Transdisciplinary education

In addition to our Masters’ and PhD education we offer a range of transdisciplinary education opportunities to support and strengthen capacities to navigate complex system dynamics and challenges.

Across the courses and programmes, we test a variety of pedagogical approaches and methods, and this also continues to inform our science.

Courses and programmes

Executive programmes

The Executive programme in resilience thinking is tailor-made for business leaders to take a deep dive into the megatrends shaping our planet and global economy. The programme clarifies what these interconnected changes mean for companies, and highlights business opportunities that also bring social and environmental benefits. It was developed in collaboration with the Pontus Schultz Foundation and has been offered annually since 2018. Read more

The Executive programme for a just transition is tailor-made for union leaders, to build capacity among unions to both drive and shape the climate transition. It was developed as part of the FAIRTRANS initiative and was offered for the first time in 2023. Read more

Catalysing Change

This programme is designed to strengthen innovation by, and for, public and civil sector workers in the Southern African Development Community. Read more

Planetary Boundaries Massive Open Online Course MOOC

This course offers an overview of the rapidly evolving trends in global environmental change and the responses aimed at slowing or ending these changes. Learn how unsustainable patterns of production, consumption, and development have challenged social-ecological resilience at all scales up to the global – and how our societies can develop in a just and safe way respecting planetary boundaries. Read more

Transforming Development Massive Open Online Course MOOC

This course offers insight into how concepts from resilience may help us rethink and transform current development practice. Supported by strong scientific evidence, it includes case studies and examples from practitioners who are working with resilience concepts in diverse contexts around the world. The course is committed to being a platform to bring together and spark collaboration among individuals and organizations from around the world who are driven to transform development. Read more

Världens Eko

Världens Eko is an orientation course on sustainable development and global change. The course is taught in Swedish. Read more

Postdoctoral Academy for Transformational Leadership

Since 2018, this programme has provided intensive advanced training to broaden the research competencies of postdoctoral researchers and promote their qualifications towards transdisciplinary leadership. Supported by the Robert Bosch Stiftung, it also offers seed funding (e.g. for stakeholder meetings or proposal writing activities) to small groups of participants who plan to initiate research collaborations. Current and former participants of the programme have become an active network. Read more

Resilience Assessment and Methods short course

This occasional course provides an introduction to resilience assessments and related social-ecological systems methods. It is run as a five-day immersive asynchronous course, combining daily online sessions with offline readings, presentations, and a group project. Read more

Previous course offerings

BALTICLEAD (formerly known as LEAP, then LEAD) (2014-2020) was a leadership training programme designed for system entrepreneurship and transformations to sustainability in the Baltic Sea region and Eastern Europe, offered in partnership with Planethon and Swedish Institute. The programme aimed to help participants develop new ways of thinking and capacities to drive large-scale systemic change in an ever-evolving, complex and uncertain world. Through lectures, discussions, and diverse course activities, participants gained actionable knowledge from some of the most insightful people in sustainability science, business and social leadership. The wide-ranging topics included social innovation, self-development, public narrative, exponential technologies, entrepreneurship, and impact investment for sustainability.

Transforming Change (2018-2020) gathered cohorts from a diversity of sectors and organizations in Africa, who were attempting to deeply transform the paradigm and practices of change, reimagining the practices, systems and institutions of our world to better support regenerative development and thriving social-ecological systems. This programme was developed in partnership with the Centre for Systems in Transition at Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, and continues to inform our work today with an active alumni network.

Rockefeller Global Fellowship on Social Innovation (2013-2016), one of our early global offerings, convened changemakers from around the world who were seeking to transform systems towards sustainability and justice. Over 10 months, each cohort engaged in learning about the diverse mindsets, conceptual frameworks, and practical tools that could enable well-positioned social change agents to become more effective system entrepreneurs. On completion, they were part of a strong global network. The Fellowship programme was designed and delivered in partnership with the Waterloo Institute on Social Innovation and Resilience, the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, and the University of Victoria Centre for Global Studies. The program drew on international experts in social innovation, complexity, and social-ecological resilience as well as on local experts confronting intractable social and environmental challenges in the host cities of each module. Although the programme is now complete, the partnerships and alumni network continue to offer rich learning experiences.