Climate Change and Societal Transformation

Humanity is facing many challenges, of which climate change is one of the most critical. As we are soon about to transgress planetary boundaries, climate change increasingly impacts our physical environment and socio-ecological systems. Growing groups of society call for a low- to zero-carbon transformation. This transformation will provide opportunities for a more just society but also bears risks of conflicts throughout the society with diverse competing interests. Therefore experts are needed to understand, evaluate and guide these transformation processes.

The new Master's programme provides a comprehensive understanding of the climate crisis, as well as tools to address it.

The Master’s programme is attractive and future-oriented not only because it addresses the climate crisis as one of the most urgent issues our society faces today, but also because it presents this content in an innovative way. The idea and ultimately the success of the programme are based on close cooperation between the lecturers from different disciplines across natural and social sciences, and their openness and commitment.

Humanity is facing many challenges, of which climate change is one of the most critical. As we are soon about to transgress planetary boundaries, climate change increasingly impacts our physical environment and socio-ecological systems. Growing groups of society call for a low- to zero-carbon transformation. This transformation will provide opportunities for a more just society but also bears risks of conflicts throughout the society with diverse competing interests. Therefore experts are needed to understand, evaluate and guide these transformation processes.

The new Master's programme provides a comprehensive understanding of the climate crisis, as well as tools to address it.

The Master’s programme is attractive and future-oriented not only because it addresses the climate crisis as one of the most urgent issues our society faces today, but also because it presents this content in an innovative way. The idea and ultimately the success of the programme are based on close cooperation between the lecturers from different disciplines across natural and social sciences, and their openness and commitment.

The programme is structured in four phases:

1. During the onboarding and foundation phase you will learn the basics of climate change and transformation as well as important research approaches.
2. In the specialisation phase, you can choose one of three fields which you will focus on. The compulsory modules provide advanced theoretical and methodological skills in the chosen specialisation. You will also have the opportunity to choose elective modules which focus on specific topics like the impact of climate change on nature and society, how to mitigate and adapt to climate change and how these strategies interact with other goals. You will also learn about transformative developments towards a fair and sustainable society.
3. The integrative closing phase brings together students from the individual specialisations. This will allow you to apply your knowledge and collaborate in inter- and transdisciplinary settings. You will have the opportunity to interact with stakeholders and practitioners and develop creative, innovative and sustainable approaches to solve real-world problems.
4. During the thesis phase, you will work on a research problem rooted in your chosen specialization. During the master seminar, you will gain additional skills and training in presentation techniques.

Please see the curriculum for further detail.

 You will learn to...

• …understand climate change as a result of society-nature interactions.
• …develop and critically assess sustainability strategies.
• …understand the connections between climate change, the fight against poverty and hunger, gender equity, indigenous rights and other social-ecological issues.
• …contribute to a social-ecological transformation towards a sustainable society with low resource use and low greenhouse gas emissions.
• …apply quantitative and qualitative methods, tools and models to analyse the climate system and climate change.
• …assess the effects of mitigation and adaptation strategies as well as the potentials, risks, limitations and ethical issues associated with potential geoengineering strategies.
• …understand strategies to reduce resource use and greenhouse gas emissions (e.g. circular economy, bioeconomy, natural climate solutions, decoupling, degrowth) and the related challenges (including North-South relations).
• …assess the potentials and limitations of these strategies and understand trade-offs and synergies including issues of environmental conflict and justice.