How can you assess the sustainability of your country’s energy system? Which concept of sustainability is helpful for which priority? What aspects of the socio-ecological context have to be considered beforehand? This course proposes a way to answer these questions.

The global need for sustainable solutions is growing enormously. Also, the development of solutions is more urgent than ever for most people.

Address solutions by getting a grasp on sustainability

The professors who developed this online course have been teaching sustainable development to students from all over the world for 15 years. Their teaching was part of an on-site master’s programme. They themselves have learnt a lot through intensive interaction with young people.

Learn with the case study of Switzerland

The educators believe it is time to share their knowledge and understanding of sustainability with students around the world. They look forward to sharing their experiences with you, and with anyone interested in an understandable introduction to sustainability. They invite you to explore important concepts of sustainability and learn about tools that can be used to assess whether a concept or approach is indeed sustainable. This is illustrated by the example of the well-studied energy transition in Switzerland.

The learning outcomes for this course include:

• Exploring different concepts used for assessing sustainability
• Assessing sustainability using the case of the Swiss energy transition
• Identifying socio-ecological factors that need to be considered in assessing sustainability