Climate change is one of the key challenges that our planet and society currently face as it is directly connected to availability of resources and human wellbeing. This course will introduce students to this topic from an energy system transformation perspective including technological, economic, social and political considerations. The integrated approach of systems analysis allows investigation at the nexus of global challenges, enabling synergies and trade-offs among potential solutions to be considered and implemented. The course is structured along five modules, each including key themes that will be covered by a field expert from the International Institute for Advanced Systems Analysis (IIASA). In this course students will get a basic understanding of how an integrated assessment model works, learn about current discussions pertaining to the scale-up of different technologies, and debate key ethical issues that are associated with designing a carbon free future. After this class, students will be able to have a more technical understanding of climate mitigation scenarios.

Group work and small written assignments.

Students from other departments or universities will be given a place on the course subject to room capacities.