Sociology: Sociological Perspectives on Sustainability Transitions
Source: https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/study/sociology-sociological-perspectives-on-sustainability-transitions-SOCN10 Parent: https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/about-university/university-glance/mission-vision-and-values/sustainability/sustainability-education-lund-university
Course • Master's level • 7.5 credits
How do sustainability transitions shape everyday life? Explore the social forces behind change – from extreme events and innovations to collective action – and gain sociological tools to understand how people, technology and institutions shape sustainable futures.
Start
Autumn 2026
Level
Master's
Language
English
Place of study
Lund
Course code
SOCN10
- Overview
- Teaching and learning
- After the course
Overview
Sustainability is more important than ever in today’s world, with many countries working to lessen their environmental impact. The shift from current systems and practices to more sustainable ones is known as “sustainability transitions”. This course helps you understand the social impact of these transitions.
You explore key topics such as extreme events, innovations and social movements, and examine what drives social change using both classical and contemporary sociological perspectives. The course offers a broad introduction to how societies respond to climate change and other sustainability challenges.
You examine how decisions made in the past affect the choices we make today, using concepts such as path dependency. You also work with socio‑technical systems, which recognise that technology and society are intertwined and affect each other, and institutionalisation, which explains how norms and routines become established over time. You also analyse forces that can trigger or speed up change, including political decisions and cultural shifts.
The course highlights the balance between stability and change in society and the interdisciplinary nature of sustainability issues, showing how sociology contributes to wider discussions. Overall, it helps you understand the complexity of sustainability transitions and provides tools to analyse both challenges and possibilities.\ \
The Department of Sociology
The course is offered by the Department of Sociology in the picturesque Paradiset campus area in Lund. The building combines modern lecture halls, group rooms, and study spaces – just a short walk from the Social Sciences Library (Sambib) and the University Library (UB), several popular cafés and the city centre.
Course syllabus
The syllabus contains the formal and legal details of the entire course. It’s a legal document outlining the course structure and requirements, intended mainly for administrative use.
Course literature
The course literature listed may be updated up to eight weeks before the course begins.
Course literature SOCN10 (PDF, New tab)
Teaching and learning
Teaching includes lectures and seminars where you discuss texts and engage actively with theoretical perspectives and real‑world case studies. Assessment takes place through an individual on‑campus written exam. At the Department of Sociology in Lund, you meet dedicated teachers who are active researchers, offering insights into the latest research. The course is taught in English and organised around several key themes:
- Societal stability and change
You are introduced to key concepts that help you understand why societies often change slowly – and what it takes to set meaningful transformation in motion. You explore path dependency, the idea that today’s decisions build on past choices; socio‑technical systems, showing how society and technology interact; lock‑in, where earlier decisions limit change; and procedures, institutions and institutionalisation, which explain how habits, rules and norms become established over time.
- Drivers of transitions
You analyse how different forces can initiate or speed up change, including extreme events, innovations, political interventions, social movements and cultural developments.
- Sociological theories and methods
Both classical and modern theories are used to explore sustainability challenges. You encounter empirical research, interdisciplinary approaches and innovative methods that illustrate the complexity of sustainability transitions
After the course
After completing the course, you will have a deeper understanding of sociological perspectives on sustainability transitions and of how societies, technologies and change processes interact. You will be able to use sociological concepts to analyse both stability and transformation, and to reflect on why change efforts succeed, stall or evolve in particular ways.
Your analytical skills will develop through work with theories, case studies and empirical examples. This will strengthen your ability to identify underlying social dynamics, evaluate how institutions and practices shape change processes, and critically assess different approaches to sustainability challenges.
The course is valuable if you are interested in societal change, environmental and sustainability issues, policy processes, or the relationship between technology and society. The knowledge and skills you gain can support further studies in sociology and related fields, and provide a useful foundation for work or future projects that engage with social aspects of sustainability, organisational development or policy analysis.
The course can be part of a master’s degree or support continued studies within sociology and neighbouring disciplines.\ \
- Dates
- Requirements and selection
- Tuition fees
Dates
Autumn Semester 2026
Apply via Antagning.se (in Swedish) by 15 April.
Lund - Full time 100%
Start
2 November 2026
2 Nov 2026
End
1 December 2026
1 Dec 2026
Form
Normal learning
Pace
Full time
Language
English
City
Lund
Requirements and selection
Prerequisites
Admission to the course requires 90 credits in a social sciences subject comprising sequential courses. English 6.
Selection criteria
Seats are allocated according to: ECTS (HPAV): 100 %.
Tuition fees
Tuition fees for non-EU/EEA citizens
Citizens of countries outside:
- The European Union (EU)
- The European Economic Area (EEA) and
- Switzerland
are required to pay tuition fees. You pay an instalment of the tuition fee in advance of each \ semester.
