Various courses and modules, University of Surrey (since 2000)
Lecturers (alphabetical by last name: Kate Burningham, Jonathan Chenoweth, Ian Christie, Angela Druckman, Birgitta Gatersleben, Tim Jackson, Stephen Morse, Richard Murphy, Walter Wehrmeyer
MSc programmes on Sustainable Development, Corporate Environmental Management and Environmental Strategy, with modules:
FOUNDATIONS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (SDF)
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: APPLICATIONS (SDA)
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS (EE)
PSYCHOLOGY OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (PSD)
LIFE CYCLE THINKING (LCT)
LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA)
Environmental Sociology programme:
EVERYDAY CONSUMPTION (EC)
A module introducing sustainability issues, available to all students across the University of Surrey (undergraduates and post graduates) regardless of discipline:
GLOBAL GRADUATE AWARD: SUSTAINABILITY (GGA) (since 2014)
Length and format / class size:
MSc modules: one week intensive course; 30-50 students
GGA: 16 lectures, plus 3 sessions on films related to sustainability; 40-80 students
Credits and evaluation:
MSc modules: evaluated through 2 assignments on average per course (essays, group work, short writing assignments)
GGA: individual assignment and group report
Learning outcomes: Detailed appreciation, understanding and capacity for critical investigation of sustainable development concepts and issues of practical implementation in a variety of sectors and contexts. Specifically:
SDF: fundamental issues in sustainability, including role of consumption in unsustainable change, ethical challenges, politics of SD
SDA: organisational strategies for SD in practice, including coverage of sustainable production and consumption
PSD: social psychology of consumption and behavioural change
EE: consumption and ecological macroeconomics
LCT and LCA: measuring consumption impacts; integrated approaches to assessment of product, process and value chain sustainability
EC: sociology of consumption, including sustainable consumption, global inequalities etc.
GGA: environmental, economic and social dimensions of SD, including household consumption and behavioural change
Existing course materials:
pre-reading packages (papers and briefings)
core reading: for example, S Baker (2016), Sustainable Development, Routledge: London; T Jackson (2009), Prosperity without Growth, Earthscan: London; P Jacques (2015), Sustainability: the basics, Routledge: London
Course materials needed: There is no comprehensive introductory textbook on sustainable consumption and behavioural change.
Student evaluation:
MSc modules: evaluated through 2 assignments on average per course (essays, group work, short writing assignments).
GGA: individual assignment and group report
Innovative approaches:
Use of films as basis for group discussion
Role-play exercises
Extensive range of senior guest speakers from business, public sector, civil society
Group research and presentation exercises
Course evaluation: Feedback is very positive, especially to the range of expert guest speakers engaged in the MSc modules and GGA course.
