Global Challenges and Sustainable Futures 2015

About the course

What are the challenges facing humanity today and in the future? How can we create and rediscover sustainable ways of living on this planet?

With accelerating trends such as climate change, water scarcity, energy depletion, social injustice, economic crisis, resource wars and other challenges, there is a growing need for sustainable alternatives. This course connects guest lectures that describe the severity of the challenges and workshops that discuss the possible sustainable responses and solutions to those challenges within the context of a specific global city and region. Students will have the opportunity to link global challenges to their own local and cultural backgrounds.

GCSF – Autumn 2015

Here you will find the latest information related to the course ‘Global Challenges and Sustainable Futures 2015’!

Please keep checking this course portal for the latest updates, and contact us if you have any question at: gcsf@csduppsala.uu.se

3 December, 2015

We are now… Back from the Future We Want

We are super sad that there is only 2 more sessions left for this course … but this is the climax, fasten your seat belts and get ready to ride that crazy time machine, to get glimpses of regions around the world in 2100, and to hear the stories of how we got there…

Next week is the Final Presentations of the Group Project!  Remember to respect the given time (15 minutes… so please practice in your group!) and send your slides before 4pm before class if you’re using the projector. 

Here is a great tip to overcome stage fright (and just an awesome TED talk. Sachiko does this before any job interview):

Don’t forget the deadline to submit your list of contributions to Agora by 10am Dec 5th!

If you haven’t participated in 6 weeks of the Agora, please find the Make Up Task above.

Really, really looking forward to hearing your presentations!

Alejandro and Sachiko

26 November, 2015

Inspirations for Actions: Grassroots Perspective 

Christmas season is coming … go buy some glögg and gather around some candles.

Next week is our last session with guest speakers, so don’t miss it! We invite three exciting guests, to get insights and discuss about the Role of Grassroots Movements in creating a sustainable future.

The SLS group for next week is helping us organise the entire session, and they are also preparing some interactive Q&A/discussion time too, so check out who’s coming and bring some questions and excitement to class!

• Thomas Norrby: Being a researcher at SLU, engaging much with Ställ om Storvreta, a local Transition Village program in Uppsala. (Website in Swedish, but use Google Translate…)
• Fayez Karimeh: Coming from Syria, they are trying to build a Ecovillage in Sweden, to empower migrants and refugees and integrate into Swedish society in an ecological and sustainable way. Check out their website here. This short article gives a good introduction to what they aim for.
• Amanda Norrlander: Currently a student in the Master’s in Sustainable Development, she brings her rich experience in Greenpeace, and is involved in organising the Climate March in Uppsala on Sunday, Nov. 29th. Find a recent interview here (also in Swedish, but you know, google translate is your friend.)

And just to repeat the announcements we made in class:

• Mark your calendars – Final Potluck on December 15th after our Final Workshop !
• Don’t forget the Deadlines for Group Project-Part 2&3 is December 1st, and the List of your Agora Contributions on December 6th. You can check the details in the assignment instructions above!

See you again next week!

Alejandro and Sachiko

19 November, 2015

Series Inspirations for Actions starts!

Happy gloomy November! :)

Sadly we are approaching the final stages of this course… but the good news is, an exciting series of 3 lectures – Inspirations for Actions – has started, where we invite different actors to give their perspectives on what we can do to create a sustainable future!

Just to remind you some updates ….

• Submit the 2052 Essay ASAP, by latest Sunday 22nd – in order for our external examiner to read your papers.
• Don’t forget to post a question to the lecturer on Agora (see Change in Agora Instructions below), and since next week’s SLS will be using the literature a lot,  read the literature in the Course Reader with care (There might be a quiz? :) )
• Instructions on Final Presentations are uploaded above, so check it out and start chatting in your group about it!
• Finally, check if you have any assignments you haven’t submitted through Studentportalen (You can check from: Course Progress). Needless to say, you will need to complete all assignments in order to Pass this course.

As always, feel free to contact us for any concerns and questions.

Keep warm and cozy!

