Our world is changing rapidly. Climate change, globalisation and digitalisation are creating new challenges for us and, with them, the need for new ways of thinking and acting. To secure a liveable future, we therefore need changemakers who can boldly forge new paths and work together to shape and initiate change competently, from a place of reflection and fully committed.
The BA in Transformation and Sustainability is a project-based, inter- and transdisciplinary degree programme. Students develop the transformative literacy to understand the framework conditions and functional contexts of sustainable transformation and to competently position themselves within them. At the same time, they will build transformative agency and acquire the mind- and skillset required to advance transformation in their personal fields of interest.
The programme is for anyone wishing to become a professional driving force of future-oriented transformation design. Notably, this includes people with some professional experience wanting to further develop their skills in the framework of a degree programme. It is also for people who have been working to achieve sustainable transformation during or after their formal education—be it as climate or environmental protection campaigners or as part of a social movement—and want to systematically advance their skills as changemakers.
Sustainable transformation is all about designing a liveable future. That is why the School of Design, Film and Art is the dedicated home base of the BA in Transformation and Sustainability. Students develop design and organisational skills based on the methodology of design and the arts. At the same time, this new programme has a distinct inter- and transdisciplinary orientation. Depending on their chosen thematic focus and type of project, students can sign up for course-related events at the HSLU’s other Schools and develop skills in Engineering and Architecture, Business, Computer Science and Information Technology, Social Work, Health, or Music to advance their projects. What is more, a network of practice partners will share valuable insights into the on-the-ground realities of any field of activity they might be interested in.
Our graduates help to shape the lived reality of today and the future in companies, NGOs, public administration, education, or in the culture industry. They act as transformational concept workers, enablers, process virtuosos/as, bridge builders and networkers. They mobilise people through new ideas and have the skills to move between different ways of thinking and practical contexts in their design practice. They have a strong compass that points towards a sustainable, inclusive and liveable future and they know why they have chosen this path and how they intend to walk it.
On the one hand, this programme allows students to bring their own transformation ideas to the table, to hone them and translate them into interdisciplinarily informed and well-reflected concepts. On the other, it provides a framework to realise and test these concepts with practice partners from business, civil society, public administration and culture in a real-life setting.
Working on one’s own projects is at the centre of this programme. This project work is accompanied by basics modules that teach the skills and knowledge required to understand transformation processes and their social, economic and political contexts in a practical setting. The project modules discuss a wide range of possibilities of how to design transformation processes. Notably, this includes practical engagement with the ways of thinking and organising inherent to design and art, but also the development of communication, concept and organisation skills. In a series of inter- and transdisciplinary modules and a “perspective semester”, students have the chance to focus on content and practical experience that best suit their projects and interests. Throughout the process, students will get support and guidance from lecturers and support each other in dedicated peer formats. In the framework of the bachelor's thesis, students document, and reflect on, their project and develop perspectives for its continued realisation.
Graduates of the BA in Transformation and Sustainability have a wide range of career options in companies, NGOs, the consultancy sector, education, research, administration and the culture industry — that is, any field where processes of sustainable transformation must be designed in specific economic, social and environmental contexts.
Furthermore, the BA in Transformation and Sustainability is a qualification for a consecutive master's programme.
