Faced with runaway climate change, mass extinction, and persistent pollution, sustainability is the most pressing concern of the 21st century. With scientists suggesting there is little more than a decade to dramatically transform our economies and societies, innovation and innovation management has never been more crucial. This module will explore the role innovation can play in the transformation of economic activity and organisational design in order to promote sustainable development, including (but not limited to) its importance in mitigating and adapting to climate change. The module is organised around three key themes: analysis of contemporary environmental and sustainability issues; managing sustainable innovation in technology and organisation design; managing sustainable transition and disruption. A number of key ideas will be used to provide a framework for learning. These include past and current theories on sustainability, growth and innovation (with specific reference to the role of technology), understanding and influencing directions of innovation, and the governance of socio-technical transitions.

Is Montaigne right to wonder whether Westerners are worse off morally than tribes who practice cannibalism? What kind of writing does George Orwell champion? What did Marx and Engels achieve with ‘The Communist Manifesto’? Examine the ‘dangerous ideas’ presented in a range of subversive essays and manifestos. Study how they challenge and satirise existing ideas and social arrangements. Experiment with writing, thus broadening the approach of your own essays.

Can economic analysis be applied to environmental issues? And to environmental policies? Understand the strengths and weaknesses of economic analysis when applied to the environment. Learn to design policies that result in positive environmental outcomes in the modern world.

Study one of the most important contemporary aspects of political action: the natural environment. You consider the state of the environment and possible paths along which it might change, before exploring environmental policies from the level of individual values to the environmental movement to political parties, and finally to the level of international affairs.

This course is about how representative democracy works in Europe. We will examine several topics within the European context, including: public opinion, political participation, political parties, electoral systems, party competition, and how to evaluate democracies. We will also develop specific knowledge about several European countries, by learning how the political institutions (several are mentioned above) function within them. The course also provides an accessible introduction to research design and methods that political scientists have used to address these topics.