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Credits: 3 | Start: VT26 | Provider: LTH Department of Technology and Society

AI is widely heralded as a driver of economic growth, and a solution to environmental problems like climate change and biodiversity loss. At the same time, the rapid development and adoption of large, general-purpose AI models, such as for generative AI, has brought increased public attention to the industry's escalating emissions and resource use. This course is intended for students curious about the complex interplay between AI and the environment. It offers conceptual and analytical tools to assess the embodied and operational costs of AI, compare beneficial and harmful impacts of AI applications, and evaluate governance efforts at the individual, organisation and social level.

Credits: 3 | Start: HT25  | Provider: LTH

Circular retail services (second hand, repair, rent) are important for creating more sustainable consumption. However, retailers struggle with creating profitablity and scaling up their circular initiatives. To overcome these challenges, logistics play key role. This course explores circular retail and sustainable consumption, with a focus on how logistics networks and material-handling nodes are transformed and (re)configured to meet the evolving requirements. Students will critically evaluate real-world case studies, gain practical skills and understand the role of logistics for long-term sustainble consumption.

Credits: 3 | Start: HT25 | Provider: LTH Department of Technology and Society

Our societies and lives are to an increasing extent datafied, and shaped by means of collecting, analysing and utilising digital data. As this transforming data landscape offers new opportunities for knowledge and action, it also involves novel forms of concerns and risks. This course offers an introduction to critical perspectives on datafication, how it impacts ways of knowing and living, and its social and political consequences. Moreover, the course aims to provide the students with an understanding of the interconnected relationship between the social and the technological. The course will be divided into four modules, focusing on how to understand the datafied society, the data promises, the data perils and concludingly, ideas about the good data life.

Credits: 5 | Start: HT25 | Provider: LTH Department of Technology and Society

In a climate emergency context, there is an increasing demand from society and students to learn about societal models that function without economic growth. Degrowth aims for transformation of societies beyond the growth-oriented economic paradigm. This course offers an introduction to degrowth and contributes to rethinking our social systems in fields of production and consumption, energy and materials, work and welfare, technology and governance. Drawing on multidisciplinary knowledge and cross-faculty collaboration, it offers insights into the ways in which socio-ecological sustainability pathways can be enhanced by the degrowth perspective. Theoretically informed whilst empirically anchored, this course highlights complexities, multiple scalar dimensions, as well as strategies for building sustainable and just societies.

Credits: 4 | Start: HT25 | Provider: LTH Department of Design Sciences

Every year, 7 million people die due to exposure to air pollution. Air pollution both heats and cools the global temperatures, hence it is one of the major reasons for uncertainties in climate models. The green transition and our aim for a circular economy will remove some of our current air pollution sources but introduce new  ones. These complex questions demand a transdisciplinary approach. This course will provide insight in the current challenges and how they are addressed by measuring exposure levels and characterizing emissions (technology), by combining exposure and public health (epidemiology), and by combining pollution characteristics with the study of hazard (toxicology).

Credits: 3 | Start: VT26 | Provider: LTH

This course explores the principles and practices of sustainability and circular economy, emphasising their integration into modern business, technology, and societal frameworks. It covers topics such as lifecycle analysis, sustainable resource management, circular design principles, and the trade-offs of adopting sustainable practices. Students will critically evaluate real-world case studies, gain practical skills in circular economy assessment tools, and understand the interplay between economic viability, environmental impact, and social equity. The course aims to equip students with a systems-level understanding of sustainable strategies for transitioning towards a regenerative economy.

Credits: 3 | Start: HT25 | Provider: LTH Department of Building & Environmental Technology

Plastic materials are used almost everywhere nowadays. The global annual plastic production is today more than 400 million tons, and it is expected to double in the coming 20 years. Unfortunately, the large use of plastic materials leads to problems, e.g. large amounts of plastic waste and massive release of greenhouse gases during manufacturing and disposal. To mitigate the problems associated with plastic materials, it is important to create a more circular use of the materials. In this course we are discussing pros and cons with biobased plastic materials, design for recycling and re-use, different recycling methods, and many more topics that are of importance to enable a sustainable use of plastic materials.

Credits: 3 | Start: HT25 | Provider: LTH Department of Design Sciences

Plastic materials are used almost everywhere nowadays. The global annual plastic production is today more than 400 million tons, and it is expected to double in the coming 20 years. Unfortunately, the large use of plastic materials leads to problems, e.g. large amounts of plastic waste and massive release of greenhouse gases during manufacturing and disposal. To mitigate the problems associated with plastic materials, it is important to create a more circular use of the materials. In this course we are discussing pros and cons with biobased plastic materials, design for recycling and re-use, different recycling methods, and many more topics that are of importance to enable a sustainable use of plastic materials.