The worlds of ‘working for the betterment of society’ and ‘private enterprise’ are often seen as incompatible. This course will attempt to breakdown that perception in order for participants to see the social sector as a place of opportunity, both to ‘do good’ but also to innovate and build a financially sustainable social enterprise, whether non-profit, for-profit, or some combination of the two. The course suggests that in order to get a socially beneficial idea off the ground, effectively grow it, and make it financially sustainable, social entrepreneurs need to think creatively beyond models of traditional non-profits or for-profits.
This hands-on and dynamic course will expose participants to a number of cases of social entrepreneurs who have converted their desire of building a better world into a reality. The course will include case studies where participants will experience first-hand a social enterprise. The course hopes to inspire participants with an entrepreneurial spirit, help gain an understanding of the challenges of the start-up process and the complexities of growing and managing it. In order to do so, students will have the opportunity to expand their overall knowledge about a topic they are interested in. Not only the science behind it, but also about the context that sustains its status quo, the efforts being made to solve it, and the possibilities to move forward towards its solution. Students will be given the time, space and structure to learn and to propose a doable solution to it.
This course aims at providing a deeper understanding of the current global business and societal environment (where are we now?); by referencing to theoretical frameworks on sustainability, social responsibility, and responsible leadership (what is meant by?) and by getting inspired by practical examples showing a new way of thinking and behaving in all sectors of society. It will also critically review the role organizations (public, private, and civil) and individuals play and the responsibility they hold in promoting more responsible and sustainable behaviours.
This course addresses crucial issues in contemporary society. The roles and responsibilities of business as well as governments and the social sector are becoming more urgent and complex, and concepts related to societal responsibility and sustainability – like human rights, gender issues and impacts on the environment - are gaining recognition as essential elements in business management. The need for responsible global citizens, leaders and managers is urgent. This course will help students by sharing and providing ideas, frameworks, and case studies to ensure that they will understand their role as future responsible citizens, leaders and managers. In doing so, this course emphasizes three skills: Ethical leadership, Systems thinking and Materiality assessment.
The course will be taught as a combination between theoretical frameworks and practical exercises, some of which will be introduced by external experts from the public, corporate and social sectors. For all topics addressed, the course is aiming for a reality check – that will result for some in a reality shock – by introducing different and sometimes opposing models and research outcomes to similar issues because responsible managers should be able to deal with the complexity of contradictory viewpoints and interests that are often there in reality.
In this course we will critically examine and discuss the basics of doing research. The course is designed to take students sequentially through the process of thinking about and designing research. Together, we will explore the basic structure of research and examine the philosophical origins of different research approaches. I will guide students as they learn to link different information-gathering methods to different research approaches. My emphasis will be on qualitative research methodology, but we will introduce quantitative data gathering and sampling. To ensure that students gain hands on experience with the process of developing methodologies and implementing different information gathering procedures, I will complement lectures with workshops where students will learn by doing. Furthermore, learning about methods requires analyzing how these methods have worked (or not) in real-world case studies; thus, in class discussions of published research will complement workshops and lectures.
This course is an introduction to development studies and international cooperation. The course covers the historical origins of development thinking in the post colonial world. It reviews modernization theory and the implications it had for foreign policy during the cold war period. This is contrasted with a critical review of dependency theories and structuralism. The course then uncovers the precepts of the Washington consensus as an introduction to the thinking of Amartya Sen and the world of alternative participatory development, the fields of popular education and participatory learning and action. This review (first week of the course) combines the description of developmental theories and concepts, with a deconstruction of the policies pursued by the man development agencies (World Bank, UN Agencies, BINGOS, CBOs, etc.). The second week of the course introduces students to the sustainable development goals and the concept of multilateralism. The SDGs are presented as a set of indicators that can lead humanity towards collective action for urgent systemic change. The final week of the course explores key current hot topics in development practice Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss, Gender Mainstreaming, Disaster Risk Reduction and Multistakeholder Partnerships.
Through a combination of lectures and workshop dynamics students will learn to distinguish between the main concepts, theories and tools of development thinking and practice. The course will allow participants to explore "development" and "International Cooperation" as ideas, professions, institutions and narratives. The course is structured into 14 lessons, each composed of a lecture and two group work activities designed to build skills of students in the use of technical tools commonly used by development practitioners. Classes and lectures are designed to reinforce a sense of urgency and hope for transformative development practice among participants.
