How can we shape urban development towards sustainable and prosperous futures?

This course will explore sustainable cities as engines for greening the economy. We place cities in the context of sustainable urban transformation and climate change. Sustainable urban transformation refers to structural transformation processes – multi-dimensional and radical change – that can effectively direct urban development towards ambitious sustainability and climate goals. We will connect the key trends of urbanization, decarbonisation and sustainability. We will examine visions, experiments and innovations in urban areas. We will look at practices (what is happening in cities at present) and opportunities (what are the possibilities for cities going forwards into the future). We bring together a collection of diverse short films and key short readings on sustainable cities as well as interactive forums and a practical assignment to create an online learning community. This course provides key examples of activities to promote sustainable cities in Scandinavia, Europe and around the world. We utilize films and reports by WWF, the Economist Intelligence Unit, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, UN-Habitat, C40 Climate Leadership Group, Arup, Sustainia, the Rockefeller Foundation, and ongoing research projects. This course is produced by Lund University in cooperation with WWF and ICLEI. It is available for free to everyone, everywhere! The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) at Lund University is an international centre of excellence on sustainable solutions. The IIIEE is ideally suited to understand and explain the interdisciplinary issues in sustainable cities and greening the economy utilising the diverse disciplinary backgrounds of its international staff. The IIIEE has been researching and teaching on sustainable solutions since the 1990s and it has extensive international networks connecting with a variety of organizations.