Here is a list of the courses offered by the Sustainability Transition Policy team. For questions about a specific course, please contact the responsible lecturer. As we are still building up the course portfolio, this page will be updated and expanded as we go.
Winter Semester 2026/2027
| Course | Bachelor/Master & Study program | Description | Course type | Time & Place | Lecturer(s) |
| European critical Materials Supply Chains | Master(Economics, IBS, Management, Sozök) | The global supply chains that underpin critical materials are highly complex and deeply intertwined with geopolitics. This course provides an overview of the key concepts and approaches in the study of critical mineral supply chains, drawing from International Relations and International Political Economy. Students will gain tools necessary to analyses political, economic (market), and strategic developments in material supply chains and to mitigate impacts. They will apply their knowledge into various (real) case studies. Register here: https://www.studon.fau.de/campo/course/506516 | Seminar | Wednesdays from 9:45-11:15 Starts 14.10.2026 In LG 3.155 | Dr. Moniek de Jong |
| Energy Security | BA – IBS, Sozök | Energy is fundamental to economic activity and global development, yet recent crises such as the 2022 & 2026 energy shock and geopolitical disruptions have highlighted the challenges of ensuring secure, affordable, and sustainable energy supplies. This course explores energy security through the lenses of geopolitics, international political economy, and sustainability, examining topics such as energy markets, conflicts, and the transition to low-carbon systems. https://www.studon.fau.de/campo/course/506483 | Seminar | Fridays, 9:00-12:30 Starts 23.10.2026 In LG 5.153 | Dr. Moniek de Jong |
| European Climate Policy | BA lecture+exercise; 4 SWS, 5 ECTS Course open to SozÖk students; if there is space, other students are welcome too. | The course discusses modern European climate policy, which seeks to on the one hand eliminate net greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors over the next three decades, and on the other hand to increase European economic and industrial competitiveness. In this course, we discuss how European climate efforts have changed over time, and how it got connected to industrial policy, and the effects of this. We explore how socio-technical transitions happen and can be designed in close collaboration between the state and the involved industry, and how this can trigger modernisation of the economy and generate jobs and economic growth, in addition to meeting climate targets and contributing to the world reaching the Paris Agreement’s temperature targets. The course is designed to be highly interactive, in a lecture + exercise format. Accompanying each lecture there will be an exercise to discuss and explore implications of the core concepts of the lecture. In the second half of the semester, students will develop, defend and debate their own strategies for decarbonising different European industry sectors while also improving their economic competitiveness and position in global markets. This way, each exercise is both offers a setting to practice critical thinking based on real-world cases and problems, and to introduce and practice the analytical and soft skills needed for the development and presentation of sectoral strategies. | Lecture+ Exercise | Prof. Dr. Johan Lilliestam | |
| STP thesis seminar | All students accepted for writing a thesis at the STP chair. | In this seminar, we discuss how to write a bachelor or master thesis, with a particular focus on building the thesis report. How do I write a good text, what contents goes where in the repost, and how do I make useful figures that get my results and findings across? We also solve problems in the context of each individual thesis based on discussions and peer feedback. https://www.studon.fau.de/studon/goto.php?target=lcode_FAYH3zeA | Colloquium (English) | Location: zoom, on 4 Friday mornings starting on 17 April at 9.00. | Prof. Dr. Johan Lilliestam |
| Critical approach to international economic relations – lessons from sustainability | Masters | IEnvironmental harms including climate change, pollution, loss of biodiversity and extinction threats are increasingly impacting global politics. Marginalized groups are disproportionately affected by environmental harms, and some countries and regions are impacted more than others, especially those in the so-called Global South. In addition, governments face challenges of addressing trying to achieve sustainable development goals such as reducing inequality – but progress on these issues is slow or even non-existent. The question is therefore: what is preventing global sustainable development? This class draws from critical scholars who suggest that the power structures that underpin global political and economic systems lead to an unequal distribution of benefits and harms. From this point of view, global environmental crises are therefore driven by those in power exploiting other human beings and nature. This class explores key challenges for sustainable development such as pollution, climate change, and inequality through a critical lens. By the end of the class, students will be able to understand and critique different explanations for the lack of global sustainable development and identify systemic challenges. | Seminar | Tuesdays, 13:15 PM – 14:45 PM, LG 3.153 | Dr. Silvia Weko |