DIXSON-DECLEVE Ségolène & VAN GOOR Linda - A Just, Equitable and Sustainable Transition (25h)
Prof. DIXSON-DECLEVE Sandrine & Prof. VAN GOOR Linda
Academic Assistant:
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 in the Anthropocene: the fossil fuel age must end, our post World War II International financial, political and economic infrastructure is outdated and no longer fit for 21st century challenges, ecological destructions and resource limitations mitigated whilst a digital era unfolds accelerating already rampant social inequality. Societies will have to implement structural change of their current systems from economic to socio-political to financial in order to meet today’s growing crises and wicked problems. This includes addressing new economic models shifting from GDP and productivity as the only metric for economic development as well as understanding the evolving role of new economic models and public and private finance to enhance capital flows to people, planet and prosperity.
Such shifts are predicated on international policy implementations such as the SDG’s and European sustainability objectives set in the European Green Deal, the European Green Industrial Deal and a Just Transition that is effective and brings more citizens on the journey. These policy implementations also require a robust global & EU financial and monetary architecture that place a value on human and natural capital.
Currently, it seems like transition processes remain too slow or unambitious, especially due to past crises, such as COVID, that weakened Europe’s economy and directly impacted the lives and livelihoods of European citizens as well as the compound effects from the Ukranian invasion, war in Gaza, geo-political tensions and tariff wars unleashed by US President Trump and growing climate impacts on European soil.
This course unpacks how the gap between declared goals and actual achievements can be understood? What can science, knowledge and innovation tell us about more promising strategies and practices? How do we preserve our quality of life, green and social leadership whilst under pressure to invest more in competitiveness and defense?.
The literature describes sustainability transitions as anchored in economic, political and financial paradigm shifts but also as a co-evolutionary and interdependent change in several societal dimensions: knowledge and resource base, technological possibilities and innovation, market, monetary and industry patterns, investment pathways and narratives. The course is thus by definition multi-disciplinary and systemic, drawing on the natural sciences, social sciences and political economy.
OUTLINE & ECTS