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Hacking Society Systems in Transition (ABPL90399)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Summer Term
Dr. Fjalar De Haan
Overview
Availability | Summer Term |
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Fees | Look up fees |
Persistent problems plague the systems of society. If you know how the systems work, can you hack them and transition them to be more sustainable, liveable, resilient? Is it better for outsiders – not part of the systems – to do the hacking?
Energy, food, healthcare, transport and even cities as such. All of them complex systems, plagued by problems tied up with the very structures of those systems making them unsustainable, expensive, vulnerable or unfair. So perhaps it is not about improving the existing, but about transitioning to something better. Innovation at the societal level.
So what will you be hacking? You will design an intervention to address a real-life persistent problem. You will have to show that your hack will make a difference. To do that, you need to understand how your system works and how your intervention contributes to a transition – towards a better system. Once you are there you will have to be able to explain it to a policy maker or those in a position to implement your hack. If you can implement it yourself, even better, then explain how you will do it.
This subject is about how transitions work and how to make them happen. We know they happened in the past, but can we make them happen in the future? The challenges are great. The systems we talk about are large, powerful and have many stakeholders. Can we transition to renewable energy at large? How about truly resilient cities? Patient-centred health care? Is it better to change them from within or from the outside in? This subject will introduce you to the interdisciplinary field of sustainability transitions studies. You will learn how to analyse persistent problems and how they relate to the structures of societal systems. You will learn to analyse these systems themselves and be able to understand complex transitions dynamics. Based upon these system-analytic skills, the course will introduce you to approaches to organise societal processes of engendering and managing transformative change.
This intensive elective will be 10 days of hard work – 2 hour lectures and 2 hour tutorials. Some days will have guest lecturers working on, or otherwise experts in, transitions and persistent problems. Half of the assessment will be individual and half will be group-based work. The assessments carefully build up towards a total report – each subsequently written assignment throughout the subject becomes a section. Ideas and content for each next written group assignment will be presented to everyone to provide feedback so all groups will be well prepared for the writing. The final, total report is due a week after the intensive ends but the work in the tutorials should make that deliverable easy to meet.
Intended learning outcomes
Students who successfully completed this subject will be able to:
- Convey a good overview of the sustainability transitions research field and its theories and frameworks;
- Analyse persistent societal problems and wicked problems as part of the systems in which they appear;
- Articulate what transformative change entails, both conceptually and in the context of a real-world case;
- Explain the consequences of complexity, non-linearity and uncertainty for understanding and managing transformative change processes;
- Conduct systems analyses and apply the relevant transitions concepts and frameworks;
- Apply basic modelling techniques as part of systems analysis;
- Prepare a policy brief and implementation plan for an intervention addressing a persistent problem.
Generic skills
- Critical thinking;
- Communication skills for written and oral presentation;
- Problem solving and analytical skills;
Last updated: 30 October 2023
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 30 October 2023
Assessment
Additional details
- Individual written assignment 1500 words, Day 6 (30%);
- Group (3- 5 students) presentation 25 min, equivalent to 500 words per student, Day 8 or 9 (10%);
- Group (3- 5 students) written assignment (research report), equivalent to 1000 words per student, Day 10 (20%);
- Group (3-5 students) written assignment (Modelling Report), equivalent to 1000 words per student, Day 10 (20%);
- Individual written assignment – 1000 words (individual). One week after the last class, (20%).
Last updated: 30 October 2023
Dates & times
- Summer Term
Principal coordinator Fjalar de Haan Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 40 contact hours over 10 days ( 10 days of 2 hour lecture + 2 hour tutorial) Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 29 January 2018 to 9 February 2018 Last self-enrol date 31 January 2018 Census date 2 February 2018 Last date to withdraw without fail 10 February 2018 Assessment period ends 16 February 2018 Summer Term contact information
Dr. Fjalar De Haan
Time commitment details
170 hours
Last updated: 30 October 2023
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
There are no specifically prescribed or recommended texts for this subject.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Master of Urban Design - Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Last updated: 30 October 2023