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The Sustainable Development Goals Book Club
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 15:47:25
Abstract
The ETH Sustainable Development Goals Book Club is a colloquium for Bachelor students within and outside of Department of Environmental Systems Sicence centered around the discussion of themes from a single book, with the aim of fostering interdisciplinary, intellectual and critical exploration of the scientific and societal complexities related to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Objective
The aims of this course are to: - Create an interdisciplinary approach to understanding key concepts of sustainable development and the SDGs - Create solidarity through a cultural of intellectual exchange at ETH Zurich - Create a common object of intellectual reference for students with different disciplinary interests to enable diverse ways and modes of thinking
Content
The course is similar to 701-0019-00L Readings in Environmental Thinking with the following differences: - Targeted at Bachelor’s students (especially first and second year, but open to all) within and outside of the department. - All participating students will read one book whose themes will be the basis for discussions. - These discussions, taking place both online and in-person, will be moderated by the main lecturers of the course and discussed by additional professors from within and outside of D-USYS. - Each discussion will be based on a chapter of a book, always linked to a particular aspect of the SDGs. - The modes of discussion will vary in length and form, ranging from the traditional, sit-down meeting, to a Twitter book club format (as already pioneered and popularized by author Robert MacFarlane). - Both students and professors will lead the discussions alternatively. - Each discussion session will result in a visual output or another shareable output that will be developed by a student or group of students.
Resources
Literature
TBD Could be one of the books already used in 701-0019-00L Readings in Environmental Thinking (Silent Spring, The Sand County Almanac, Collapse..etc.) Other possibilities: - Thinking in systems - Limits to Growth - Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth - Small is Beautiful - For the Common Good - Factfulness - The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power (history of the global petroleum industry from 1850s-1990)
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- BSC , MSC
- Frequency
- Yearly recurring
Examination
- Type
- ungraded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| colloquium |
The Sustainable Development Goals Book Club
Online lecture: This lecture will take place online. Reserved rooms will remain reserved on campus for students to follow the course from there.
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2 h semesterly |
Offered In
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Environmental Sciences Bachelor (Students can choose between one Bachelor thesis of 10KP or two Bachelor theses of 5KP each. In principle, all professors and lecturers involved in the teaching of the Environmental Sciences degree programme are entitled to supervise a Bachelor's thesis (BA). BA in the area of social sciences and humanities can only be supervised by lecturers who teach in this area. The same applies to BA in the field of natural sciences and technology. If the thesis is supervised by a person who does not teach in the Environmental Sciences degree programme or who does not have ETH lecturer status, then the student has to fill in the "Form for supervisors of a Bachelor thesis who do not teach in the Environmental Sciences degree programme" Link)
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Electives (The electives listed are recommended. However, electives can be chosen from the complete course offer of the ETH Zurich and University of Zurich.)
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Electives Courses (Elective courses can be chosen from the entire course programme of the ETH Zurich as well as from the course programme of the University of Zurich.)
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