Alejandro and Sachiko

12 November, 2015

Change in Agora Instructions

Here is a copy of the email that we sent yesteraday regarding the Agora:

Hej GCSF class :)

Thank you for the Seminar yesterday, and the inputs on the Mid-course Evaluations.

We decided to email you all, since we have made a change in an assignment and is quite last minute. Please read the email carefully, and feel free to contact us if something is unclear.

We have received some feedback about the Agora, and we would like to modify the remaining 3 times of the Agora based on the inputs and your feedback.

Up till now, the main point of the Agora was to bring some points up to discuss with your classmates based on the literature.

It seems that for some, this has been a good opportunity to look into the literature more, but for some, has been less engaging and less meaningful. So we have been thinking a lot about how we can make it better.

Therefore, we have changed the instructions for the remaining 3 sessions with guest lectures:

• In addition to the previous way of posing questions and comments based on the literature, you can also post questions that you would like to ask the guest lecturer (and your classmates) related to the topic of the session (you do not need to use a reference for these questions).

For example, for next week’s session Inspirations for Actions: Municipal perspective, maybe I would post a question like: “What is the role of local governments in creating a sustainable society?”

You can expand and explain the question briefly if you’d like. The questions can of course range from general to specific.

Since the upcoming 3 lectures are all part of a series of Inspirations for Actions, discussing about the role of actors in society (Municipal, Corporate, Grassroots), we think this format could be especially fitting to get insights from the actor perspectives.

We will share these questions with the lecturer beforehand, so they can somewhat get an idea of your expectations. But since it would be last minute for the lecturer and hard to modify the lecture she/he prepared, you are also welcome to bring up those questions yourself during the session with the lecturer. 

Think of this as an exercise to prepare to ask questions in class, that you think matters and would be meaningful for you. So google about the lecturer, and think about what you would like to ask her/him, and share them with us and your classmates by posting them on Agora.

Please note that we will still keep the requirement for 75% participation (6 times) of the Agora sessions, to maintain fairness for the people that have put their time into this already.

Moreover, you are still expected to read the course reader before the class. (We have heard from the groups that some upcoming SLSs will be using course literature!)

We hope this sounds engaging, and also clear to you.

Looking forward to your questions on Agora, and again feel free to contact us for any doubts/comments/clarifications!

Take care and best regards,

Sachiko and Alejandro

04 November, 2015

Field Trip and Seminar 2

Hej everyone,

We hope you enjoyed last lecture and discussion about “Sustainable development Goals” with Alan AtKisson!

• Field Trip information

This Saturday, November 7th, wehave our Field Trip to Hågaby!!! We are really excited and we hope you are too.

Here, you will find a brief document with a map with the Meeting points, times and our phones, in case you need them, but here it goes a summary:

13:00h Guide tour around Hågaby starts. Where? Hågahögen (close to station Håga Gård). See map here.

Sachiko will be in the bus stop until 12:55 to go to the Meeting point.

For the ones that will bike there:

Alejandro will leave Geocentrum main entrance at 12:30.

Remember that we will be walking for a while so bring warm clothes and appropriate shoes!

The SLS group will organize a discussion around food, so be ready to prepare something to share (more info in the FB group!)

• Seminar 2

The literature Seminar 2 is next Tuesday so we will have time to discuss the book “2052”. Remember to follow the instructions of the Assignment about 2052 (see above, under Assignments) to bring the preparations needed for the Seminar 2.

That’s it for now. Have a nice end of the week and see you on Saturday!

Sachiko and Alejandro

30 October, 2015

Field Trip update and more!

Hej everyone,

We hope you enjoyed our last class with Hans Peter Hansen (you can already see the slides in the “Lecture Material” section!)

As we presented at the beginning of the last class there is a lot going on right now related to the course and also regarding other CEMUS events, so here it goes a brief summary of the updates.

• FIELD TRIP

We received the confirmation from Per G. Berg, professor of Landscape architecture at SLU, who will guide us around Hågaby the next Saturday, November 7.

