Circular Economy: Material Flows and Sustainable Materials – Practical Applications

Cirkulär ekonomi: materiella flöden och hållbara material – praktiska tillämpningar

Vill du utveckla nya färdigheter inom ditt nuvarande jobb, funderar du på att byta karriär, starta eget företag eller är du student med intresse för frågorna? Lär dig mer om den cirkulära ekonomi, praktiska metoder för att arbeta med återbruk, olika material och återvinningsstrategier.

Kurslängd: 10 veckor Studietakt per vecka: 8 timmar

EUs strategi för cirkulär ekonomi ökar behovet av kompetens kring användning av hållbara och återvunna material. Den här kursen ger verktyg och kunskap för att främja hållbara materialval och effektiv hantering av materiella flöden i praktiken. Nya hållbara material, utveckling mot hållbarhet av befintliga material, återvunna och cirkulärt värdeförbättrade material (upcycling) bidrar till den gröna omställningen genom minskad energiförbrukning, längre livslängd, minskade kostnader, minskade avfallsmängder, bättre användarvänlighet och möjligheter till socialt företagande.

Kursen utvecklas i samarbete med forskare, lärare och ett indiskt företag med lång erfarenhet inom området, och bygga på ett flertal internationella kontakter, vilket öppnar för ett bredare erfarenhetsutbyte och fler deltagare.

Overview and content

Climate change creates a situation of unprecedented urgency, complexity and uncertainty, but also opens up new opportunities for innovation and leadership.

In this free online course, you will get an overview of the leadership challenges associated with climate change, as well as the new arenas that are opening up for climate action.

Discover the leadership challenges posed by climate change

There are repeated calls for bold climate leadership and action within politics, business, and both established and grassroots organisations, but what does it really entail? What kind of knowledge and skills define a climate change leader and how can they be learned? What kind of political, cultural and psychological resources are lacking in present initiatives?

In this course, we will explore climate change leadership from a broad range of perspectives. We will take stock of the Paris Agreement – the first-ever legally binding global climate deal – and discuss climate justice and pathways to avoid catastrophic climate change. We will examine the social complexity of climate change, and how it may limit the effectiveness of traditional models of leadership within governance, management and development. And we will discuss how to unpack this complexity and identify climate change leadership opportunities in practical, political and personal spheres.

Consider climate change leadership from international to local levels

Climate change leadership does not only happen in negotiation rooms at international conferences. A central part of the course is therefore to identify, discuss and work with climate change leadership challenges in your own context.

You will create a climate change leadership plan for an organisation or issue that you care about, develop your own capacity as a climate change leader and discover ways to deal with climate change that are in proportion to the scale and urgency of the challenge.

Learn with interdisciplinary climate change leaders at Uppsala University

The course has been developed by the Centre for Environment and Development at Uppsala University – a broad research university, which makes it particularly suited to investigate interdisciplinary areas such as climate change leadership.

Throughout, you will learn with researchers who approach climate change and leadership from scientific, social and cultural standpoints, giving you the tools for creating change within your own personal and organisational contexts.

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for anyone who wants to take a leading role in tackling climate change. You might work in a small business, an NGO, a university faculty, government or municipality administration – or just be curious.

Learning outcomes and syllabus

Below you can read about the key themes that course covers and what you will learn.

What topics will you cover? – Syllabus and content

• The outcomes of the Paris Agreement and different climate targets; a historical view on humanity, nature and climate; climate change leadership in your own context.
• Climate justice, carbon budgets, mitigation strategies, adaptation and the deliberate transformations; local climate change leadership.
• Climate change as a set of complex challenges or possibilities for change; setting goals for a world we want to live in; transboundary water management, migration; what technology can and cannot do; and who’s responsible for climate change; systems thinking.
• Perspectives on leadership, communication, narratives, skills and psychological barriers to change.
• Strategies for change, action on climate change on a local, regional, national and international level and your own climate change leadership plan.

What will you achieve? – Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Explain the nature of the complex problems resulting from interconnected social, political, and climate change issues, and the leadership challenges associated with these problems.
• Identify your own role as a climate change leader, and ways to overcome personal or organizational barriers to change.
• Apply climate change leadership tools in your own organizations or contexts.