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79378-01 - Course: Socio-Technological Transformations Toward Sustainability (3 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Dennis Fila (dennis.fila@unibas.ch) |
| Content | Heat is becoming an increasingly important sustainability challenge that affects social life, health, planning, and infrastructure in unequal ways. Responding to heat requires not only technical solutions, but also attention to social contexts, institutions, and forms of collaboration across science and practice. At the same time, universities are important spaces to explore how complex sustainability problems can be addressed in more applied and solution-oriented ways. In this seminar, we will examine heat as a socio-environmental-technical challenge from a social science perspective. We will discuss transdisciplinary approaches to sustainability research and explore how students can work on real-world problems in a critical and solution-oriented way. The specific cases and thematic emphases of the seminar will be discussed with the participants at the beginning of the course. |
| Bibliography | Schneider, F., Giger, M., Harari, N., Moser, S., Oberlack, C., Providoli, I., Schmid, L., Tribaldos, T., & Zimmermann, A. (2019). Transdisciplinary co-production of knowledge and sustainability transformations: Three generic mechanisms of impact generation. Environmental Science & Policy, 102, 26–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2019.08.017 Robinson, C. (2025). Raising the temperature: A critical geographical perspective on heat. Progress in Environmental Geography, 4(2), 165-189. https://doi.org/10.1177/27539687251331070 |
| Comments | The course will be held in English and was developed within the framework of a Eucor cooperation. Eucor – The European Campus is a trinational alliance of five universities in the Upper Rhine region, bringing together the universities of Basel, Freiburg, Strasbourg, Haute-Alsace, and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The course draws on academic contributions from the German and French partner universities and reflects the cross-border and interdisciplinary character of the Eucor network. More information about Eucor: https://www.unibas.ch/de/Studium/Im-Studium/Mobilitaet/Mobilitaet-Europa/Eucor-Epicur/Eucor.html (Eucor at the University of Basel) and https://www.eucor-uni.org/en/ (international Eucor website). |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14-täglich | Monday | 16.15-20.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 14.09.2026 | 16.15-20.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Monday 28.09.2026 | 16.15-20.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Monday 12.10.2026 | 16.15-20.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Monday 26.10.2026 | 16.15-20.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Monday 09.11.2026 | 16.15-20.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Monday 23.11.2026 | 16.15-20.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Monday 07.12.2026 | 16.15-20.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Modules |
Modul: Kulturtechnische Dimensionen (Master's degree program: Cultural Techniques) Modul: Ungleichheit, Konflikt, Kultur (Master's degree subject: Sociology (Start of studies before 01.08.2026)) Module: Core Competences in Social Sciences (Master's Studies: Sustainable Development (Start of studies before 01.08.2026)) Module: Fields: Governance and Politics (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Resources and Sustainability (Master's degree program: Changing Societies: Migration – Conflicts – Resources (Start of studies before 01.08.2026)) Module: Societal Transformations: Ecology, Technology, Global Society (Master's degree subject: Sociology) Module: The Urban across Disciplines (Master's degree program: Critical Urbanisms) Module: Topics and Methods in Sustainable Development: Social Sciences (Master's Studies: Sustainable Development) Specialization Module Global Europe: Work, Migration and Society (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Specialization Module Global Europe: Environment and Sustainability (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Pass/fail based on regular participation and a presentation. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Soziologie |