Course syllabus for Sustainable development for civil engineers

Course syllabus adopted 2026-02-16 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameHållbar utveckling för samhällsbyggare
  • CodeBOM280
  • Credits7.5 Credits
  • OwnerTKSAM
  • Education cycleFirst-cycle
  • Main field of studyCivil and Environmental Engineering
  • ThemeEnvironment 6 c
  • DepartmentARCHITECTURE AND CIVIL ENGINEERING
  • GradingTH - Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3), Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language

    Swedish

  • Application code

    58139

  • Block schedule

  • Open for exchange students

    No

Credit distribution

Module
Sp1
Sp2
Sp3
Sp4
Summer
Not Sp
Examination dates
0117 Project 7.5 c
Grading: TH		 7.5 c

In programmes

Examiner

Eligibility

General entry requirements for bachelor's level (first cycle)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements

Specific entry requirements

The same as for the programme that owns the course
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements

Course specific prerequisites

A Bachelor's degree in Art, Science and Engineering or relevant discipline is required. In addition, basic courses in Environmental Science and Environmental engineering are recommended.

Aim

The course will provide in-depth knowledge and understanding of the sustainability challenges that society and the built environment are facing, as well as knowledge of the ongoing sustainability issues, as well as the frameworks within which this work is carried out and the specific challenges that arise when there are conflicting goals, so-called wicked problems.
The student should be able to critically examine and evaluate the political, ethical and economic conditions that form the basis for how sustainability work is formulated and carried out. Furthermore, the student will gain an understanding of how politics, science and engineering applications interact in different types of solutions to sustainability problems. The problem formulation and analysis in the course is based on the Local, National and Global Sustainable Development Goals and other important international policy frameworks. Furthermore, the sustainability problem is analyzed from different socioeconomic contexts, including developing countries.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

After completing the course, the student should be able to: 
  1. Describe and explain the fundamental sustainability challenges in society and the built environment, including systems perspectives, resource use, and life cycle perspectives, and describe ongoing initiatives and frameworks within the field of sustainability.
  2. Explain the connections between politics, science, and engineering in the development of sustainable solutions for the built environment sector.
  3. Apply knowledge of sustainable development to identify and evaluate realistic and/or innovative solutions to specific sustainability challenges in the built environment sector, taking into account system effects and life cycle perspectives.
  4. Critically analyse the political, ethical and economic aspects that affect the formulation and implementation of sustainability work in the built environment sector.
  5. Integrate knowledge from different areas to formulate strategies, policies and approaches to meet sustainability challenges in the built environment sector.
  6. Critically evaluate different sustainability strategies and measures based on their long-term effectiveness, resource and circularity aspects, as well as ethical implications, and be able to argue for and against different approaches based on a wide range of criteria.

Content

The course is organised around focus areas (themes) that reflect current challenges in sustainability work in society, such as resource and material use, circular economy, life cycle perspectives, and trade-offs in sustainable transitions. These themes form the basis for the classroom activities.

The intended learning outcomes are achieved through a variety of classroom-based learning activities, with a particular emphasis on the analysis of applied real-world case studies and projects.

Organisation

The course consists of the following learning activities:

Students independently study assigned materials and follow other study instructions in preparation for subsequent weekly seminars, where learning takes place through, for example, discussions, role-playing exercises, and workshops.

The course includes an individual written assignment in the form of a project, in which each student is assigned a topic to explore in depth and develop in a written report. Where relevant, sustainability challenges are analysed from a systems or life cycle perspective.

The course also includes a group-based project assignment. The project shall result in a written report, which is presented to the class at a dedicated seminar. The project has an applied focus on sustainability issues in the built environment sector, with the possibility to include circular strategies, resource efficiency, or life cycle perspectives.

Examination including compulsory elements

The final grade is based 50% on the individual assignment and 50% on the group work, including presentation and feedback. The final grade will be reported as fail, 3, 4 or 5.

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers about disability study support.