Type of course

Course content

Although ocean systems and resources are in peril, threatened by a range of global challenges, there are reasons for hope. There is growing international commitment to ambitious sustainability goals and the need for transformative change to achieve just and sustainable futures. There are shifting social values, continual advancements in science and technology, and a rising tide of voices calling for change. While the second course in the program was dedicated to exploring the complex global challenges that affect the oceans, the focus in this third course is on creative problem solving through safe, sustainable, and responsible forms of innovation.

In this course, participants will enhance their capacities for developing innovative approaches to sustainability challenges and expand their understanding of how they can use their power and influence to generate transformative change. Specific topics covered include how different legal and economic measures steer and shape innovation, the potential of AI, big data and machine learning for advancing innovative approaches to sustainability challenges, business models canvas to support sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship, and the framework of transformative change for just and sustainable futures. Aligned with theories of innovation leadership, the course also emphasizes the value of diverse perspectives for stimulating creativity and innovation and builds capacities on how to negotiate, mitigate and mediate conflicts that arise when different perspectives meet.

Objectives of the course

Upon completing the course, participants are expected to have achieved the following:

Knowledge:

Participants will have developed:

• awareness of the potential for big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning to help address sustainability challenges
• familiarity with how legal, economic, and policy frameworks can support or stifle the green shift
• familiarity with the business model canvas as a support tool for sustainable innovation
• understanding of transformative change
• understanding of the emphasis theories of innovation leadership place on the value of diversity

Skills:

Participants will be able to:

• describe and think critically about different research methods
• develop collaborative projects to address practical problems
• envision and facilitate innovative approaches to complex challenges
• constructively navigate conflict across diverse perspectives
• pitch innovative projects in clear and compelling ways

General competence:

Participants will have the ability to:

• use the framework of transformative change to advance sustainability and equity in innovation initiatives
• apply relevant knowledge and skills from ocean leadership in a collaborative innovation project
• value diverse perspectives and approaches for their contribution to creativity and innovation
• use feedback to actively improve their communication and leadership
• understand their sources of power and influence and how to leverage them for positive change

Language of instruction and examination

Teaching methods

The course is taught through a combination of (face-to-face) intensive sessions in which participants come together to learn, share experiences, practice skills, and integrate knowledge across domains, and online modules on topics of relevance that can be completed by participants asynchronously in their own time and at their own pace.

The intensive sessions run over 4.5 days, with one scheduled at the beginning of the semester and one towards the end of semester. These sessions will include keynote lectures and interactive seminars on course topics. During the first session, participants will form teams to collaboratively work on a problem-based project throughout the semester. During the second session, participants will have an opportunity to present and receive feedback on their collaborative projects.

Between the two intensive sessions, participants will complete online modules covering relevant knowledge, concepts and perspectives across the domains of leadership and ethics, law and governance, and information and ocean technologies. They will also collaborate actively in their teams to identify, analyze and explore the potential for innovative mechanisms to address selected ocean challenges. The program has ambitious learning goals and will require substantial amounts of high-quality work between the two intensive sessions. Online discussion forums will therefore be scheduled to support this, providing opportunities for participants to connect, discuss online learning materials, and/or obtain feedback on assessment work in development.

Teaching in both the intensive sessions and the online modules will engage a range of methods and materials and may include, for example, keynote lectures and interviews with renowned international experts, interactive exercises and activities, instructional videos and filmed talks, podcasts and readings, panel and roundtable discussions, and field site visits or virtual tours.