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Level

Master's level

Entry requirements

Bachelor´s degree, consisting of 180 credits. The equivalent of Swedish secondary school English 6.

Programme structure

The master's programme Leadership for Sustainability is intended for students and professionals from a wide range of different backgrounds but with a common interest in developing their knowledge, understanding and skills in leading projects and organisational development to achieve sustainability.

This is a multidisciplinary master's programme dealing with the issues of organising and leading organisational development to achieve sustainability. Our standpoint is that sustainability requires new forms of organising involving diverse stakeholders. Organising and leading sustainability thus require new and diverse leading and organising skills, as well as understanding and knowledge for project managers and leaders. It also requires a new way of thinking about sustainability within and between organisations. This new approach is to be found in contemporary and on-going research in the fields of social entrepreneurship and social innovation. This master's programme provides knowledge, understanding and the research methods needed to enable sustainable decision-making in organisations.

The programme is organised around six courses divided into two semesters. At the start of the first semester, the course Organising and Leading Sustainable Organisations (OL641E - 7,5 credits) provides students with knowledge and understanding of organisation and leadership theories, with a focus on sustainability. The second course of the semester is Sustainable development: Individual, Organisational and Network Perspective (OL644E - 7,5 credits). The first semester ends with the course Project Management and Sustainability which enables students to explore project management in theory and practice (OL643E - 15 credits) while they plan their sustainable project.

The second semester students delve into sustainability and sustainable development in relation to innovation and entrepreneursip through the course Social entrepreneurship, Social innovation and Sustainability (OL645E - 7,5 credits). The second course of the semester is Leadership and Organisation for Sustainability - Research Methods (OL652E - 7,5 credits). The remainder of the second semester is then dedicated to the thesis course Master Thesis with a focus on Leadership and Organisation for Sustainability (OL646E - 15 credits). During this course students have the opportunity, in pairs, to focus on issues within organisation and leadership for sustainability in which they have a special interest.

Programme contents

Semester 1, Autumn 2026

Semester 2, Spring 2027

Qualitative targets

Knowledge and understanding

After a successful completion of this programme the student will be able to:

• demonstrate insight into current research in the fields of leadership and organisation, project management, social entrepreneurship and social innovation in the context of sustainability and sustainable development;
• acquire a critical understanding of the fields of leadership and organisation, project management, social entrepreneurship and social innovation in the context of sustainability and sustainable development;
• demonstrate an understanding of the challenges involved in organising and leading sustainable development as well as organisational development and project management;
• acquire and develop a set of perspectives and tools for approaching the challenges of organisational development, particularly different approaches to project management, and demonstrate an understanding of how these tools relate to creating and sustaining a coalition of stakeholders;
• demonstrate knowledge of a number of different models and techniques for broad stakeholder involvement;
• discuss basic values underpinning social entrepreneurship and sustainability; and
• acquire a critical understanding of philosophical, methodological and ethical approaches in research focused on leadership and organisation.

Skills and competences

After a successful completion of this programme the student will be able to:

• find, evaluate and synthesise current research in the fields of leadership and organisation, project management, social entrepreneurship and social innovation in the context of sustainability and sustainable development;
• identify and assess ethical issues in balancing the interests of different stakeholders with an view toward creating sustainable development;
• critically reflect on the roles of leaders and social entrepreneurs as change agents as well as on the roles of followers in the context of sustainable development and thus reflect on their future role in sustainable development;
• develop organisation and leadership processes following scientific methodological and methodical standards in leadership and organisation studies; and
• make informed decisions on choices of organisational and leadership models and strategies in the management of sustainable projects.

Judgement and approach

After a successful completion of this programme the student will be able to:

• demonstrate the capacity to critically use their understanding of the current research in the fields of organisation and leadership, project management, social entrepreneurship and social innovation in the context of sustainability and sustainable development to identify a problem, analyse it and solve it via the generation of new alternatives/knowledge;
• develop a multi-frame set of mind to address sustainable development in the context of organisation and leadership;
• assess challenges in a sustainable project or in organisational development and be able to reflect on the leadership role in areas suited to their competencies;
• argue for an approach to organisational development based on a developed understanding of its implications for sustainable development; and
• critically and reflectively engage with contemporary research in the fields of leadership and organisation, project management, social entrepreneurship and social innovation in the context of sustainability and sustainable development.

Degree

Degree of Master of Arts (60 credits) with a Major in Leadership and Organisation.

Additional information

Any specific entry requirements for progression within the programme are indicated in the respective course syllabus.

The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.

If a decision about discontinuation of a study programme has been made, the programme syllabus will cease to be in effect, however only after the students have had the opportunity to complete their study programme within nominal study time (calculated based on the final admission to the programme’s first term) and thereafter, as a minimum, during the following two terms, referred to as the “closure period.”