Economics play an important role in organising human activity. This course is an introduction to the histories, actualities, and futures of economic thinking. The purpose is to review the most influential economic theories, and related concepts, in the light of contemporary ecosocial challenges. While reviewing the spectrum of theories from growth to non-growth, and degrowth economics, we analyse the following questions: what is economics; how do economic processes work; what and who is economics for; who are the economic actors, and what kinds of roles have they been assigned (and by whom); why and when is economics important; and what are the underlying assumptions behind different economic theories? The course will provide the students with an understanding of, and ability to operate with, main economic theories and concepts.
What is now generally defined as “development” has not come without a cost. The industrial model standing at the roots of our current standards of living has been based on a linear system of production, where natural resources are extracted from the Earth; processed in manufacturing plants, used by consumers around the world; and finally get either incinerated or discarded as waste in landfills or in Nature. The current system, which relies on large quantities of cheap, easily accessible materials and energy, is coming up against constraints on the availability of resources, and our capacity to manage its huge amounts of waste. Resource constraints, as well as increasing volumes of waste and pollution compounded by the rising demand from the world’s growing and increasingly affluent population, are likely to impose mounting threats to welfare and wellbeing. All the key indicators confirm that the problems of a linear economy are grounded in the global economy.
The ‘circular economy’ is an industrial system that is restorative by intention and design. The idea is that rather than discarding products before the value is fully utilized; products should be designed for ease of reuse, disassembly, recycling, and remanufacturing. The transition towards a circular economy offers an opportunity to reduce our ecological footprint by lowering raw material consumption and minimizing waste generation. This, no doubt, is a major prerequisite to stay within the Planetary Boundaries.
This course includes an introduction to the Circular Economy concept. It provides an array of case examples, a solid framework, and guiding principles for implementing it. Ultimately, the Circular Economy is about the optimization of entire processes and systems rather than single components. The transition towards a circular economy is one of the biggest challenges we face in order to create a more sustainable society. This transition requires an interdisciplinary approach, combining socio-technical, managerial, and environmental considerations.
International society has recognized that the current patterns of production, distribution and consumption are highly unsustainable. While trying to find the best way to move towards a less harmful system, companies have been attacked for their perceived lack of response to the pressing issues facing society. Companies can argue that the charges are unjustified as it is not their role to solve these big problems, or they can rise to the challenge and take a proactive approach. As key forces in society, organizations have an important role to play in achieving the common goal of Sustainable Development. However, in this era of unprecedented economic growth, achieving this goal may seem more like an aspiration than a reality; but, as Stephan Schmidheiny said, “there will be no successful companies in failed companies”.
Organizations around the world, and their stakeholders, are becoming increasingly aware of the need for and benefits of socially responsible behavior that contributes to the society in which it operates and to its impact on the environment. However, setting responsible behavior goals is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. A large multinational corporation’s goals will be very different from those of a local family-owned restaurant. While most companies have long practiced some form of social and environmental responsibility, organizations now also face increasing pressure to dress up these initiatives as a business discipline that delivers business results. On one hand, businesses are expected to solve society's problems, on the other, they are expected to continue generating revenue for their stakeholders and to pay taxes. How do they manage this dichotomy?
The worlds of ‘working for the betterment of society’ and ‘private enterprise’ are often seen as incompatible. This course will attempt to breakdown that perception in order for participants to see the social sector as a place of opportunity, both to ‘do good’ but also to innovate and build a financially sustainable social enterprise, whether non-profit, for-profit, or some combination of the two. The course suggests that in order to get a socially beneficial idea off the ground, effectively grow it, and make it financially sustainable, social entrepreneurs need to think creatively beyond models of traditional non-profits or for-profits.
This hands-on and dynamic course will expose participants to a number of cases of social entrepreneurs who have converted their desire of building a better world into a reality. The course will include case studies where participants will experience first-hand a social enterprise. The course hopes to inspire participants with an entrepreneurial spirit, help gain an understanding of the challenges of the start-up process and the complexities of growing and managing it. In order to do so, students will have the opportunity to expand their overall knowledge about a topic they are interested in. Not only the science behind it, but also about the context that sustains its status quo, the efforts being made to solve it, and the possibilities to move forward towards its solution. Students will be given the time, space and structure to learn and to propose a doable solution to it.