Achieving Sustainability: Potentials and Barriers

Sustainability is the most significant societal challenge of our age and it is therefore imperative that we all engage with this critical topic that occupies such a central role in our lives.

Earth is the only home we have. Its living systems, on which we depend, are being destroyed at an increasing rate by human activity. Finding how we can exist sustainably within those systems is what this module is about. It is not merely an academic topic, but an urgent matter that requires making personal and collective decisions about how we live.

Who is this module open to?

Credit bearing:

Open to all current intermediate level (second year) students at Warwick, except for students in the SCFS, who are already familiar with its key themes.

Open to students from partner institutions.

GD213-15 - Intermediate, for 15 CATS credit in current year (2024/25)
GD320-15 - Finalist, taken in intermediate year for 15 CATS credit to final year (2025/26)

Key dates

This module will take place 2-27 June 2025.

Prep week: 2-6 June 2025
Teaching: 9-20 June 2025
Post teaching online (one-to-one supervision meeting): 23-27 June 2025
Final assessment deadline:
- GD213-15 (current year credit): 30 June 2025 (tbc)
- GD320-15 (carry credit): w/c 6 October 2025

Costs

No costs have been identified for this module.

Location

This module will be taught at the Warwick campus, Coventry.

What's special about our modules?

This programme will challenge your thinking, develop your confidence and open up a world of new opportunities. You’ll consider new ideas, apply theory to real world issues working in teams and individually, and develop new networks, connections and friendships. This will provide you strong analytical and research methods skills which also enhance your employability profile for a globalised world of work, derived from a transformative blend of online learning and intercultural engagement.

Access to Intercultural Training will provide further enhancement of your skills.

The intensive nature of our programme lets you focus purely on your chosen modules.

You should expect around two weeks of daily face-to-face sessions (on location) and possibly one week of preparatory online activities. The aim is to work in groups consisting of incoming students (from partner institutions) and Warwick students during the module. Assessments will consist of a mix of group and individual activities.

There are no additional programme fees for Warwick students to take our modules.

Where will you be taught?

Our intensive modules are taught in various ways: mostly face-to-face (combing some online learning and face-to-face teaching). Modules will be based at Warwick central campus, or our overseas residentials will be based at selected European locations relevant to module content. Our modules are designed to be taught in an intensive way, combining physical teaching, and online activities.

All participants will be expected to attend all lectures and group work activities in real time; this might include some online activities in the prep week (where listed in Key dates). As modules are intensive there is not expected to be free time during the teaching period for you to undertake other activities; there will be limited time available during the teaching period to explore the surrounding area.

Students are responsible for checking their own visa requirements and all associated applications and costs.

For overseas modules students are responsible for identifying and booking their own accommodation.

Dr Ayten Alibaba

Ayten is an interdisciplinary scholar with research interests at the intersection of intercultural communication, space and place, identity and belonging and sustainable migration. Ayten is fascinated with the interplay between locations, cultural contexts, and communication patterns. In her research Ayten aims to shed light on the complex ways in which people create meaning within their environments and across cultural boundaries. Ayten's doctoral research on diaspora communities focussed on themes such as identity, othering and (un)belonging, understandings of space and place and explored how members of the community make claims of (un)belonging and construct their identity through their perception of space.

Ayten Aibaba

Module aims

The aim of this module is to explore sustainability and sustainable development from a variety of cross-disciplinary perspectives through a holistic and systemic approach. The module therefore focuses on the three main pillars of sustainable development (economic, environmental, social) as well as good governance as a necessary fourth pillar, and the interactions between them. In so doing, the module also aims to provide students with a variety of sources of knowledge that will allow them to make connections between their own experiences and the theme of sustainability.

Other aims:

To make students aware of the urgent issues around sustainability, sustainable development and how they are relevant to their own study area
To facilitate conversations between students and teachers in different subject areas, on the key topics of sustainable development.
To approach sustainability from a variety of perspectives, in order to encourage students to develop their own views and critique by examining how 'sustainability' is used in different ways in different disciplines and contexts
To make students aware of work outside their own subjects that may be relevant to what they study in their own degrees

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

The module will introduce the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as critiques of the SDGs. It will provide an overview of the three main pillars of sustainability - economic, social, and environmental - and will explore good governance as a necessary fourth pillar, focusing on the role of the state in development, from the early state-led models of development to the post-Washington Consensus landscape, multilevel governance and more place-based approaches to governance. The module will also address the problem of defining what is actually meant by ‘sustainability’ and the challenges in achieving it, from a range of interdisciplinary perspectives.

The module will be taught so as to be accessible to undergraduates from all faculties. Students will not require detailed scientific, mathematical or social science skills or background.

Indicative content:

Week 1: What is sustainability?; The Sustainable Development Goals; Unsustainability: some causes and possible cures; The Economic Pillar of Sustainable Development
Week 2: The Environmental Pillar of Sustainable Development; The Social Pillar of Sustainable Development; Good Governance as a necessary fourth pillar of Sustainable Development
There will also be a tutorial on reflective writing in week 2 to help students prepare their first piece of assessment. At the start of week 3, students will have one to one supervision meetings with the module convenor to discuss their essay plans

Learning outcomes

Credit in current year

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

Understand key concepts related to the theme of sustainability (sustainable development, unsustainable behaviours, pillars of sustainability)
Engage with different interdisciplinary perspectives on sustainability
Use evidence to evaluate different policies in terms of their sustainability implications
Understand the interconnections between the different pillars of sustainable development
Critically evaluate the main theoretical and empirical issues relating to what is sustainable and what is not
Carry out independent research and develop reflective thinking
Apply analytical and problem-solving skills to specific sustainable development problems

