Responsible Management and Sustainable Economic Development

UPM 6001-UPEACE Foundation Course

3Credits

The UPEACE Foundation Course provides a critical and concise introduction to the broad field of “Peace Studies” for students in all UPEACE programmes. It initially addresses key conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of the origins and development of peace studies as an interdisciplinary area within the fields of international relations and political economy, as well as a basic understanding of conflict analysis. Based on a critical analysis of policies, strategies, policies, institutions, organizations and movements, the course then examines a range of core issues, dimensions, perspectives and paradigms for understanding the root causes of conflicts and violence and constructive strategies to address them and build peace in contemporary global, international, regional, national and local contexts, including: conflict management, conflict resolution and conflict transformation; alternative discourse analysis; militarization and disarmament; human rights violations and promotion; gender inequalities, gender-based violence and gender mainstreaming; structural violence, human security, development and globalization; environmental sustainability; corporate social responsibility; cultural and religious identities; media’s role in conflict and peacebuilding; strategies of nonviolence; and peace education. This Foundations course will be essential in catalyzing the awareness, understanding and motivation of UPEACE students from diverse academic programmes to relate, ground or intersect their specific areas of academic and practitioner interest with core theoretical, conceptual and analytical ideas in peace studies.

RMSED 6040-Review of Economic Theories and Concepts

3Credits

Economics play an important role in organising human activity. This course is an introduction to the histories, actualities, and futures of economic thinking. The purpose is to review the most influential economic theories, and related concepts, in the light of contemporary ecosocial challenges. While reviewing the spectrum of theories from growth to non-growth, and degrowth economics, we analyse the following questions: what is economics; how do economic processes work; what and who is economics for; who are the economic actors, and what kinds of roles have they been assigned (and by whom); why and when is economics important; and what are the underlying assumptions behind different economic theories? The course will provide the students with an understanding of, and ability to operate with, main economic theories and concepts.

RMSED 6047 -Development Studies and International Cooperation

3Credits

This course is an introduction to development studies and international cooperation. The course covers the historical origins of development thinking in the post colonial world. It reviews modernization theory and the implications it had for foreign policy during the cold war period. This is contrasted with a critical review of dependency theories and structuralism. The course then uncovers the precepts of the Washington consensus as an introduction to the thinking of Amartya Sen and the world of alternative participatory development, the fields of popular education and participatory learning and action. This review (first week of the course) combines the description of developmental theories and concepts, with a deconstruction of the policies pursued by the man development agencies (World Bank, UN Agencies, BINGOS, CBOs, etc). The second week of the course introduces students to the sustainable development goals and the concept of multilateralism. The SDGs are presented as a set of indicators that can lead humanity towards collective action for urgent systemic change. The final week of the course explores key current hot topics in development practice Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss, Gender Mainstreaming, Disaster Risk Reduction and Multistakeholder Partnerhips.

Through a combination of lectures and workshop dynamics students will learn to distinguish between the main concepts, theories and tools of development thinking and practice. The course will allow participants to explore "development" and "International Cooperation" as ideas, professions, institutions and narratives. The course is structured into 14 lessons, each composed of a lecture and two group work activities designed to build skills of students in the use of technical tools commonly used by development practitioners. Classes and lectures are designed to reinforce a sense of urgency and hope for transformative development practice among participants.

RMSED 6045- Circular Economy, a regenerative System

3Credits

What is now generally defined as “development” has not come without a cost. The industrial model standing at the roots of our current standards of living has been based on a linear system of production, where natural resources are extracted from the Earth; processed in manufacturing plants, used by consumers around the world; and finally, get either incinerated or discarded as waste in landfills or in Nature. The current system, which relies on large quantities of cheap, easily accessible materials and energy, is coming up against constraints on the availability of resources, and our capacity to manage its huge amounts of waste. Presently, only a very small fraction of the original product-value is recovered after use. Resource constraints, as well as increasing volumes of waste and pollution compounded by the rising demand from the world’s growing and increasingly affluent population, are likely to impose increasing threats to welfare and wellbeing and, from a business point of view to competitiveness, profits and business continuity.  

