies that can help transitions to a green economy. The aim is to provide students with an understanding of challenges for companies that want to take a lead in the transition to a green economy, and of strategies for green business in different contexts.
Sustainable cities: In this module we will look at how planning and designing cities can help achieve a green economy and underpin sustainable development. The aim is that students can understand the role of cities in relation to experimentation, transformation, planning, collaboration and visions for a green economy.
National policies: This module focuses on how national governments can establish policies to promote a green economy across the different levels discussed in this course. The aim is that students will gain an understanding of how national level policies affect cities, business, and individuals and be able to critically reflect upon the challenges for national level policies to influence other levels, including the international sphere.
Students are expected to apply the learning developed through the course in a report brief that focuses on an innovation for greening the economy. It is an opportunity for students to investigate an emerging innovation, explain and argue the rationale for the selection and make a critical evaluation of the innovation. There are no limits placed on what counts as an innovation except that students need to explain the connection to a sustainability challenge.
The students conduct research and develop a report brief that covers the overall context for the innovation, sustainability challenge, description of innovation, drivers promoting the innovation, barriers hindering the innovation, and ways forward. The students then present the report briefs as “pitches” to the class and a peer review process is conducted to generate constructive feedback for both individual and group learning.
TOP TEN EXAMPLES OF COURSE PROJECTS
1. GOT BAG — Recycled backpacks from ocean plastic
2. Curbing emissions from aviation in Europe through a super train network
3. Tiny Houses — The future of sustainable living?
4. Buddha Bikes Copenhagen — Greening the bicycle industry
5. CarbiCrete — a low carbon solution for the high carbon footprint in the construction industry
6. Why “green” data centers are the new frontier in the fight against climate change
7. Energy storage as a service
8. Organic Supermarkets: A simple and efficient way of greening the economy
Kes McCormick is an Associate Professor at Lund University in Sweden. He coordinates a Special Area Studies course on the topic of greening the economy. He also coordinates the City Futures Academy — an online learning community on sustainable cities.
