Over the last century, much of the world’s economic progress has been based on finite resources
- fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas. While this has led to extraordinary technologies such as
motorized vehicles and advances in medical equipment, it has also irreversibly changed our
planet: today, we are facing environmental, health, and social crises never seen before. The
problem: our linear economic model aims at growth at all costs. As the planet is finite, this system
has failed to respect the environment as the source of which all life depends. Circular bioeconomy
seeks to break with this linear approach. It is an economic model which offers compelling
opportunities for a transition to a sustainable economic framework, emphasizing the use of
renewable resources, minimizing waste, and replacing non-renewable, fossil-based products. It
is an economy that prospers in harmony with the natural environment and aims to critically
reduce the global ecological footprint by using materials for as long as possible and promoting
emissions-reducing practices. This model is, however, not as new as it sounds. Humanity has lived
for thousands of years without using fossil fuels. This has shifted with the Industrial Revolution,
population growth and changing consumption patterns. Today, we need to start thinking
differently again. In this course we will examine the ecological, social, cultural, and economic
impacts of our current economic system and the opportunities for change offered by a
sustainable and circular bioeconomy. We will examine how sustainability and circularity can be
embedded into bioeconomy strategies, policies, and practices. Finally, we will hear from and visit
people, projects, organizations, and companies who are already using innovative solutions for a
just and more sustainable future, recognizing that there is no future for business as usual.
The course aims to introduce the concept of Social Responsibility and its potential application while exploring and understanding trends affecting our society and important achievements to address sustainability challenges. Several theoretical frameworks will be critically analyzed to depict individual and collective responsibility and the actions that can be taken to create and add value.
The first week will focus on understanding “Social Responsibility”, its origin and implications within the Global Business Environment, and the current sustainability challenges society is facing, with special attention to climate change, socio-economic inequality, and waste/pollution. Moreover, it will introduce the basic concept of stakeholder management to help identify and manage the key stakeholders in the context of social responsibility. It will share the criteria for allocating responsibilities of all stakeholders along global supply chains and at individual level.
During the Second week, the attention is put on the roles and responsibilities of the Producers and Consumers in relation to their behaviours. Theoretical and practical approaches to CSR, for the producers, and SR for the consumers, will be shared with the students, enriched by guest speakers and field visits.
Finally, the third week will challenge the students with enhancing their critical thinking on reviewing and analyzing current and new economic and business models to inspire them with new insights on enhancing responsible and sustainable behaviours. Special attention will be given to Responsible Leadership.
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.
The world of the 21st century faces a series of challenges that threaten political, economic, social and environmental stability, endangering the very existence of the planet. To meet these challenges, the international community proposed a series of global objectives with the aim of achieving a kind of stability and guaranteeing maximum well-being for humanity in general, as well as for the various forms of life that inhabit the planet.
To understand the feasibility of these global goals proposed towards 2030, it is necessary to study their materiality on the ground, together with their interaction with political, economic, socio-cultural and geographical factors, and the ways in which these goals can be achieved through respect for nature, people's well-being and peace.
Specifically, the course is designed for the University for Peace Master's programs, Responsible Management and Sustainable Economic Development, and Development Studies and Diplomacy. The purpose of this course is framed within Development Studies through the use of analytical tools from geopolitics and geoeconomics for a better understanding of the relationship between the Sustainable Development Goals, the global situation in the XXI century and critical reflection for the approach of collective proposals for their realization.