DIXSON-DECLEVE Sandrine & DUSTDAR Shiva - Green Transition and Fair European Societies (25h)
Prof. DIXSON-DECLEVE Sandrine & Prof. DUSTDAR Shiva
Academic Assistant: Uyanga LKHAGVAJAV (uyanga.lkhagvajav@coleurope.eu)
Human history and development are marked by constant change. Its intensity fluctuates from minor adaptations to deep structural disruptions. Presently humanity as a whole is undergoing what historians would label a Great Transformation: the fossil fuel age needs to be ended, ecological destructions and resource limitations mitigated whilst a digital era unfolds that accelerates already rampant social inequality. Societies will have to implement structural change of their current modes of production and consumption quickly and comprehensively, if they wish to protect human wellbeing and achieve goals like the sustainable development agenda or the European Green Deal summarize. Currently, it seems like transition processes remain too slow or unambitious, though, and unfolding disasters like the Corona pandemic or the Ukranian war tend to foster procrastination rather than leapfrogging. How can this gap between declared goals and actual achievements be understood? What can science tell us about more promising strategies and practices?
The literature describes sustainability transitions as a co-evolutionary and interdependent change in several societal dimensions: knowledge and resource base, technological possibilities and infrastructures, market and industry patterns, user practices and cultural meanings, and political relations and frameworks. The course is thus by definition a non-disciplinary one, drawing on natural sciences, social sciences and political economy as well as the humanities to invite all participants to see their own role in shaping our common future.