The current imperatives of the ecological, political and financial crises call for new mindsets concerning actors and spaces where change and transformation processes can be created.

The key challenge can be seen in the question of how to achieve vital changes, not whether. This question will be the overarching framework of the course. This question spills into a range of areas, and spans from e.g. the patterns of consumption and production, through the most basic and crucial areas like education. The prospects of profound changes are more and more often discussed in terms of bottom-up social, cultural and institutional transformations, rather than top-down structured (technological) transitions. Moreover, power and interests play a key role in the dynamics of change. Crucially, the question of unsustainability is systemic, i.e. interwoven with our broadly understood socio-economic structures, beliefs, everyday decision and practices, to name just a few pieces of the puzzle. In tracking the roots of the current challenges, we will start with a broader overview of sustainability in research and practice (e.g. through the entrepreneurial perspective). Next, we will move on to the question of how change processes can be understood. The concepts of transition and transformation will be introduced as two different ways of understanding change processes. These concepts will be discussed in detail with the use of two practical examples: 1) collaborative economy, and 2) transformative education. These thematic areas can be seen as spaces of interaction between science, society, and business, filled with various actors – aspects which will be particularly important in our joint exploration of sustainable change processes. Language of instruction: English.

After completing a ZuWi II course the students are aware of the social and environmental context of economic activities. They have a holistic perspective, seeing both the economy and society as embedded in biophysical systems. They understand the effects business has on these dimensions. Throughout the course, students learn to take into account the impact of their later actions on society and the natural environment, their social responsibility and their contribution to a long-termsustainable development. Students develop the ability to consider ethical, social and environmental issues implied in their decisions in both private and professional spheres. They acquire skills such as self-reflection, openness and sensitivity to diversity, and understanding of complexity. They learn to conduct team projects effectively, to listen attentively and to present their ideas in convincing ways. Having completed the course, they are able to process information, to understand ideas and problems, to develop solutions and to communicate them to both expert and non-expert audiences.

Extensive feedback from both the course instructors and peers helps students to understand their shortcomings and to improve.

According to the didactic orientation performance will be evaluated multidimensionally. At least 3 criteria are to be considered in the assessment (e.g. presentation + thesis paper + written work / reflection paper). Particular emphasis is placed on teamwork skills and reflective thinking and experiential knowledge.

During this course, the students will:

• Gain a deeper understanding of the following concepts: sustainability and sustainable development, multiple crises, transition, transformation, transformative education, collaborative economy
• Be able to critically reflect on these concepts
• Understand the complexity of change processes and reflect on the role of context, power, and interests in these processes
• Learn about the benefits and issues of transdisciplinarity in change processes
• Learn about the actors involved in two thematic areas (transformative education and collaborative economy) discussed during the course, and critically reflect upon their roles.

The course will consist of:

• Lectures from the instructors
• News Flash: short summaries of the sessions as group tasks, via focusing on current issues
• Reading of the assigned literature, plus small tasks related to the literature
• Simulations and experiments
• Group tasks and plenum discussions
• Fragments of videos and films
• Research diary and reflection paper

• active in-class participation (30%)
• preparation of the assigned tasks, taking part in discussions, ability to answer questions (40%)
• reflection paper based on the research diary (30%)

Die Platzvergabe während der Anmeldefrist verfährt im „first-come, first-served Prinzip“. Falls Sie eine gültige LV-Anmeldung haben, aber an dieser Lehrveranstaltung nicht teilnehmen können, melden Sie sich bitte während des Anmeldezeitraums über LPIS wieder ab, damit Ihr LV-Platz anderen Studierenden zur Verfügung steht.

Sollte es eine Warteliste für die Anmeldung zur Lehrveranstaltung geben, werden die Studierenden der Warteliste nach dem Ende der Anmeldefrist nach Studienfortschritt gereiht und auf noch verfügbare Plätze zugeteilt - vorausgesetzt, dass diese über noch keine gültige Anmeldung zum Planpunkt verfügen.

Dieses Vorgehen ist allerdings nicht als Platz-Garantie zu verstehen!