Sustainable Development on Bachelor Level – an Immersive Programme in Sustainable
Development (Patricia Holm, Frank Kysiak, Paul Burger – University of Basel)

Currently, students on bachelor level at the University of Basel are offered four classes on Sustainable
Development (SD) in the frame of the Transfaculty programme on SD (TQ Nachhaltige Entwicklung)
which can be chosen in the frame of ‘Freie Kreditpunkte’. This programme is now running for 8 years
and covers 12 ECTS. It comprises basic classes, namely (I) cultural and social science, (II) natural
science, (III) reflexion of science, terms and area of interests in SD, and (IV) economics and reflexions
of SD. The new strategy at the University of Basel (‘Strategie 2014 – 2018) is explictly fostering „a full
study programme in SD” and shall offer students at all levels access to knowledge and critical
reflection on Sustainable Development (SD).
Accordingly, aiming at developing a modern interdisciplinary course programme for bachelor students,
we further develop a revision of the structure and teaching tools based on the experience of this
succesful TQ-programme. As topics of prime interest, we will focus on the issue of climate change and
sustainability.
The project will start with an evaluation the current programme. Subsequently a new course curriculum
will be developed. In an interative process of realisation, evaluation and adjustment, the course will
proposed for implementation at the University of Basel and other interested Universities. As a result,
the current TQ SD will be replaced by the new programme. To integrate the experience from other
courses outside of Basel and from experienced lecturers, interviews will be conducted and two
workshops will accompany the outlined process.