This (a)synchronous online course is a joint offer from the University of Neuchâtel, Åbo Akademi (Turku, Finland), the University of West Bohemia (Pilsen, Czech Republic) and the KTH-Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm, Sweden). Students will be asked to work in international and interdisciplinary teams on a sustainability issue of their choosing. Work will be managed by the students, with the help of a supervisor. Only a few online content sessions will be scheduled and most of the work will be done in autonomy or within the group. Please note that students will get 6 ECTS from the course and thus the course load is high with many exercises to do in self-study.

Undergraduate and graduate students with an intermediate to advanced level of English (B2-C1) who wish to improve their communication skills and enjoy the challenge of working in international and interdisciplinary teams.

There are no special entry requirements except for the students’ level of English (see ‘Target audience’). Students should be at least B2 to participate in this course.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to:  

1. Collaborate efficiently within transnational teams, leveraging the strengths of diverse team members and contributing effectively to team goals. 
2. Identify and define complex problems related to sustainable development, and apply critical thinking and problem-solving strategies to develop innovative solutions. 
3. Effectively communicate complex ideas and solutions in written and spoken English, using appropriate language and tone. 
4. Demonstrate cultural awareness and competence by understanding and respecting cultural differences within transnational teams. 
5. Take initiative in their learning process, setting goals, managing their time, and seeking resources independently. 
6. Cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset, displaying creativity and adaptability in problem-solving related to sustainable development

Students will be asked to pick an issue and to work together on a sustainable solution. Different steps will be followed by each team, with regular output to provide for assessment. A few synchronous sessions will be scheduled but some of the work will be done asynchronously on a platform. Most of the work will be done in small groups and individually. You will meet regularly with your group. Scheduling and workload management will be left to the teams to sort out. Each group will be assigned a supervisor who will be ready to answer questions when needed.

Different output (spoken and written communication tasks) will be handed in at different stages of the course.

The course material will be made available on a Moodle platform.