Lecture 1 - Sept 2 (17-19) - Dahlin

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Time and place: Monday September 2 at 17-19 in lecture hall B3.

Title: "Sustainable Development - introduction, definitions and perspectives"
Lecturer: Jon-Erik Dahlin, Ph.D., researcher/teacher at KTH, Department of Energy Technology

Talk: Sustainable development is a term widely used, but often with the definition remained untold and implicit. How can sustainability be defined? What factors lie beneath different definitions, and what criticism can but put forward against those? We begin with broad questions like those, and observe the fact that the view on what is a valid definition of sustainability and which solutions to problems of non-sustainability that are preferred depend on point of view, general perspective and other subjective aspects. From there, we take a pragmatic position and move on to give the concept of sustainable development more structure, and in the process we begin to define dimensions with the aim of having a platform to work from in practical real life problems.

About: Jon-Erik Dahlin has a M.Sc. in engineering physics and a Ph.D. in plasma physics from KTH. He has worked as a programme manager in research programmes in energy technology at the Swedish Energy Agency, as a consultant in research and education and is currently employed at KTH as a researched/teacher in energy technology and sustainable engineering. Jon-Erik has given many courses at KTH in sustainability and is currently writing a text book in sustainable development for engineering students.

Literature to read before the lecture:
Heinberg, R., "What is sustainability?". In Heinberg, R. & Lerch, D., "Managing the 21st Century’s Sustainability Crises", Healdsburg, CA: Watershed Media, (2010). Available online at http://www.scribd.com/doc/85512035/FOUNDATION-CONCEPTS-What-Is-Sustainability

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