More detailed information will come in a later post but the Field Trip (See under Schedule & Course Info section above) will start at 13:00 h at Hågahögen (Håga mound), close to the bus stop Håga Gård and it will go on until around 16:00 h including the guided tour and the SLS activity that your classmates will organize. Let us know if you have any questions and, as always, keep an eye for updates!

• Deadlines

– The deadline for the first part of the group assignment “Back from the Future We Want” is due November 3, at 17:00h. You will find the Hand In space in the Studentportalen.

– The literature essay is also approaching and the book “2052” should be read before Seminar 2 (November 10). Check the instructions under “Assignments” and remember the preparations for the Seminar 2.

• Schedule

New information is added in the schedule when we have confirmations from lectures, etc. so be sure you are looking at the last version of the document (under “Schedule and course information”).

• Open lectures

Next week we will have an open lecture with Alan Atkisson about the “Sustainable Development Goals” but there are a lot of more lectures, workshops and sessions in the near future so, to be updated don’t forget to check our Facebook Pages and the CEMUS portal:

FB Global Challenges and Sustainable Futures 2015

FB CEMUS

CEMUS portal: http://web.cemus.se

That’s it for now. Have a nice weekend and see you next Tuesday!

Sachiko and Alejandro

 22 October, 2015

2052 is getting closer! + other updates

Hi everyone!

Hope you are having a good week.

As we said during the last lecture in three weeks it will be the Literature Seminar about the 2^nd course book: 2052: A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years by Jörgen Randers. Under “Assignments” section, you will find now the instructions for the literature essay that you have to bring a draft to Seminar 2 (November 10) and submit a final draft afterwards. Have a look on the instructions and contact us if you have questions or comments.

Other than that, here it goes some updates and reminders about the course:

• Back from the future we want – Part 1: November 3^rd is the deadline for you to submit the visions of the future you want in the region you are working to!
• Schedule: New version of the schedule with a few confirmations.
  • Field Trip to Hågaby: Saturday November 7^th in afternoon (hour TBC). As we agreed during last class the Field Trip to Hågaby is now included in the Schedule.
  • Alan Atkisson and Michael Åhlman confirmed also their lectures on SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and Inspirations for Action: Municipal perspective.
• Late Assignments: We created a new space in the Studentportalen to submit “Late assignments”. The reason is that it will be easier for you to check if you have submitted everything, it will be easier to make the plagiarism check and it will help us to reduce the number of emails in our inbox! WIN-WIN-WIN ;)!
• Guiding text for literature: Check the previous post in the course portal (21 October 2015) to read the guiding text that Hans Peter Hansen sent to introduce the articles for his lecture next week, and don’t forget your comment on Agora ;)

And that’s it from our side! Have a nice weekend and see you next Tuesday!

Best,

Sachiko and Alejandro

21 October, 2015

Futures, Sustainability, and Democracy: How do we decide about the future?

Hej everyone,

Next week we will have a lecture with Hans Peter Hansen where we will discuss about futures, sustainability, and democracy and he has suggested the following paragraph to introduce and guide your reading and discussion through the articles of the course reader for next week:

Under the headline ‘Futures, Sustainability, and Democracy: How do we decide about the future?’ we will try to make sense of the linkage between Sustainability, Future and Democracy. In order to do that we need to get an idea of the basic challenges of modern society. ‘Modernity under a Negative Sign’ by Giddens give in insight to a basic question within social science, how we deal with the flipsides of modernity. In Beck’s ‘The Silence of Words and Political Dynamics in the World Risk Society’ he continue in the same lines and tell us how modernity – on top of all the good things – also have created anxiety and despair individually as well as collectively. Hudson does not directly deal with these questions, but in ‘Comparison of Current Planning Theories: Counterparts and Contradictions’ he indirectly describe how we so far, on a societal level, have dealt with the future within public planning.  Departing from the challenges of modern society Clausen et. al. gives another interpretation of Sustainability in their book chapter ‘Democracy and Sustainability: A Lesson Learned From Modern Nature Conservation’, not as an instrumental and technical definition but as a political and democratic process using nature conservation as their case. In ‘Recovering Multiple Rationalities for Public Deliberation within the EU Water Framework Directive’ Nielsen et. al takes it one step further and describe how they in practice have tried to develop an alternative type of participative planning, not just inviting citizens to participate, but actually also trying to cultivate the immanent alternatives emerging from the everyday life and hopes and visions of the citizens.