Over the last decades, our awareness of the limits of the use of natural resources has become more and more embedded in evidence. All the key indicators confirm that the problems of a linear economy are grounded in the global economy. A perception has developed that only by changing the current way of resource consumption and improving resource efficiency, can a sufficient supply of natural resources be ensured, existing biodiversity be protected, and sustainable growth for the global population be enabled. The necessity for a shift in social, political and economic patterns has been acknowledged by stakeholders more than ever. 

The ‘circular economy’ is an industrial system that is restorative by intention and design, and aims to keep products, components, and materials at their highest utility and value at all times. The idea is that rather than discarding products before the value is fully utilized; products should be designed for ease of reuse, disassembly, recycling, and remanufacturing. It means, keeping the value of resources for as long as possible and rethinking production, consumption and end of life management processes. The transition towards a circular economy offers an opportunity to reduce our ecological footprint by lowering raw material consumption and minimizing waste generation. This, no doubt, is a major prerequisite to stay within the Planetary Boundaries.

As landfilling is phased-out, innovative business models thrive and contribute to reducing the need for new products and raw materials as well as the optimal use of assets. Global value chains also become more resource efficient. Circular business models and improved resource efficiency are economically attractive means to enhance energy efficiency and renewable

UPM 6003-The United Nations System and UPMUNC (Part I)

2Credits

The course is intended to familiarize students with the creation, objectives, evolution, main entities and principal areas of work of the United Nations system. The course will look in some detail at the United Nations Charter and the functions of the UN’s principal organs, before delving into the UN’s work in spurring cooperation to address a number of key contemporary global challenges, such as those in the areas of sustainable development, international migration and large-scale refugee flows, and climate change and environmental degradation.

RMSED 6049 -Research Methods

3Credits

In this course we will critically examine research methodology. Our course is designed to take students sequentially through the process of thinking about and designing research. Together, we will explore the basic structure of research and examine the philosophical origins of different research approaches. I will guide students as they learn to link different information-gathering methods to different research approaches. My emphasis will be on qualitative research methodology but we will introduce quantitative data gathering and sampling. To ensure that students gain hands on experience with the process of developing methodologies and implementing different information gathering procedures, I will complement lectures with workshops where students will learn by doing. Furthermore, learning about methods requires analyzing how these methods have worked (or not) in real-world case studies; thus, in class discussions of published research will complement workshops and lectures.

RMSED 6044- Leading in Times of Change: Innovating from the inside out

1Credits

This course, which is the concluding one in the Masters program, aims to help participants take the next step in their personal and professional journey. It focuses on a human paradigm of leadership – the ability to reflect on self, think about people you collaborate with, and reflect on frameworks for engaging people around a common goal. Using cutting-edge concepts in positive psychology, human centered design, and appreciative inquiry, the course will give participants the space, structure, support and motivation to answer some fundamental questions regarding strengths, limiting beliefs, and key priorities. The course is structured to be leaner-centered, and will involve a variety of teaching approaches, including brief presentations, case studies, guest speakers, a variety of group exercises, TED-style videos and simulations. Overall, the overarching objective of the course is to provide an opportunity for participants to step back from the day-to-day and reflect upon important questions about life goals and how to take action on them. 

RMSED 6048-Transition to a Low Carbon Economy

2Credits

This class is a leadership development program centred on the topic of ‘transition’ to a low carbon, sustainable and just economy and explores the disruptive implications of transition for all aspects of society and the economy.  The political, economic, social, technological, legal and ecological drivers for transition are discussed and debated and students are encouraged to consider the implications of these drivers for social/community systems, financial/capital systems, energy systems, transportation systems, food systems, water systems and urban/infrastructure systems around the world.  Students will learn basic principles of strategy and design, and explore approaches to effective leadership and cooperation across sectors: public, private and civil society.  The importance of an inter-disciplinary and entrepreneurial mindset to addressing challenges and enhancing value through sustainable innovation will be explored with reference to case studies and the personal interests of students in the class.

UPM-6003-The United Nations System and UPMUNC (Part II)

1Credits

The UPEACE Model United Nations Conference (UPMUNC) is the second part of a composite three credit course that begins with the two-credit introductory course on the United Nations System, taught in the first semester. Through a simulation of UN bodies, committees, procedures, and codes of conduct, this immersive and experiential educational exercise encourages the application of knowledge gained in previous courses, including an understanding of the objectives and functions of the United Nations system, as well as the development of professional skills related to research, public speaking, negotiation, mediation of conflict, and the preparation of official documents.   

