Blue Science - Social and Ecological Responsibility Across Disciplines

Blue Science is a module that allows students to experience interactive university teaching and learning by dealing with their social and ecological responsibility in concrete and active ways. It came up as an transdisciplinary extension of the seminar Blue Engineering, which has been offered for over 10 years, promoting socially and ecologically responsible engineering through a variety of alternative teaching methods. Blue Science is open for students of all areas and backgrounds with an interest in technology. / Science and its relation to technology, individuals, nature and society is reflected, analyzed and questioned in interdisciplinary discussions facilitated through diverse methods. Students are encouraged to think and learn independently and creatively, and therefore teacher-centered instruction does not occur in this module. Students acquire the competence to unveil the complex interdependency of their social, political, ecological and economic surroundings. This includes the consideration of different values, interests and needs within a global perspective as well as within one class(room). The course design encourages democratic decision-making not only to solve but also to define problems within the course itself and moreover outside of the classroom. / By developing and carrying out their own teaching units, students are actively involved in the teaching process and co-create the course. This allows students to bring in their own areas of interest and to share their findings and points of view with others, creating learning material that may be used in future editions of the module.

Course leader

André Baier, Anton Schaefer, Lucía Alvarez and Vanessa Schaller

Target group

Blue Science is open to students with an interest in the workings of science on technology, individuals, nature and society with regards to socio-ecological responsibility. Participants from all fields and disciplines are welcome.

Course aim

By the end of the module, students will...

-have developed a framework to reflect on scientific achievements in general and their own personal responsibility;
-have acquired the competence to unveil the complex interdependence of their social, political, ecological and economic surroundings;
-have developed and strengthened competences such as perspective-taking, interdisciplinary knowledge acquisition, dealing with incomplete and over-complex information, cooperation and coping with individual decision dilemmas;
-be able to structure and develop interactive learning units to mediate contents and facilitate discussions on topics of their interest;
-be able to recognize potential spaces to democratically change their own learning experience within their university.

Credits info

3 EC
ECTS

Fee info

EUR 1950: for students
EUR 2340: for working professionals