We hope it is helpful!

Best regards, and keep an eye on the course portal for a new post with more info and updates during the week ;),

Sachiko and Alejandro

 14 October, 2015

Our FutureS, Our ActionS : Part 2 of the GCSF 2015!

First of all, thanks for session yesterday! We hope you enjoyed it!

As you see in the title of this post, it is time now to start the second part of the course Our FutureS, Our ActionS. The 30DC is almost over and we are just starting the Group Project Back from the Future We Want and also a series of interesting lectures regarding the future, democracy and Inspirations for Actions. The instructions of the group project are under the Assignments section (above) for you to read whenever you want. And under “Lecture materials” you will also find the slides from the Seminar 1 with more information, but here some important updates:

• Next week we will have a special Skype lecture/workshop about How do we think about the Future? with Erica Bol so don’t forget to participate in the Agora after reading the articles for the week, and get ready for an interesting experience.

• Make-Up task – Seminar 1. During Seminar 1, among other things, groups were formed, so if you missed the seminar it is really important for you to check the Make-Up Task – Seminar 1 (see “Assignments” section) and pick a group as soon as you can. Notice that it is first come first serve and there are not so many spots left! The deadline for the submission of the Make-Up Task at Studentportalen is October 22^nd but you can pick your group earlier using this link.

• 30DC –Reflection paper. Remember to submit the Reflection paper for your 30DC before October 18^th .

• SLS Reflections: The document with your reflections about your SLS is due two weeks after your SLS so if you have already done your facilitation activity is time for you to send or finish your reflection.

• GCSF Potluck! Next week after the lecture we will have a Potluck in CEMUS Library. Prepare something to share and enjoy nice food with nice people ;)!

• Open Events: Next week there will be a few Open events that might be interesting for you to join: Course Development Workshop (Tuesday, October 20, 3-5pm) and Alternative Student Housing (Thursday, October 22, 4-6pm)

…and that’s it! Have a nice end of the week!

Best,

Sachiko and Alejandro

 7 October, 2015

Seminar 1 preparations and more

Even though we had some changes in the lecture yesterday, we hope you liked and enjoyed the session!. Now, we have Seminar 1 coming up and there are a few announcements/reminders we would like to do here.

• Preparations for Seminar 1: 30 Day Challenges Presentations & Kick-off Group Project

30 Day Challenges

As it is said in the assignment description, you should submit your Creative outcome with a short explanation on Studentportalen before the seminar starts and bring it to Seminar I to present it during the class.

Bring something to show your contribution, a poster, pictures, etc. if you have prepared a presentation of pictures or you have it in a d¡gital format, be sure you can bring a computer or tablet where you can show your 30DC results (or contact us in advance if we can help!).

Kick-off Group project

The second part of Seminar I will be to form the groups for the project. More information will come.

• Schedule. Check the changes in the schedule (Inspirations for actions) and if you are part of the SLS of these two days let us know if there is any problem,

• Make-Up task 2. Remember that the deadline to submit the Make-Up Task 2 is Thursday (midnight).

• SLS Individual reflection. After you organize your SLS, remember that you have two weeks to submit you individual reflection on Studentportalen.

• Potluck. According to the voting in class, there will be another GCSF Potluck on Tuesday, October 20th, after the lecture “How do we think about the future?” at CEMUS Library. Prepare something and bring it to share it with the class (more information in the FB group when the date approaches).

Have a nice end of the week!

Best regards,

Alejandro and Sachiko

The Finished World Map

30 September, 2015

MakeUp Task for Workshop 2 & Quick Updates

Thank you for the session yesterday!

We hope you enjoyed sharing and discovering challenges around the World, and the discussions about “The Collapse of the Western Civilization”.

If you missed the Workshop 2, you can find the MakeUp Task above, under “Assignments”. The deadline to submit your task in Studentportalen is October 8th!