Tuition fees, payments and exemptions
Full programme/course tuition fee: SEK 16,875 \ First payment: SEK 16,875
Note that you may also need to pay an application fee, or provide proof of exemption.
No tuition fees for citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland
There are no tuition fees for citizens of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland.
Overview
Sustainability is more important than ever in today’s world, with many countries working to lessen their environmental impact. The shift from current systems and practices to more sustainable ones is known as “sustainability transitions”. This course helps you understand the social impact of these transitions.
You explore key topics such as extreme events, innovations and social movements, and examine what drives social change using both classical and contemporary sociological perspectives. The course offers a broad introduction to how societies respond to climate change and other sustainability challenges.
You examine how decisions made in the past affect the choices we make today, using concepts such as path dependency. You also work with socio‑technical systems, which recognise that technology and society are intertwined and affect each other, and institutionalisation, which explains how norms and routines become established over time. You also analyse forces that can trigger or speed up change, including political decisions and cultural shifts.
The course highlights the balance between stability and change in society and the interdisciplinary nature of sustainability issues, showing how sociology contributes to wider discussions. Overall, it helps you understand the complexity of sustainability transitions and provides tools to analyse both challenges and possibilities.\ \
The Department of Sociology
The course is offered by the Department of Sociology in the picturesque Paradiset campus area in Lund. The building combines modern lecture halls, group rooms, and study spaces – just a short walk from the Social Sciences Library (Sambib) and the University Library (UB), several popular cafés and the city centre.
Course literature
The course literature listed may be updated up to eight weeks before the course begins.
Course literature SOCN10 (PDF, New tab)
Teaching and learning
Teaching includes lectures and seminars where you discuss texts and engage actively with theoretical perspectives and real‑world case studies. Assessment takes place through an individual on‑campus written exam. At the Department of Sociology in Lund, you meet dedicated teachers who are active researchers, offering insights into the latest research. The course is taught in English and organised around several key themes:
- Societal stability and change
You are introduced to key concepts that help you understand why societies often change slowly – and what it takes to set meaningful transformation in motion. You explore path dependency, the idea that today’s decisions build on past choices; socio‑technical systems, showing how society and technology interact; lock‑in, where earlier decisions limit change; and procedures, institutions and institutionalisation, which explain how habits, rules and norms become established over time.
- Drivers of transitions
You analyse how different forces can initiate or speed up change, including extreme events, innovations, political interventions, social movements and cultural developments.
- Sociological theories and methods
Both classical and modern theories are used to explore sustainability challenges. You encounter empirical research, interdisciplinary approaches and innovative methods that illustrate the complexity of sustainability transitions
After the course
After completing the course, you will have a deeper understanding of sociological perspectives on sustainability transitions and of how societies, technologies and change processes interact. You will be able to use sociological concepts to analyse both stability and transformation, and to reflect on why change efforts succeed, stall or evolve in particular ways.
Your analytical skills will develop through work with theories, case studies and empirical examples. This will strengthen your ability to identify underlying social dynamics, evaluate how institutions and practices shape change processes, and critically assess different approaches to sustainability challenges.
The course is valuable if you are interested in societal change, environmental and sustainability issues, policy processes, or the relationship between technology and society. The knowledge and skills you gain can support further studies in sociology and related fields, and provide a useful foundation for work or future projects that engage with social aspects of sustainability, organisational development or policy analysis.
The course can be part of a master’s degree or support continued studies within sociology and neighbouring disciplines.\ \
Dates
Autumn Semester 2026
Apply via Antagning.se (in Swedish) by 15 April.
Lund - Full time 100%
Start
2 November 2026
2 Nov 2026
End
1 December 2026
1 Dec 2026
Form
Normal learning
Pace
Full time
Language
English
City
Lund
Requirements and selection
Prerequisites
Admission to the course requires 90 credits in a social sciences subject comprising sequential courses. English 6.
Selection criteria
Seats are allocated according to: ECTS (HPAV): 100 %.
Tuition fees
Tuition fees for non-EU/EEA citizens
Citizens of countries outside:
- The European Union (EU)
- The European Economic Area (EEA) and
- Switzerland
are required to pay tuition fees. You pay an instalment of the tuition fee in advance of each \ semester.
Tuition fees, payments and exemptions
Full programme/course tuition fee: SEK 16,875 \ First payment: SEK 16,875
Note that you may also need to pay an application fee, or provide proof of exemption.
No tuition fees for citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland
There are no tuition fees for citizens of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland.
Contact us
Study Advisors at the Department of Sociology
Email: studievagledare@soc.lu.se