OADD 2400 - Sufficiency, Philosophy, Politics & Economics

Sufficiency is “a set of policy measures and daily practices which avoid the demand for energy, materials, land, water, and other natural resources, while delivering wellbeing for all within planetary boundaries” (Saheb, 2021) (IPCC, 2022 )

The sufficiency concept is grounded in theories developed in different disciplines ranging from philosophy and earth system science to economics, psychology, physics, political and social science. The inter-disciplinarity of the sufficiency concept make it unique and at the same time difficult to grasp by scholars and policymakers.

Our journey will start with an introduction to the sufficiency concept as defined and framed in each of the disciplines where it is considered. This will be followed by a deep dive to governmental comments, to the latest IPCC report on climate mitigation, on sufficiency and the politics of sufficiency in France, the only OECD country to consider sufficiency in its 2015 energy transition law. The course will end with an overview of the Sufficiency Economy; how it differs from existing concepts such as post-growth and Doughnut economics and how sufficiency could help humanity in addressing the challenges of the 21st century.

The course will be participatory and co-creative.

Learning Outcomes

• Understanding the sufficiency concept and what it brings to sustainability and global security
• Methods to bridge concepts from different disciplines
• Critical analysis of politics in science

Professional Skills

Strategies to succeed when working in the interface between science and politics

Being curious, open-minded and critical of mainstream politics, governance and economics

Pedagogical and feedback format

The final mark will be provided two weeks after the last session and will be calculated as the weighted average of the 4 marks;

• Average mark of the quizzes (30%),ii) group assessment of gvts comments (30%), individual essay and presentation (40%)

Assessment:

Group evaluation (maximum 3 students per group)

• Assessments of governments’ comments on sufficiency in the IPCC mitigation report.

Individual evaluation

• From the 2nd session onwards, each new session will start with a quiz to assess the learnings of the previous session
• Short essay of maximum 500 words on how to introduce sufficiency in a selected country/region
• Oral presentation, in which students are expected to be as creative as possible, of the essay at the final session.

Course workload

Attendance: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester

Online learning activities: None

Reading and Preparation for Class: 30 hours a semester

Research and Preparation for Group Work: 4 hours a semester

Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 10 hours a semester