Course syllabus adopted 2024-02-14 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).
Overview
- Swedish nameInnovation och omställning
- CodeTEK761
- Credits7.5 Credits
- OwnerTKGBS
- Education cycleFirst-cycle
- Main field of studyGlobal systems, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- ThemeMTS 7.5 c
- DepartmentTECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS
- GradingTH - Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3), Fail
Course round 1
- Teaching language English
- Application code 74131
- Maximum participants80
- Block schedule
- Open for exchange studentsNo
- Only students with the course round in the programme overview.
Credit distribution
Module | Sp1 | Sp2 | Sp3 | Sp4 | Summer | Not Sp | Examination dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0124 Project, part A 4.5 c Grading: TH | 4.5 c | 0 c | 0 c | 0 c | 0 c | 0 c | |
| 0224 Examination, part B 3 c Grading: TH | 3 c | 0 c | 0 c | 0 c | 0 c | 0 c |
|
In programmes
Examiner
Helene Ahlborg- Associate Professor, Environmental Systems Analysis, Technology Management and Economics
Eligibility
General entry requirements for bachelor's level (first cycle)Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.
Specific entry requirements
The same as for the programme that owns the course.Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.
Course specific prerequisites
The course Society as system(s) (TEK915) and either of the courses Technical systems for energy, materials and information (TEK920) or Socio-technical systems (TEKXXX) or equivalent courses.Aim
The course enables students to carry out a real-life research project related to innovation and sustainability transitions. It deals with the role of engineers in processes of change and gives knowledge and experience of approaches to innovation in uncertain and complex situations.Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)
- Apply skills in project management, communication and team work to complete a joint project that involves external stakeholders
- Understand and explain the course's main concepts (e.g. sustainability transitions, regime, innovation, technology and complex systems) and use these in analysis of and reflection around specific sustainability challenges
- Apply a socio-technical framework for mapping and analyzing a complex systems in terms of components, processes and functions, and identify threats to system sustainability
- Develop a strategy for analyzing an identified problem from multiple perspectives, using different methods for data collection
- Explain the principles of different innovation approaches and apply these to a complex sustainability challenge
- Compare examples of innovation and sustainability transitions in an international perspective
Content
This project-based course enables students to work with a real example of a complex sustainability challenge, using a locally anchored case from the city of Gothenburg. At the more aggregate level, the course introduces frameworks for the study and analysis of complex systems and urban transitions. At the more detailed level, the course introduces concepts, methods and approaches to addressing concrete challenges related to such systems. The course provides the experience of delivering a project and navigating the challenges which stem from interacting with other students and external stakeholders on difficult topics in real time. Overall, the course provides an opportunity to collaboratively engage as an engineer on sustainability transitions.
The course covers the following topics:
- Perspectives, definitions, critique and examples of the main concepts: sustainability transitions, regime, innovation, technology and complex systems
- Multiple approaches to innovation for sustainability, including frugal innovation, nature-based solutions, human centered design thinking- Methods for project management
- Approaches to professional and interdisciplinary team work processes
- Project-based work with real world sustainability challenges
Organisation
The course is structured around lectures, seminars and a bigger team project focused on one or multiple complex sustainability challenges. The project includes a variety of forms of collaboration, tasks and deliverables. The project is led to a high degree by the students themselves and provides experience of working with multiple approaches to problem formulation, data collection and mixed methods, analysis, innovation and communication. The project involves interactions with stakeholders in society and students get to practice communicating findings to stakeholders.The theoretical content is examined in a written exam.
Literature
Readings for the course will be provided in Canvas. In addition, chapters from the following books are included among the readings:Meadows, Donella. Thinking in Systems: A Primer. Chelsea Green Publishing (2008). Introduction only.
Arthur, Brian. The Nature of Technology. Penguin Books. (2009). Chapters 7 and 8
Frantzeskaki, N., Broto, V.C., Coenen, L., Loorbach, D., 2017. Urban Sustainability Transitions: The Dynamics and Opportunities of Sustainability Transitions in Cities, in: Urban Sustainability Transitions. Routledge.
Examination including compulsory elements
The course project (4,5 hp) is examined by evaluation of combined individual and group performance in a project. Examination includes:- written reports, oral and visual presentations,
- self-reflection and peer review
- attendance at seminars, supervision meetings, and final presentations.
3 credits (hp) are examined in a written exam.
The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.