The course explores key challenges shaping sustainable urban development. There will be four modules covering an introduction to sustainable city strategies, including topics like transportation, energy (smart grids), (over)tourism, technology, aging populations, and urban greenery/plantations. The online modules highlight a range of sustainability issues faced by cities around the world and are provided by partner universities within the ENGAGE.EU network. In addition to completing these modules, students will work in virtual cross-university teams to compare different approaches that cities are taking to address these challenges. They will investigate innovative, real-world solutions to pressing urban issues such as sustainable tourism, CO₂-neutral city planning, smart mobility, and climate adaptation. Throughout the course, students will be guided by lecturers from the participating institutions (Université Toulouse 1 Capitole, Norwegian School of Economics, HU Hitotsubashi University, and WU Vienna) and will present their findings at the end of the course.

• Understand key sustainability challenges faced by cities worldwide and recognize how economic, legal, social and environmental dimensions interact in shaping urban development.
• Analyze and compare different policy approaches and practical strategies that cities employ to address issues such as sustainable tourism, CO₂-neutral city planning, smart mobility and climate adaptation.
• Engage with academic and practice-oriented discourse on sustainable urban transformation and critically assess real-world solutions and innovation initiatives.
• Collaborate effectively in intercultural, cross-university teams to work on evidence-based responses to localized urban sustainability challenges.
• Communicate and present insights clearly and concisely, contributing to a virtual presentation at the end of the course.

In order to successfully complete all assignments (including the Kick-Off and Closing events and the group work sessions), attendance of the four scheduled online dates is mandatory. Students also have regular virtual meetings with their peers from the participating universities to work on the group-work assignment.

The attendance requirement is met if students are present for at least 80% all scheduled sessions, including those that take part in person in class. Students who fail to meet the attendance requirement are de-registered from the course. Missing sessions may affect  graded components.

The course includes video-based online modules, an individual analysis, and a group-work assignment. The modules contain asynchronous video inputs, mandatory readings, and quizzes. The modules are hosted on WU’s internal platform for the ENGAGE.EU Signature Course. Further, the students work on a group task in cross-university teams and present the key outcomes in form of a poster. The small groups are supervised by an expert (lecturer) teaching at one of the partner universities.

• 20% – Individual assessment via module quizzes
• 30% – Individual case analysis
• 50% – Group work

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