Materials and sustainable development

The aim of the course is to give a structural and quantitative analysis of sustainable development with emphasis on the role of materials. The course gives a general introduction and description of the fundamental concepts of sustainable development. A systematic methodology to analyze and evaluate specific cases with respect to sustainability is presented and applied through problem based project work where students work in teams. The aim is to introduce a method that involves a quantitative approach to consider sustainable solutions especially related to the use of materials. Metallic materials will be prioritized. Materials selection, life cycle analyses and circular economy will be discussed extensively.

After completing the course, the student should be able to:

• Know and understand the basic elements of sustainable development, including the role of materials and especially the role of some selected metals
• Understand and be able to describe the complexity of sustainable development
• Carry out a systematic analysis of one or more cases of sustainable development for a given area, product etc. ("case studies")
• Collect and systematize multi-disciplinary information for a specific problem area ("case")
• Identify interest groups and their perspective on a particular problem area
• Find information from a wide range of sources (media, public studies, scientific literature) and make an assessment of the reliability of the information that appears
• Work in a team on a specific project
• Present the result of a project work in a written report (as group work)
• Able to prepare good presentations and lecture about their project work for fellow students in plenary, as well as give feedback on others work
• Have experience and routine in oral and written communication.
• Evaluate different opportunities for sustainable technologies using selected digital tools

Lectures (50 hours), project work in groups with submission and presentation (40 hours) and self-study and voluntary exercises (110 hours). The project work is mandatory, and counts for 30% of the grade in the course.

The course is taught in Norwegian.