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751-0025-00L 4 Credits MSC D-USYS , D-HEST
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Design ideas for sustainable food systems

Lecturers & Examiners: Dr. Martijn Sonnevelt, Prof. Dr. Johan Six, Dr. Kenza Benabderrazik, Dr. Jeanine Reutemann, Monika Siegrist
VVZ CR n/a

Last Updated: 2026-06-01 11:32:52

Abstract

In this course, you will design pathways for sustainable food systems, considering environmental, social, political, and economic issues. Work on case studies with a diverse, interdisciplinary team. Collaborate with stakeholders across the food value chain to co-develop solutions. Practice visual and auditory storytelling techniques to present your solutions creatively and contribute to change!

Objective

By the end of this course, participants will be able to: 1. Identify and explain the key elements of a food system, their interconnections, the drivers of change, challenges faced by the food system, and the desired outcomes of sustainable food systems. 2. Analyse and evaluate current food system challenges by employing a food system mapping approach that incorporates multiple stakeholder perspectives, considers trade-offs, feedback loops, and anticipates unintended consequences. 3. Apply an interdisciplinary, and where possible, transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approach to a real-world food system case study, utilizing the design thinking method to develop innovative solutions. 4. Create, develop and pitch a science communication piece that effectively uses visual and auditory storytelling techniques to convey their intervention in a compelling, accessible, and understandable manner to food system stakeholders.

Content

One of the defining challenges of our time is how to feed the world while ensuring human health, protecting the environment, and fostering social wellbeing. Addressing sustainability in food systems requires understanding their complexity. Throughout this course, themes will be linked to the broader food system by connecting to subsystems, levels, and scales, considering ecological, economic, social, political, and cultural dynamics. Participants will learn to navigate complexity, develop systems thinking and mapping for sustainability, and work on actual projects with stakeholders. Based on these real-world cases linked to key food system challenges, participants in this course will build knowledge, transferable competencies, skills, and motivation to develop ideas for food system transformation. Within interdisciplinary teams, participants will develop solutions guided by a design thinking method. The project-based learning in this course takes place at PBLabs, integrating lectures, group work, case studies, workshops, excursions, art, and social activities. The Media and Methods lab provides training to design and pitch solutions innovatively, using visual and auditory storytelling techniques. Partners and Contributors: The course involves a diverse group of contributors from academia, industry, policy, development cooperation and civil society organizations. Practicalities: This new course will be offered for the first time in 2025. Dates: - Kick-off pre-assignment: June 20, 2025 - Arrival day: 3rd of August, afternoon - Summer school: 4-15 August , 2025 - Location: PBLabs, ETH Zurich, Switzerland Given the content of the course, it is mainly targeted for MSC in Environmental, Food and Agricultural Sciences and the respective Doctoral programs. We offer the course to doctoral and master students from various ETH departments (D-USYS, D_HEST, D-MTEC, D-BAUG; D-ARCH, D-GESS, D-MATL, D-MTEC, D-PHYS, D-INFK). Interdisciplinarity is a key element in the course. The course will be assessed as ungraded semester performance. This will include several components, such as a pre-assignment around the case studies, a self-reflection journal on transferable competencies, a creative team pitch on the final solution designed, and a report.

Resources

Lecture Notes

We will not provide a script. Instead, we will share presentations, hand-outs, readings and other available materials. All course materials will be available on Moodle, with the link to follow.

Literature

Participants will receive material and literature as well as a program and (self-) evaluation material on Moodle and/or in print. The content however depends on the content and project partners, linked to project(s) students will be working on. Students are expected to actively search for relevant information and share their findings with their peers.

General Information

Language
English
Levels
MSC
Frequency
Yearly recurring

Examination

Type
ungraded semester performance

Course Components

Type Title Time & Place Hours
lecture with exercise Design ideas for sustainable food systems
Summer school from 4th-15th August 2025. This course also includes pre- and post assessments.
No time listed 80 h semesterly

Offered In