March –August, 2025 at Hanken School of Economics (Finland), Umeå School of Business, Economics and Statistics at Umeå University (Sweden) and online
There is an urgent need to find ways of abandoning fossil fuels and transitioning away from polluting energy sources to address the climate emergency. Yet, the pressing question is: what will this transition look like? The current political and corporate response to the climate emergency follows narratives of “Green Transitions,” shifting the economy from polluting energy sources and practices to what is promised to be more sustainable, environmentally friendly technologies and business models.
Course content
This course examines key theoretical assumptions and dimensions of green transitions from a critical and cross-disciplinary perspective. It integrates central theories of sustainability governance and responsible management with international and historical contexts, including extractivism, colonialism, environmental justice, and environmental conflicts. A primary focus of the course is on applying these theories to the societal-business nexus within the Nordic context. Featuring key online lectures by renowned scholars in these fields, the course aims to provide theoretical insights into current socio-ecological crises, fostering innovative visions of alternative and regenerative futures. In addition to the development of theoretical approaches of research, the course seeks to develop novel pedagogical approaches on how to learn from/with local voices about the contested terrain of green transitions and/or alternatives aiming for regeneration.
The course will run between March and August in 2025. The part of the course involves 5 online seminars (2 hours each) (20.3; 7.4; 24.4, 12.5; 2.6) and an in-person workshop in Vaasa and Umeå on August 18-22, 2025.
Key learning objectives
After completing the course, the student will be able to:
- Summarize key theoretical debates about sustainability governance and responsible management within the cross-disciplinary field of green transitions and its alternatives
- Contribute with critical reflections on the impacts of green transitions/alternatives on sustainability governance and responsible management in the Nordic context
- Produce novel pedagogical approaches on how to do participatory action research/teaching with communities outside the university context.
Assessment
Participants are required to perform the following works:
- Actively participate in the online seminars and discussions (attending least 3 of 5 online seminars) with relevant questions that relate to the students’ own research (30%)
- Before the in-person workshop in August: write a course paper (10 pages) based on their learnings from the online sessions, situated in relation to their own PhD research. These texts will serve as the basis for the collaborative learning sessions during the in-person sessions in Umeå and Vaasa in August 2025. (40%)
- Final group assignment during in-class meeting: Based on what we learn together with communities during our site visits and fieldwork, students prepare a presentation on how Participatory Action Research (PAR) can become a Participatory Action Teaching (PAT) method in university courses on sustainability governance and responsible management. (30%)
Successful completion of the course will give 8 ECTS/credits.
Course faculty/ online seminar instructors
- Maria Ehrnström-Fuentes, Associate Professor, Department of Management and Organization, Hanken School of Economics, Finland (course instructor)
- Maxim Vlasov, Assistant professor and Head of Research at the Research Institute for Organization and Business in Sustainable Transitions (ROBUST), Umeå School of Business, Economics, and Statistics at Umeå University, Sweden (course instructor)
- Daniel Nyberg, Professor in Sustainability, Strategy & Entrepreneurship, University of Queensland Business School, Australia
- Steffen Böhm, Professor in Organisation & Sustainability, Exeter Business School, UK
- Markus Kröger, Professor in Global Development Studies, Head of Extractivism and Alternatives (ExAlt) Initiative, University of Helsinki, Finland
- Rauna Kuokkanen, Research Professor of Arctic Indigenous Politics, University of Lapland, Finland; Adjunct Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto, Canada
- Petra Berg, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Marketing Vaasa University, Finland
- Sara Persson, Postdoctoral Researcher, Södertörn University, Sweden
- Eeva Houtbeckers, Senior Researcher, University of Eastern Finland
- Sabaheta Ramcilovik-Suominen, Associate Professor, LUKE, Finland
- Galina Kallio, Scholar-activist, Ruralia Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland
In addition, faculty at Hanken School of Economics and Umeå School of Business, Economics and Statistics will join some selected course activities.
How to apply
Apply for the course by February 15, 2025, or at your earliest convenience to safeguard admittance (spaces will be limited, NFF member universities prioritized) by sending a brief summary of your PhD project (2 pages) and a motivation letter (up to 1page) as one PDF file to Maria Ehrnström-Fuentes.
Travel and accommodation
The in-person workshop in Vaasa and Umeå starts with arrival in the evening of 18/8 and ends with lunch on 22/8. The expense of travel between Vaasa and Umeå is covered by the course. Travel to/from the workshop (18-22/8) is covered by the student. We can assist in finding affordable accommodation and provide you with an invitation letter that can be used to apply for travel grant at your university or funding institutions.
Collaboration
This course is organized in collaboration with the Umeå Transformation Research Initiative.
