How does this course work?
-    This course includes a lecture and a section. While the lecture is the same for everyone, several sections on different topics are available. Choose the section that best matches your interests. You must register for a section before the start of the course, and this choice cannot be changed later.
-    Videos about the content of the sections are available on our Instagram account zuwi_va.

Title
-    Lecture title: Sustainable Economics
-    Section title: Energy Transitions and the Political Economy of Just and Sustainable Futures

Instructors
-    Lecture instructor: Prof. Jonas Bunte
-    Section instructor: Gabriel Trettel Silva

Language
-    Lecture language: German
-    Section language: English

Topics
-    Topics of the lecture:
The lectures in this course explore possible explanations for the decisions made by three types of actors: businesses, citizens, and politicians. How do businesses make decisions? For example, why do some businesses behave more ethically and environmentally consciously than others? Or why do some businesses engage in more lobbying than others? How do citizens make decisions? For example, why do we sometimes act rationally but other times not? Or why are some social movements successful while others are not? How do politicians make decisions? For example, why do some politicians act based on their convictions while others behave opportunistically? Or why do some politicians appear more competent than others?

-    Topics of the section: 
Hegemonic ideas about climate change mitigation have focused on technological solutions, emphasizing a transition from fossil fuels to less carbon-intensive energy systems. However, this technology-based transition has been called into question as being neither sustainable nor fair by many actors including sectors of organized civil society and academia. While broadly understood as clean, green and sustainable, the expansion of energy transition technologies is linked to an intensification of mining activity and consequent negative impacts on vulnerable communities and ecosystems, especially in the global South. This course brings together perspectives from the intersection between political economy, ecological economics and political ecology to examine the challenges of the energy transition in contributing to just and sustainable futures. Some of the questions at the starting point of inquiry are: what historical relations of power are reinforced or defied by the energy transition? How do organized citizens approach the solutions promoted by hegemonic actors in the context of the energy transition? What alternatives can be envisioned beyond the limitations of hegemonic ideas? Students will engage with academic literature, case studies, databases, and creative projects to develop an interdisciplinary understanding of the global economic system, while participating in critical discussions on normative frameworks of social-ecological transformation and just transitions.

-    Actors and areas of this section: 
Politicians & Globalization as well as Citizens & Society.

Upon completing the course, students will have developed a solid understanding of the core topics within the Department of Socioeconomics, particularly regarding the environmental and climate crisis, globalization, inequality, and democracy. To achieve this, the course pursues three objectives:

1. Critically examine the fundamental assumptions of economic models. Are businesses truly only driven by profit, or are there other motivations? Are humans genuinely rational with fixed, exogenous preferences? Students will gain insights into the implications if such assumptions do not hold.
2. Develop and compare possible explanations. How can we explain situations where actors make different decisions despite similar circumstances? Students will learn to derive potential explanations for these puzzles, becoming familiar with various disciplinary approaches (political science, sociology, geography, history, law, and economics).
3. Explore implications for the future. Students will analyze how these insights shape the various options available to them. What do these findings imply for our future? What can we do to address current challenges?

Lecture
Attendance at the lectures is strongly recommended but not mandatory. If a lecture is missed, no explanation or excuse is required.

Section

Attendance in the sections is mandatory. This requirement is considered fulfilled if no more than one of the seven section meetings is missed. Absences known in advance must be communicated to the instructor beforehand via email. A session missed due to health reasons (e.g., illness or accident) will not count as an absence if a doctor’s note is submitted promptly. In such cases, there are no negative effects on attendance or participation. However, if more than four section meetings are missed due to health reasons (with a valid doctor’s note), successful completion of the course is no longer possible. In such cases, the student will be de-registered from the course without a grade and may re-enroll in a future semester. If graded assignments (e.g., Assignment 1 or 2) are missed, there is no entitlement to compensation or make-up work, even in cases of illness. Further details regarding the attendance policy will be explained in the first section meeting.

Lecture
The pedagogical approach of the lecture is designed to actively engage students. The lectures are therefore dynamic and include a mix of presentations, interactive exercises, and relevant case studies. Lectures are conducted in German.

Section

The course follows an active and critical pedagogical approach, emphasizing inquiry-based exploration and dialogue. Students are invited to engage in co-creating knowledge rather than passively receiving it. Main concepts are introduced by the lecturer intertwined with short discussion and brainstorming rounds in which students have space to share their own reflections. Individual and group activities proposed in class allow students to promptly apply or further investigate the concepts introduced. These activities may include, while not limited to, problem solving and case studies, debates, exploring databases, concept mapping and visioning exercises.

Additional Resources
-    Instagram Account: zuwi_va
-    Youtube Account: zuwi_va
-    ZuWi_VA Kurs-Website 

Assessment

• Lecture: A total of 25 points + 4 bonus points
  o    25 points: Final exam 
  o    4 bonus points: Details will be explained during the lecture
• Section: A total of 75 points 
  o    25 points: Participation 
  o    50 points from two of the following three options, as determined by the section instructor:
      25 points: Creative project
      25 points: Written assignment
      25 points: Exam with open-ended questions

Final Grade
Students can earn a maximum of 100 points in the course, with a minimum of 60 points required to pass. The grading scale is as follows: scores between 60 and 69.9 result in a grade of "4," scores between 70 and 79.9 correspond to a grade of "3," scores between 80 and 89.9 earn a grade of "2," and scores between 90 and above receive a grade of "1."

Details of the Final Exam for the Lecture

• Date: 24. June 2026
  o    The exam takes place during the Main Examination Week. The exam date is fixed and cannot be rescheduled.
  o    The exam will be conducted online on LEARN.  
  o    The duration of the exam is 60 minutes.
• Registration
  o    No separate registration is required. Students are automatically registered for the final exam upon enrolling in the course.  
• Rules
  o    If participation in this session is not possible due to verifiable and serious reasons (e.g., illness, accident, death in the family), a make-up attempt during the next main examination week is allowed. Please send a (medical) certificate to your section instructor so they can register you for the next examination week.
  o    Requests for expedited grading or early entry of the final course grade cannot be accommodated. Assessment follows the legally binding timelines of WU (Universitätsgesetz § 74 Abs. 4; Prüfungsordnung § 10 Abs. 5), which require that grades be issued within four weeks after completion of the final assessment. Since this course is offered three times per semester, students with time-sensitive application deadlines are advised to select the course session that best aligns with their schedule.
• Content
  o    The final exam will cover only the topics from the lecture, not the sections.

Course Requirements
Students must register for the course via LPIS. 
The topics of the available sections varies. For this reason, students are advised to carefully review the information about each section in the course catalogue before making their choice. Select the section that best aligns with your interests, as switching between sections during the semester is not permitted. 
It is expected that students enroll in “ZuWi Vertiefung & Anwendung” immediately after completing the STEOP course “Volkswirtschaftslehre und Zukunftsfähiges Wirtschaften” rather than delaying for several semesters.

Waitlist
Enrollment during the registration period is on a “first come, first served” basis, with 20 spots initially available per section. Any additional registrations will be placed on a waitlist.
After the registration period ends, the capacity of each section will be increased to 30 spots. The 10 additional spots will be allocated to waitlisted students who do not yet have valid enrollment for this course, with swap requests not considered. The allocation of these spots is determined based on urgency and academic progress and is managed by the Vice Rectorate for Teaching, without influence from the course instructors.
Students who are absent during the first session of their section will lose their spot. These unclaimed spots will be offered to waitlisted students who attend the first session of the section. This allocation is handled by the section instructors and follows the order of the waitlist.

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