Climate Emergency Studies

Please note that the 30 HEC masters’ course in Climate Emergency Studies is offered as a hybrid education consistent of four two-day intensive retreats in Växjö and / or the Malmö / Copenhagen region interspersed with regular digital seminars and tutorials. Students are only required to by physically present at the retreats in Malmö / Copenhagen. All other parts of the course consist of distance learning with no physical presence required at Linnaeus University in Växjö or Kalmar. If you have any questions regarding the design and structure of the course, please contact the course coordinator.

We are in the midst of a climate emergency and need to break out of our torpor to find solutions to this urgent crisis. In this master’s course, we take on issues of the emergency that we are in and create concrete as well as more speculative responses to the climate crisis. The course has a unique setup, in which you as a student has an active role as co-creator and co-manager.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the IPCC) has declared that we are now living in what could be described as a planetary climate emergency – something that is becoming increasingly clear in all areas of life. But what do the terms “climate” and “emergency” mean, and what happens when they are combined in a “climate emergency”? How do we approach the almost unfathomable complexity of climate issues and the emergency that we are in, from ethical, artistic, cultural, political, and cognitive points of view? How can it be that “business as usual” in many ways seems to be the go-to response to the climate crisis? And how do we get past this state of inertia and create opportunities for action, given the complexities of scale and time? These are some of the urgent questions that you will be faced with in this course.

In the master’s course Climate Emergency Studies, you – the student – play an active part in the discussion and creation of concrete as well as more speculative artistic responses to the current planetary climate emergency. We begin with a general overview of what we currently know about the climate emergency, and then go on to explore different ways of understanding and shaping life in a planetary climate crisis. During the second half of the course, we develop a collaborative project together with external parties, which will enable us to move on from “climate emergency” to “climate action”. This collaboration furthermore grounds the course in a reality outside academia.

Since you and your fellow students are the planet’s future policy and decision makers, the matter of education and pedagogy is central in Climate Emergency Studies. This manifests in an experimental pedagogical approach, focusing on eco pedagogy and collaborative learning. As a student, you act as a co-manager and co-creator of the course, building a theoretical foundation together with your fellow students, teachers, and external partners, based on the broad objectives set up in the syllabus. You also create space for creative and critical thinking, collaboration, and action.

The master’s course is linked to the Centre for Climate Emergency Studies, which is a transdisciplinary platform for research, education and action related to the climate crisis. Work at the centre focuses on experimentation, creativity, criticism, and action related to the climate emergency, combining critical theoretical, scientific, and artistic perspectives and methods in the process.

Distance – study where you are

Distance learning can be structured in different ways – it may be entirely online, or include a few on-campus sessions or meetings at one of our learning centres. The common factor is that most of the learning happens online.

Växjö – the student city with a vibrant campus

Just south of Växjö city centre lies Campus Växjö. Many students choose to live on campus.

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