The consequences of man-made climate change are being felt in various places around the globe in the form of increased natural disasters, rising sea levels, threatened animal and plant life, etc. If that trend is to be halted, it is necessary to slow down global warming. The Danish government and a broad majority in the Danish Parliament have therefore set a target of achieving 70% lower CO2 emissions compared to the 1990 level by 2030 at the latest and full climate neutrality by 2050. This means that both public and private companies are currently focusing on a green transition, and students and graduates from the Applied Philosophy programme can support that development. This is because the master’s programme in Applied Philosophy now includes a module in sustainability- and technology philosophy, where the students work with philosophical investigations of humanity’s relationship with nature and technology as well as ontological and ethical issues that arise in this field of tension.

“The concept of sustainability is a hot topic of public debate, but in many companies there is doubt about what the concept is really about and how specifically to work with it. Our students therefore occupy themselves with what the term covers, how it came about, and how we can understand it in different contexts. The strength of philosophy is that it involves digging deep and understanding an area, but we in Applied Philosophy are not only interested in theory: we also want to work with it in the real world,” says Associate Professor Jes Lynning Harfeld from the Department of Culture and Learning, who together with Professor Antje Gimmler is responsible for the sustainability- and technology philosophy module.

Sustainability in practice

The students on the Applied Philosophy sustainability and technology module also undertake practical placements with private and public companies, think tanks, NGOs, local authorities, etc., where they work with sustainability in specific projects.

“The students devote themselves to what is happening in society and how we can tackle major challenges. In sustainability philosophy, it is about understanding a concept, but in Applied Philosophy there is also an added dimension: we also work in an application-oriented way. This means that we also want to help make the world a better place,” says Jes Lynning Harfeld.

Facts

• The sustainability and technology philosophy module is a specialisation in the Applied Philosophy master's programme
• The module is offered in the 8th term and has a scope of 15 ECTS credits
• Graduates from Applied Philosophy subsequently get jobs as, for example, sustainability consultants, communication consultants within sustainability, business consultants, etc.
• Read more about the master's programme in Applied Philosophy here