A sustainable society is a wicked problem, as it addresses sub problems form various domains, such as politics, economics, ecology, technology, ethics, ideology, and so forth. In addition, it applies on different organisational levels, such as region, national, international, society and industry. 

In this course, we first investigate the problems space to identify which topics we work on in more detail in the remaining 2/3 of the course, with a focus on the question:  what is the role of technology and what can it provide to help building a sustainable society. The topic domain for this course is “Food”. The aim of this course is to get a better understanding of how far a sustainable society can go and under which circumstances technology is a necessary part.   

The 4 first sessions cover the following topics: 

• Sustainability – definitions, concepts and personal views 

• Introduction to complexity and intelligence 

• Introduction to systems 

• Introduction to sensor, data, and technology (systems and interaction)  

The remaining 6 sessions will be based on the problems that are chosen by the project groups to be investigated with respect to the topic “Food”. 

The last session is reserved for the poster presentations and final discussion. 

Coordinator 

Frank Nack 

Timetable 

All lectures will take place on-campus and we assume you can be physically present during the scheduled hours. You can find the timetable on Datanose. 

Registration 

Registration is possible for students participating in an Honours programme. The registration period for the Honours courses will be from November 29, 10:00 am to December 3, 11.59 pm. You can register through the online registration form that will appear on Honoursmodules IIS. (registration is NOT through SIS) 

Please note: Placement is not guaranteed if you register after December 3, so make sure you register on time. You will hear which course(s) you are registered for before December 15.  

For questions about registration, please contact us at: honours-iis@uva.nl