And now, some general updates:

• Next Tuesday, we will have with us a lecture on Ethics and our Responsibility to Future Generations by Lars Löfquist. Remember to post your contribution related to the literature for the week on the Agora.

• Seminar 2 seems far away (November 10) but we recommend you to start reading the course book “2052: A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years” by Jorgen Randers. More information will follow during the next weeks.

• Potluck! Remember that tomorrow, Thursday 1st October, we will have a Potluck from 19:00h at CEMUS Library/Lab/Lounge. Bring something to eat and share with everyone! If you have food preferences or allergies visit the Facebook group to ask for specific labels on food, and also don’t forget to bring your own drinks ;-)

Enjoy and have a nice end of the week!

Best regards,

Alejandro and Sachiko

23 September, 2015

Workshop 2 coming up!

Thank you for the session yesterday! Special thanks and applaud to the Student-led Session group! We’re impressed on the organization and happy to see the exciting discussions.

Next week, we will have a participatory workshop with some guests to discuss “Challenges from around the World!”

• Read and prepare to discuss “The Collapse of the Western Civilization” for next week. Bring some notes to the guiding questions, and also bring a challenge from where you’re from! (Please find instructions here)

We found the shorter PDF of the book here. The physical book is available to read in CEMUS library and Geo library, and includes an interview with the authors.

• The workshop next week is again until 8pm, and we’ll go out to a nation later if you would like to join! (If you don’t have a nation card, email us, maybe we can get you in)

• The Potluck vote showed that many preferred another date, so I will post a vote on the Facebook group to see if we can find a better date for all.

We also have several more Course Readers printed, so please let us know if anyone wants to buy them!

See you at one of the upcoming Open Events (Critical Thinking workshop on Thursday 24th, Climate Change Leadership Seminar on Friday 25th). If not, looking forward to seeing you next week!

Best regards,

Alejandro and Sachiko

 17 September, 2015

30 Day Challenge starts! & More…

Thank you for the workshop on Tuesday!

• Start the 30 Day Challenges ! We have been reading your Project Plans, and excited to see how all your challenges fold out. We hope you have all been able to start your 30 DC. We will email you individually if we have any concerns or comments on your challenge.

If you have not submitted your Project Plan via Studentportalen or email yet, please email us the document ASAP!  It’s important for us to know what everyone is working on (Please find the detailed guidelines in the 30 DC Instructions).

• There is some changes in the Reading for next week: For Hay’s (2002) article on “Beyond Structure versus Agency,” you only have to read p.89 – p. 101 & p.113 – p.118, since the rest might be quite technical.

• If you have missed Workshop 1 (15 Sep), you are required to submit a make-up task. Please find the instructions above, under “Assignments” and submit it through Studentportalen.

Best of luck on your 30 Day Challenges, and we look forward to seeing you on Tuesday where we will have the first Student-led Session! Looking forward also to seeing your discussions on Agora before Monday.

Alejandro & Sachiko

14 September, 2015

Workshop 1 & more

Hi everyone,

Hope you had a great weekend!

Tomorrow is our first workshop and we hope you are looking forward to it as we are!

Remember that you have to bring the “Q&A a day” completed and a printed copy of your “Project Plan” (See 30Dc Instructions for more information about submission via Studetportalen).

As it is said in the schedule, during Workshop 1 we will kick-off the 30 Days Challenge but we will also have time to reflect and discuss about the first weeks of the course and about what is coming.

IMPORTANT: Just in case you haven’t realized in the schedule, all the compulsory sessions (Seminars, Workshops and the Final presentation) are running until 20:00h.

After Workshop

Since the Workshops ends pretty late, we think it would be nice to move to a Nation to have a drink/snack and to get to know each other a bit more (of course, if you want/can).

During the workshop we will also discuss about having a social event (Potluck?) later during the course ;). Feel welcome to suggest ideas!

Facebook group

Last but not least, let you know that we created a Facebook group: Global Challenges and Sustainable Futures 2015 for you (and us) to communicate and easily share with each other events and interesting things happening around us like this super interesting Open Workshop “How to Train Your Dragon or The Art of Critical Thinking“.

