Basic Requirements and Special Eligibility: A Bachelor degree with at least 180 credits or an equivalent foreign degree, a minimum of 90 credits in sport science, sport studies, sport and exercise science, sport management, sport business, human movement studies, kinesiology, physical education, sport politics, sport coaching, sport psychology, public health, exercise and nutrition, recreation management or equivalent.

The equivalent of English 6 in Swedish secondary school.

A1F

Course objectives

The aim of the course is to develop a deep understanding, and an ability to strategically reflect and propose solutions, regarding sustainability issues in a contemporary sport and health context.

Course contents

The course addresses sustainable development issues in connection to sport.

The concept sustainable development, which includes social, economic and environmental aspects, is problematised in a contemporary sport and health context. Here, social aspects include for instance equality, accessibility and lifestyle issues. Economic aspects are viewed both from the individual and societal perspective and include welfare as well as growth issues. Environmental aspects include for example resource consumption, pollutions, land degradation, etc.

Of importance are both theoretical understanding and empirical application in co-operation with different actors.

Furthermore, the course addresses questions concerning how sustainability work is conducted and could be carried out in different sport related organisations, locally, nationally and internationally.

The students develop their ability to strategically reflect and suggest solutions, regarding sustainability issues in a contemporary sports and health context, based on an analysis of a selected sport or health related organization.

Finally, the student identifies the need for further knowledge within the field more broadly and from a personal perspective.

Upon completion of the course the student should be able to:

1. describe and problematise different definitions of the concept of sustainable development, including social, economic and environmental aspects, in a local as well as global context,
2. problematise the relationship between sport and sustainable development in today’s changing society, and on the basis of this, identify relevant areas of practical concern,
3. analyse, evaluate and propose directions of development for the sustainability work in a selected sport(-related) organisation,
4. identify the need for further knowledge concerning sport in relation to sustainable development from a societal as well as personal perspective.

The course contains varied work formats that can consist of lectures, guest lectures, seminars, group exercises, study visits and self-study. The sessions that require compulsory attendance are announced at the start of the course.

The course is assessed through two examinations as follows:

Portfolio, 4 credits, 4 hp; The exam assesses the learning outcomes 1, 2 and 4.

Written and Oral report, 3,5 credits, 3,5 hp; The exam assesses the learning outcome 3.

Both examinations are to be conducted individually, which includes that the students will write their texts independently without the use of AI tools.

For grade A on the course, one of the examinations should be graded A and one examination A or B.

The grading criterion are announced at the start of the course.

Orr, Madeleine (2024). Warming Up: How Climate Change is Changing Sport. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. 320p.

Svensson, Daniel, Backman, Erik, Hedenborg, Susanna & Sörlin, Sverker (eds.) (2023). Sport, Performance and Sustainability. London: Routledge. 153p.

A reading list with current research is provided at the beginning of the course.

Material from UN, IOC etc.

Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).

If a course is no longer offered, or has undergone significant changes, the students must be offered two opportunities for re-examination based on the syllabus that applied at the time of registration, for a period of one year after the changes have been implemented.

If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format. The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.