Content, progress and pedagogy of the module

The module is offered in collaboration with the Interdisciplinary Sustainable Development Lab at Aalborg University – Copenhagen Campus.

Sustainable Development Lab is an interdisciplinary project module where master’s students from different study programmes collaborate to develop solutions to complex sustainable development challenges. Students work in interdisciplinary project groups and engage with external stakeholders such as companies, public organisations or civil society actors.

The module is grounded in principles of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and problem-based learning (PBL). Through workshops, group work, and collaboration with external partners, students engage with real-world sustainability problems that require integrative thinking across disciplinary boundaries.

Through the interdisciplinary collaboration, students actively draw on their own disciplinary background, gaining a clearer understanding of how their expertise contributes to - and is strengthened by - interdisciplinary teamwork.

Learning objectives

Knowledge

Upon completion of the module, students must be able to:

• acquire knowledge and enact understanding of theory and/or method at the highest international level within the students' respective disciplines applicable to sustainable development.
• acquire knowledge and enact understanding of theory and/or methods for the acquisition of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) competencies: system thinking, futures thinking, values thinking, strategic thinking, interpersonal and collaboration competences as well as problem formulation and solving competences.
• account for theory and/or methods related to interdisciplinary collaboration for sustainable development.

Skills

Students must be able to:

• apply theories and/or methods from their respective disciplines to analyse and address sustainability-related problems.
• develop skills to apply ESD competences in theory and practice, including systems thinking, futures thinking, values thinking, strategic thinking, interpersonal competences, collaboration competences, and problem-formulation and problem-solving competences.
• work effectively and constructively in interdisciplinary groups and collaborate with external stakeholders in the development of sustainable solutions.

Competences

Students must be able to:

• independently initiate, manage, and contribute to interdisciplinary development processes that require new sustainable solutions to complex societal challenges.
• integrate disciplinary expertise into interdisciplinary collaboration and develop their own professional specialisation in the context of sustainable development.
• critically reflect on the use of ESD competences and interdisciplinary collaboration in the development of sustainable solutions.
• handle complexity, uncertainty, conflicting values, and diverse stakeholder perspectives in collaborative sustainability work.

Type of instruction

Project module. Please refer to §17 of the curriculum about the structure and content of the programme.

Exam

Exams