That’s it for today! Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow ;-)!

Sachiko and Alejandro

9 September, 2015

Important info on assignments!

Thank you all for engaging in the lecture yesterday! We looked through the comments on the feedback sheets (“Exit Tickets” as we call it) and saw that many of you felt that the “Student-led” interactive discussions could have been longer.

Good news! Yesterday we had 30 minutes at the end, but the normal Student-led Sessions will have 45 minutes, which will give you some more freedom of what you can do. We hope you have gotten at least some idea on what kind of activities or discussion you can organise. We are excited to see what activities and discussions you will design!

So to get you guys started … :)

• Get in touch with your SLS Group! We have uploaded the scanned sign-up sheet under “Schedule & Course Info” above. Since we noticed that it might be tight for those who haven’t joined a group yet, we have changed the deadline to submit an initial idea to next Thursday at 12:00. This is for you guys to get in touch with your group and to start thinking on how you would like to organise your session. For those of you who were absent yesterday (8th), sign up for a  group on Studentportalen (Find it under heading, “Student-led Sessions”)

• Next week we will Kick Off the 30 Day Challenge! So start thinking on what you want your challenge to be. Write and upload your idea (Project Proposal) on Studentportalen, and bring a printed copy to the Workshop, as well as the completed Q&A-a-day. We will have discussions around your reflections based on the Q&A-a-day, as well as share and get some peer-input on your 30DC idea. Your challenge will start on the next day, Wed. 16th!

The instructions for SLS and 30DC are uploaded above, so read it carefully, and feel free to contact the Course Coordinators for any questions and concerns!

Alejandro and Sachiko

7 September, 2015

Lecture 1 coming up!

Hope you have had a nice weekend :) We are happy to see that Agora is having some really interesting discussions.

Now we are preparing our SLS for tomorrow, with Magnus Tuvendal as a guest lecturer to talk about When and why did challenges become global.

Under the Assignments section above, you can now find instructions for the 30 Day Challenge and Student-led Sessions. Please read it carefully!

We will have a sign-up sheet tomorrow at class to make groups for the Student-led Sessions.

Don’t forget to fill in the Q&A-a-day!

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Sachiko and Alejandro

2 September, 2015

First week!

Hej hej,

First of all: Thank you for yesterday! It was great to see you for the first time and we think it is going to be a great journey during this course!

Now, some points to remember:

• The 30 DC preparations are rolling now. If you didn’t get your Q&A a day, you can click here and get a copy that you should start to fill in to prepare the Workshop 1.
• Here you have access to the readings for the next week: Intro lecture Global Challenges: When and Why did challenges become global?. You can find it also at Studentportalen or in the Course Reader.
• We still have some copies available of the Course Reader, so drop by our office or email us to buy one! We are going to order copies for the ones that wrote her/his name on the list. If you didn’t sign and want a copy, let us know before tomorrow midday (Thursday 3, at 13h).
• Regarding the Agora: If you have access to Studentportalen post your question/comment there, otherwise send us your question related to the readings for the week to gcsf@csduppsala.uu.se.

Have a nice week,

Sachiko and Alejandro

Welcome to the course!

This year Global Challenges and Sustainable Futures (GCSF), an interdisciplinary course at the Centre for Environment and Development Studies (CEMUS), is given for the 11th time. The course is built on informative and engaging guest lectures on various global challenges of our time. Using interactive workshops, seminars, individual assignments and a group project we will take a closer look at sustainability issues and how they are interconnected, by looking at specific regions and cities, both from global and local perspectives.

We at CEMUS welcome you to our creative and challenging education. We hope that you will find your time here exciting, fulfilling and inspiring. Sustainable development as a field of study and research has grown over the last few years and many universities now offer courses or programs on the subject. With over twenty years of experience of creating and facilitating education for sustainable development, and with the broad competence of Uppsala’s two universities, our aim is to offer you the knowledge, skills and tools that are needed to obtain a world that is desirable, fair and sustainable.

Welcome to the course!

Alejandro Marcos Valls and Sachiko Ishihara

Course Coordinators

Course Information