The challenge of sustainability in European democracies

The virtual component will provide an introductory knowledge of the BIP topic, and will introduce the students to an innovative learning experience. In the first part of the virtual component, coordinators will give students a general presentation of the Winter School, including practical information about teaching schedule, online readings, deliverables, mobility, accommodation, etc. After the general introductory meeting, teaching staff will deliver a set of online lessons on the key concepts and methodologies related to the Winter School topic. The attention will be done to the scientific disciplines involved and to the interdisciplinary dialogue among them. In the second part, students will be engaged in a Virtual World Café on the challenges of sustainability for European democracies. A Virtual World Café is an online participatory method aiming at establishing an informal and tolerant space of dialogue where multiple ideas and perspectives on a topic can be exchanged. Students will be engaged in several rounds of small-group in depth conversations, on different sustainability issues, guided by experts using online facilitation tools. At the end of the final round, the facilitators will summarize the results and discuss them with the students. Teachers will be invited to take part to the final discussion and to contribute to it. Highlighting challenges of sustainable transition and learning how political actors and civil society can deal with them

Application Deadline

Virtual Part starting date 2024-12-19

Virtual Part closing date 2025-02-04

Total student workload 160

Specific field of studies political science, international relations, political ecology, sociology, economics, anthropology, history, communication studies, human geography, philosophy.

Pre-requisite for selection CV Motivation Letter Research Project Outline

Academic pre-requisites for applicants Humanities or social sciences backgrounds

Physical Part starting date 2025-02-10

Physical Part Description During the physical component of the Winter School, in each day: 1) In the morning teachers will deliver a lecture of 45 minutes each giving an updated review of the research on sustainability issues from a specific disciplinary perspective (including political science, sociology, anthropology, history, philosophy). 2) In the afternoon students will deliver a fifteen-minute individual presentation of a draft of a master thesis or a chapter of a PhD thesis (minimum 5.000), followed by a collective discussion on how to improve their research strategies and methodologies, facilitated by two teachers. During the first day, a keynote speech and inaugural event are planned.

Physical Part closing date 2025-02-14

Language level required B1

Field of studies related to the course Social Science and Humanities Environmental Sciences Urbanism and Geography

Course location Lausanne

Course language English