Sustainability Through Multiple Lenses: Guest Lectures in Global Sustainability

What does sustainability look like when viewed through different disciplinary lenses?

This semester, students in the Global Sustainability course within the Bachelor Programme in Economy and Society at Lund University had the opportunity to engage with researchers and practitioners working at the forefront of sustainability challenges. Through a series of guest lectures, students explored issues ranging from local development and water governance to environmental justice, ocean sustainability, and circular economy innovation.

The lecture series reflected a key idea that also lies at the heart of the SURCO project: sustainability challenges are complex and interconnected, requiring perspectives from multiple disciplines and sectors.

William Jones from the Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences introduced students to the origins of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and discussed how sustainability policies are shaped by local cultures, knowledge systems, and community experiences. Drawing on research in East Africa, he highlighted the importance of incorporating local voices into development processes.

Questions of cooperation and resource management were explored by Juliane Koch from Lund University School of Economics and Management. Presenting insights from research conducted within the SURCO project, she demonstrated how behavioural economics can help us understand decision-making around water distribution under conditions of scarcity. Her lecture reinforced an important message: addressing climate change is not only a technological challenge, but also a challenge of cooperation.

Cooperation was also at the centre of an interactive session led by Sebastián Suárez Lee, maritime affairs expert and founder of Full Avante News (https://fullavantenews.com). Through a behavioural simulation game, students took on the role of policymakers managing ocean resources, experiencing firsthand the tensions between economic development and environmental sustainability in the Blue Economy.

The social dimensions of sustainability were further explored by Andrea Nardi, affiliated with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and the Department of Human Geography. Drawing on research from Colombia, she presented insights from the DEFENDBIO project (https://rwi.lu.se/defend-bio), which examines the role of environmental and biodiversity defenders in protecting ecosystems and promoting environmental justice. Her lecture highlighted the efforts of local communities to safeguard natural resources, advocate for the recognition of nature's rights, and challenge unsustainable development pathways through community-led action and resistance.

Finally, Javier Linares-Pastén, Associate Professor at Lund University and co-founder of Cyclezyme (https://www.cyclezyme.se), showcased how technological innovation can support the transition toward a circular economy. Through examples from biotechnology and plastic recycling, he demonstrated how research and entrepreneurship can contribute to reducing waste and creating more sustainable production systems.

Together, these lectures offered students a valuable opportunity to explore sustainability from multiple perspectives. From culture and governance to economics, human rights, maritime studies, and engineering, the series highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary thinking in addressing some of today's most pressing global challenges.

We extend our sincere thanks to all guest lecturers for sharing their expertise, experiences, and insights with our students. Their contributions enriched the course and provided inspiring examples of how research and practice can work together to advance sustainability.