CURRENT PLAN - HYBRID MODE:

We meet for the first class (rotation basis - first 15 from 1-3pm, other 15 students from 3-5pm) depending on which topic the students want to work on in groups.
Thereafter we have 2 online modules of self study.
We meet again in person for the last three classes in a large classroom where 30 people are allowed to take part in many activities and to consolidate what you have learned in self-study.
This includes i.e. fishbowl discussions, group games,etc.
Attendance is regulated by showing up in person for the four interactive sessions and by submitting required coursework (i.e. reading quizzes).
Groupwork is done online. Other performance is assessed (online) by remotely submitted quizzes and paper.

ALTERNATIVE PLAN - ALL ONLINE:

We meet online on Teams.
Attendance is regulated by showing up online and by submitting required coursework.
Groupwork and presentations are done online. Other performance is assessed by remotely submitted quizzes, papers.

The goal of the seminar is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the interactions and dependencies of social, ecological and economic systems. In the first session students are introduced to the general functioning of the class, to critical thinking and to key environmental and socio-economic concepts that will be useful throughout the course. Amongst others: planetary boundaries, entropy, capitalism, decoupling etc. In the second session, we discuss work and employment in relation to the environment. The third session discusses social welfare and environmental policy in a needs-based context to outline a socially balanced approach to stay within planetary boundaries. The fourth session, we discuss the diversity of capitalist systems, their different relations to the environment and whether capitalism can be an ecological system at all. The fifth session focuses on environmental inequality. Finally, in the last section students prepare a proposal for action to address climate change.

After taking this seminar, the students are able to:

• Understand socio-ecological systems as embedded systems and their respective institutional context.
• Critically analyse and act to address challenges on the intersection between social, ecological and economic systems. 
• Challenges include inequality, environmental pollution and exploitation, growth dependency, and overwork. 
• Understanding the entrenchment of the economy with fossil fuels. 
• Perceive necessities, and conceive options for change towards social prosperity and environmental sustainability. 

The seminar promotes the students to:

• Analyse and critically reflect (‘critical thinking’) on the framing of social and ecological challenges and policies. 
• Select and apply theoretical concepts in the context of ecological economics. 
• Critically reflect on current debates taking place in influential media. 
• Engage in open discussion, conceive their own opinion based on state-of-the-art academic research and give substantial-constructive feedback
   

• Please make sure you arrive in time. 
• You may miss one of the six sessions. 
• For exceptional reasons it is possible to miss another session, in that case please contact the lecturer. 

• Inputs by teachers
• Discussions and critical reflection of academic, news and magazine articles in leading international and social reviews and media.  
• Variety of group exercises including beehive discussions, collective reading exercise, fish-bowl discussions, panel discussions, poster presentations and role games.
• Use of videos, film clips, lecture casts and podcasts
• Engagement in digital media and reflection on online debates taking place, for instance, on blogs and twitter.

Reading Task (30%)

Read actively the current readings of the week. Submit three discussion questions to one of the texts and an answer to one of the three questions with about 300 words.

Submission latest at midnight on the evening preceeding the respective session.

Grading criteria: relevance of the questions in the light of the text and quality of the answer. Each submission counts 6% of the total grade (6 points).

Individual Seminar Paper (20%)

Discuss a topic related to the class and of your interest. The seminar paper does not necessarily refer to the topic of your presentation, though you need to cite at least two texts of the course literature. The seminar paper may not exceed a length of five pages, without cover page, table of contents and references. Please format the text with 1.15 lines pacing, 11pt, Times New Roman, author-date referencing style. Source used in the literature should stem from peer-reviewed journals and official statistics. Newspaper and Wikipedia are not suitable sources.

Submission in the last class as PDF file. Please indicate the number of words without references at the end of your essay.

Grading criteria: Structure & processing: well organized, good legibility/spelling/grammar, referencing system, use of graphics processing (8%). Accuracy, understanding and coverage: focused on the question and understanding of subject, wide use of relevant material, excellent use of illustrative examples (8%). Clarity: clarity of expression, innovative and critical reflection (4%).

Experts on topic/Presentation (20%)

Presentation of one academic text in a group of four students. Maximum 10 minutes. The presentation should cover the key content and conclusions from the text. Each student should be active in the class presentation.

Presentation will take place on Microsoft Teams

Submit the slides to the instructors as email latest on the evening preceding the respective session.

Grading criteria: Structure & processing: well organised (8%). Accuracy, understanding and coverage: demonstrates understanding of the text (8%). Clarity: clarity of expression (4%).

Participation (20%)

Grading criteria: Active participation in discussions and other in class exercises ; Enhancement of open and inclusive discussion atmosphere ; Meaningful use of digital tools.

The participation grade will be composed of contributions to the discussion after the presentation and contributions to the Forum and Online Exercises. 

Online engagement (10%)

Engage at least once in on an online media platform in a discussion on an issue related to the class. The media and specific format is up to you. Possible platforms or media include discussion forums in newspapers (e.g. derstandard.at, krone.at, die Zeit.de), a group in a messenger (e.g. Signal, Snapchat or Whats-app), an online platform (e.g. Facebook or Twitter), your personal blog, a video (e.g. Youtube). The comment needs to be made in English.

Please upload a screenshot of your online engagement by the last class on learn. Please make sure that you do not violate any privacy law and hence anonymize names and pictures.
 
Grading criteria: Quality of contribution.

Final grade

Very good > 90%
Good > 80%
Satisfactory > 70%
Sufficient >= 60%
Insufficient < 60%

The waiting list is not managed by the lecturers thus please do not contact them concerning registration issues.