Historically, the conference has been open to outside participants from colleges and universities both regionally and internationally, presenting additional possibilities for networking, dialogue, and educational exchange among all participants. UPMUNC is further enriched by special events, which typically include a panel of invited speakers, a diplomatic reception, an awards ceremony, and a closing celebration.   

RMSED 6043-Introduction to Responsible Management

3Credits

The purpose of this course is to provide students with a toolkit to support responsible management and decision-making in private, public, and third sector organisations of different sizes. The course offers an understanding of how different strategic and operational decisions in organisations influence the actors, practices, and structures in the spheres of business, society, and the natural environment. Lectures will focus on studying and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the contemporary management literature, including the shareholder primacy model, enlightened self-interest, institutional theory, stakeholder approach, corporate social responsibility, environmental management, corporate citizenship, public-private partnership, sustainable supply chain management, humanitarian logistics, sustainable organisation, and ecocentric organisation theory. In the course students will be working with several case studies and describing the current state of the managerial praxis, as well as evaluating the suggested implications to develop the organisational practices for sustainable development. As the main benefits, students will attain skills and knowledge that enables them to make their own judgements of what responsible management is, and what is not, in varying kinds of organisational settings.

RMSED 6010-Social Responsibility

3Credits

In the last decades of the XX century, within the context of globalization, the need to look at new economic paradigms more in line with sustainable development became evident and notorious.

The triple bottom line approach is becoming the common language in every organization and the social pressure on both corporations, as well as governmental actors, civil society organization in providing ecofriendly goods and services, complying with International standards and codes of conduct as well as respecting and advocating for human rights, is rising day by day. 

Therefore there is a urgent need to reflect on the current practices and trends in responding to the world most urgent demands and at the same time challenge the most renowned models and framework to attempt looking beyond corporate social responsibilities approach as analyzing the social responsibilities of all stakeholders and promote a common understanding and synergy of actions which lead to the building of a new society which is more respectful and responsible in responding to needs and priorities of all citizens. 

The course will lead the students towards a critical review of the current approaches to CSR and looking beyond it to analyze the society as a whole, as per each actor involved.  

This is because it is the author’s belief that all stakeholders are equally responsible of market failure, for un respectful behaviors towards the environment and the society, and there is a collective need to look for answers and align policies and strategies to achieve common goals for the benefit of all. 

The course will be an interactive course built on theories and practical experiences of students, guest speakers and the instructor.

GPB 6043-Gender, Human Security, and Development

3Credits

This course focuses on the interconnectedness of the work of human security and development with its gendered dimensions. It aims to engage with the notion of human security to elaborate on how people’s livelihoods, their well-being, and concerns such as those related to the environment, food, and health, among others, are directly related to the gendered ways in which they have been approached. It also delves into feminist analyses of development issues, and explores gender inequalities in the areas of education, labor force, mortality, and more.

DED 6043 -Urban Sustainability

3Credits

Urban sustainability goes beyond how "green" a city is. This course will be based on SDG #11, and will provide an understanding on how sustainability in cities is a multi-variable concept, interconnected with issues such as urban planning, transport planning and design, social and gender inequality, climate action, health, economic development, among others. You will learn from case studies, site visits and the experience of experts in the field, in addition to gaining tools and developing skills that will help you propose strategies, projects and policies to improve your community, town or city in order to make it more sustainable.

RMSED 6041-Social Entrepreneurship

3Credits

The worlds of ‘working for the betterment of society’ and ‘private enterprise’ are often seen as incompatible. This course will attempt to breakdown that perception in order for participants to see the social sector as a place of opportunity, both to ‘do good’ but also to innovate and build a financially sustainable social enterprise, whether non-profit, for-profit, or some combination of the two. The course suggests that in order to get a socially beneficial idea off the ground, effectively grow it, and make it financially sustainable, social entrepreneurs need to think creatively beyond models of traditional non profits or for-profits. 

This hands-on and dynamic course will expose participants to a number of cases of social entrepreneurs who have converted their desire of building a better world into a reality. The course will include a field-based case where participants will experience first hand a social enterprise in Costa Rica. The course hopes to inspire participants with an entrepreneurial spirit, help gain an understanding of the challenges of the start-up process, and think about the complexities of growing and managing it.