Carry credit

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

Apply key concepts related to the theme of sustainability and understand the interconnections between the different pillars of sustainable development
Distinguish between, and critically assess, different interdisciplinary perspectives on sustainability and sustainable development
Engage in debates on the complex issue of what is sustainable and what is not, and how the main barriers to achieve sustainability can be overcome
Carry out independent research and develop reflective thinking
Apply analytical and problem-solving skills to specific sustainable development problems

Indicative reading list

Chang, H-J. (2003), Kicking away the ladder : development strategy in historical perspective, London : Anthem
Edgar et al., (2014) Global conservation outcomes depend on marine protected areas with five key features. Nature 506: 216-220
Jackson, T. (2017) Prosperity without growth : foundations for the economy of tomorrow, London: Routledge
Klein, N. (2014) This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate, London: Allen Lane
Murphy, K. (2012) The social pillar of sustainable development: a literature review and framework for policy analysis, Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy
Pettifor, A. (2019) The Case for the Green New Deal, London: Verso
Raworth, K. (2017) Doughnut economics : seven ways to think like a 21st-century economist, London : Random House
Rees, W. (2010) What’s blocking sustainability? Human nature, cognition, and denial, Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 6:2, 13-25
Routledge International Handbook of Sustainable Development (2015), London: Routledge
Spaiser, V. et al. (2017) The sustainable development oxymoron: quantifying and modelling the incompatibility of sustainable development goals, International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 24:6, 457-470
Townsend et al. “Essentials of Ecology”, 3rd Edition, Blackwell Publishing
World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our common future. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Additional texts, specific book chapters and articles will be set for further reading.

Research element

A 2,500 word essay

Interdisciplinary

The module is designed to provide the students with an understanding of relationships between the different disciplinary areas within sustainability and sustainable development, particularly Economics, Environmental Science, Politics, Sociology, Philosophy. It also invites to the students to make connections with other disciplinary areas covered in their main study programme. It provides the students with a critical understanding of dominant traditions and methodologies associated with the main phenomena covered in the module and enables the students to transcend disciplinary boundaries. The interdisciplinary course cohort provides contact opportunities and learning to see from different perspectives is a core aspect of the learning experience.

International

The module draws on cases from different contexts, including different geopolitical areas, professional environments and linguistic contexts. The content and assessment invite the students to reflect on the societal relevance in different environments of the phenomena covered in the module. The assessment involves students working in groups with academic and ideally non-academic stakeholders which (will) allow for a global and local outlook to be built into the module’s work. The international and diverse course cohort provides contact opportunities and learning to see from different perspectives is a core aspect of the learning experience.

Subject specific skills

An advanced understanding and critical perspective on the relevance of sustainability discourses for different disciplines
An understanding of the four pillars of sustainable development and the interactions between them
An ability to engage with different outlooks on sustainability and use evidence to evaluate a variety of policies relating to the topic
An ability to articulate a detailed and evidenced-based account of unsustainable economic, environmental and social activities on societies, individuals and habitats

Transferable skills

Analytical skills:
- Find, evaluate and use previous research at a level appropriate for a second/final year module
- Use appropriate analytic methods to analyse research data on sustainability
- Read academic papers effectively in the context of an intensive programme
Reflective writing
Work effectively with others in group tasks and in teams
Plan and manage time
Communicate clearly and effectively in discussions
Communicate ideas effectively in writing

Study time

Type	Required
Seminars	6 sessions of 2 hours (8%)
*Tutorials*	1 session of 1 hour (1%)
*Project supervision*	1 session of 1 hour (1%)
Online learning (independent)	3 sessions of 2 hours (4%)
*Private study*	75 hours (50%) Week 1 (prep before teaching): Preparatory and background readings (35 hours independent learning) Week 2 (teaching): Readings for seminars/workshops, contributions to online discussion boards (20 hours) + writing reflective piece (counted in assessment hours) Week 3 (teaching): Readings for seminars/workshops, contributions to online discussion boards (20 hours) + writing reflective piece (counted in assessment hours) Week 4 (teaching): Essay writing (counted in assessment hours)
*Private study*
*Assessment*	55 hours (36%)
*Total*	150 hours

Assessment

You must pass all assessment components to pass the module:

Credit in current year

	Weighting	Study time
Essay on sustainability	60%	35 hours
	This is the main piece of assessment for this module. Students will choose an essay question from 5 set questions which cover the main themes of the module.
Reflections on sustainability	40%	20 hours
	A reflective piece which will enable students to make connections between the themes of the module and their own experiences.

Carry credit

	Weighting	Study time
Essay on sustainability	70%	40 hours
	This is the main piece of assessment for this module. Students will choose an essay question from 5 set questions which cover the main themes of the module.
Reflections on sustainability	30%	15 hours
	A reflective piece which will enable students to make connections between the themes of the module and their own experiences.

Feedback on assessment

Formative feedback on essay plans will be provided in the project supervision sessions at the start of the week after teaching
Detailed feedback for written assignments will be provided via Tabula

Before you apply

You can take a maximum of two WIISP modules, and cannot take them at the same time. This module runs at the same time as the following modules, so you cannot choose these as a second module:

The preparatory reading week for the following module overlaps with this module:Link opens in a new window

Multilingualism and DiversityLink opens in a new window

Please note

Warwick students will need to check with their department before applying to take a WIISP module
Students from partner institutions will need to apply via their home institution
You are expected to fully engage and participate in the module, including in any group activities, if not your registration will be cancelled
Module details provided on these pages are supplementary to module details in the module catalogueLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window. Subsequently individual module pages (moodle/my.wbs) will provide live details
All modules require minimum numbers to run. This is set by each module leader.

How to apply

If you want to make an enquiry before applying, please contact the WIISP team at WIISP at warwick dot ac dot uk

Apply - Warwick students