FIRST INTRODUCTION TO SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability is an inherently complex topic, and in order to delve into it in the most effective way, the course cuts across all degree programmes with the aim of promoting a culture of sustainability, developing critical thinking and fostering ecologically responsible behaviours.
The objectives of the course are:
- to frame sustainability within the broader ecological paradigm;
- to identify the areas of intervention that are crucial for humanity, nature and the planet;
- to analyse all facets of sustainability starting from the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;
- to work towards an integrated and integrating vision of all the dimensions of sustainability.

Knowledge and understanding of:
- Sustainability from an ecological perspective
- Ways of protecting and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
- How to combat climate change and its consequences
- How to protect, restore and promote the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems
- Ways to ensure sustainable consumption and production models
- How to promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
- Ways of ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy systems for all
- How to promote lasting, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full employment and decent work for all
- How to ensure healthy living and promote well-being for all, at all ages
- The interaction between gender stereotypes and forms of inclusive communication
- How to promote peaceful and inclusive societies, sustainability oriented.

Applied knowledge and understanding of:
- How to analyse sustainability good practices
- How to identify the main trajectories of future development

Independent judgement:
- Students will be able to analyse, reflect upon, discuss, deepen and re-elaborate the issues at hand
- Students will be able to decentralise their point of view and to understand different viewpoints
- Students will be able to critically analyse their experiences
- Students will be able to select the most reliable and relevant sources
- Students will be able to critically and argumentatively analyse texts and work materials
- Students will be able to independently process the course’s literature

Communication skills:
- How to communicate in a group while defending one's own ideas
- Active listening
- Communication and analysis of issues and problems

Learning skills:
- How to use specialized terminology when discussing cases, formulating problems, presenting topics
- How to describe, analyse, and interpret entropic situations
- How to independently reflect on one's own training and skills
- How to integrate previous knowledge frameworks with new information
- How to integrate knowledge frameworks offered by various disciplines

No prerequisites required.

Introduction
Ines Giunta, Elena Semenzin
Preamble
Francesco Gonella

Environmental Dimension
Edy Fantinato
Sustainable coexistence between humans and terrestrial ecosystems. The main factors of the decline of the Earth's biodiversity will be outlined, addressing the issue of extinction and ecosystem collapse and strategies for sustainable coexistence.
Fabio Pranovi
Sustainability has solid ecological foundations as an emergent feature of ecosystems, which helps us understand how to measure it. A useful contribution comes from ecosystem services, the contribution of ecosystem functions to human well-being, which make it possible to quantify human dependence on natural systems.
Federica Menegazzo
The challenges associated with the current energy transition. An overview of traditional energy sources will be presented with a critical analysis of the prospects for replacement with renewable sources. The concepts of circular economy and repertoire of alternative raw materials will be added.

Social Dimension
Giuliana Giusti
Language is a human prerogative that is expressed in the diversity of specific languages. Language interacts with the identity of individuals and social groups. We will see how the Italian language can contribute to combating or reinforcing gender stereotypes in the shared cultural discourse.
Ines Giunta
Developing itineraries of critical reflection on the ways in which it is possible, today, to relate the equity of training systems to a pedagogically founded idea of quality, which introduces the need for an idea of training that goes beyond the emphasis on learning, to establish itself as an intersubjective practice aimed at the co-generation of value.
Deborah Nadal
Through case studies from the Global South, we will illustrate how neglected tropical diseases impact on the lives of the communities that are afflicted, not only in terms of physical and mental health, but also in terms of economic well-being and social development.
Workshop

Economic Dimension
Vera Costantini
We will explore the causes of the First Great Divergence, which marked the industrial dominance of England and the Netherlands over the Mediterranean States.Settled in northern Europe and island territories, the pole of development would alter the balance between north and south, east and west of the planet.
Francesco Rullani and Francesco Scarpa
We will show how to create business models that are compatible with a focus on social and environmental impact; how a partnership between responsible consumption and organisations adopting these business models is the key to bringing the whole system onto a more SDGs-compliant equilibrium.We will discuss why it is important to measure and report on the social and environmental impacts of companies, the critical issues and how they can be overcome in order to have indicators that can express the level of alignment of companies with the SDGs.
Vania Brino
The impact of sustainable development on work and enterprises. Well-being, Participation,Shared Values are increasingly to be valued as the horizon of meaning and action of labour policies, but also of organisational models. Trend lines and critical issues will be identified with a focus on tools and actions for the concrete implementation of sustainability in labour relations.
Workshop

Francesco Gonella
The 2030 Agenda is not working. Halfway through the journey, as economist Jeffrey Sachs states in the 2023 Sustainable Development Report “not a single SDG is currently projected to be met by 2030,with the poorest countries struggling the most”. Why? We will describe the origin of the problem, related to the systemic nature of the network of feedbacks and trade-offs between the 17 goals.

Reading materials will be provided by lecturers and made available on Moodle.

The assessment of learning outcomes will be in two steps, one in progress and a final one.
For the purposes of in-progress assessment, students will be asked to work in groups on a current problem, analysing it from each dimension of sustainability (environmental, economic and social). In the final meeting, the groups will present their proposed solutions, during which the following will be assessed:
-communication skills;
-ability to describe, analyse and interpret the analysed problem;
-ability to identify possible solutions.
Presentations will be given a mark from one to fifteen.

The final assessment will consist of a written test based on four open-ended questions based on contents taught in class, duly supported by the reading materials provided by the lecturers. The test will assess, in particular, the following knowledge and skills:
-knowledge and understanding of the main issues concerning the different dimensions of sustainability;
-ability to individually elaborate on the themes being discussed;
-ability to integrate the knowledge frameworks coming from the different disciplines.
The test will be given a mark from one to fifteen.
The final mark will be determined by the sum of the two scores.

Frontal lectures and workshops.

Italian

To participate in the course, you must register here https://forms.gle/fZyLdaKuz7p3RsaEA
The First Introduction to Sustainability (Lezione Zero sulla Sostenibilità) is open to a maximum of 50 people and will be added by the university back office to the study programme of students who register for it. When drafting your study plan, you can enter this course as either a free choice exam or as an extra-CFU course.

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "International cooperation" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development