Sociology, Politics & Economics

Zeppelin University

Sustainable development is a theoretical concept. Hence, its operationalization, ‘application’, and empirical analysis are impossible without recourse to theory. Therefore, this seminar on Practice and Policy of Sustainable Development particularly focuses on questions how sustainability could be realised ‚in practice’ by looking at different theoretical accounts and empirical examples (for example: energy, food, mobility, consumption). This involves exploring actors seeking to make the world less unsustainable, established and emerging institutions of sustainable development as well as the conditions under which large-scale transformations could take place, when they could lead to sustainability, and whether and how such transformations could be governed. For a decade or so, thinking about how to make contemporary societies more sustainable has been strongly influenced by academic debates about socio-technical system transitions and transition management. Critical assessment of those discourses is, therefore, a good entry point into this large theme. In some instances, it seems even useful to look to other transformations beyond sustainability for better understanding the challenges, limitations, and possibilities. 

Based on academic and policy-related readings, the students visiting this seminar will gain deeper understanding of central key concepts from social studies of sustainable development and in particular learn to critically scrutinise recent debates about socio-technical system transitions and transition management. We will continuously reflect on these concepts and even adjust their meanings in our weekly discussions. For this purpose, the seminar is devised as a mix of group discussions about common readings and regular phases of intensive group work in various settings and didactical formats. 

Students will learn to distinguish between different theoretical concepts and approaches required for studying social transformations and innovations relevant for sustainable development. They will be able to use them in different policy fields and social contexts. In particular, students will become competent in studying sustainable development as a societal project that aims for fundamental transformations in most dimensions of contemporary societies but is also immensely complex and open-ended. They become familiar with transferring relevant concepts from another transformation context to sustainable development and with analysing concrete (political, management, civil society) practices in relation to such a transformation. Methodologically, the students taking this class will learn to discuss complex academic texts in a critical manner, to relate them with broader academic debates and research agendas and to synthesise their main arguments. 
  
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