Climate change creates a situation of unprecedented urgency, complexity and uncertainty, but also opens up new opportunities for innovation and leadership.

In this free online course, you will get a view of the leadership challenges associated with climate change, as well as the new arenas that are opening up for climate action.

Discover the leadership challenges posed by climate change

There are repeated calls for bold climate change leadership and action within politics, business, and both established and grassroots organisations, but what does it really entail? What kind of knowledge and skills define a climate change leader and how can they be learned? What kind of political, cultural and psychological resources are lacking in present initiatives?

In this course, we will explore climate change leadership from a broad range of perspectives. We will take stock of the Paris Agreement – the first-ever legally binding global climate deal – and discuss climate justice and pathways to avoid catastrophic climate change. We will examine the social complexity of climate change, and how it may limit the effectiveness of traditional models of leadership within governance, management and development. And we will discuss how to unpack this complexity and identify climate change leadership opportunities in practical, political and personal spheres.

Consider climate change leadership from international to local levels

Climate change leadership does not only happen in negotiation rooms at international conferences. A central part of the course is therefore to identify, discuss and work with climate change leadership challenges in your own context.

You will create a climate change leadership plan for an organisation or issue that you care about, develop your own capacity as a climate change leader and discover ways to deal with climate change that are in proportion to the scale and urgency of the challenge.

Learn with interdisciplinary climate change leaders at Uppsala University

The course has been developed by Uppsala University – a broad research university, which makes it particularly suited to investigate interdisciplinary areas such as climate change leadership.

Throughout, you will learn with researchers who approach climate change and leadership from scientific, social and cultural standpoints, giving you the tools for creating change within your own personal and organisational contexts.