Sustainable Development and the Future of Work 2600-MSdz2SDFWen
The course explores concepts and issues related to the labour market from a universal perspective, including the Sustainable Development Goals, work within a sustainable development system, decent work and economic growth, the state of income and employment worldwide, barriers to employment, policies promoting economic opportunity, and the future of work in a rapidly changing world. The course will address issues of social inclusion, equality, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, algorithm management and AI in employment and decent work for all. Topics covered include structural changes in the economy and work, work-related challenges, the modern welfare state and the future of work, women's employment, and child labour.
Course coordinators
Course dedicated to a programme
Type of course
Mode
Learning outcomes
Knowledge
K_W05 – The student knows the basic concepts of sustainable development.
K_W06 – The student knows the basic concepts related to the labour market.
K_W07 – The student knows the basic phenomena that will pose challenges for work in the future.
Skills
K_U01 – The student is able to identify phenomena related to precarious work and work that does not provide a decent income.
K_U02 – The student is able to analyze the basic relationships between sustainable development and transformations in the contemporary labour market.
K_U03 – The student is able to interpret selected social and economic phenomena affecting the future of work.
Social Competences
K_K01 – The student is ready to critically assess phenomena occurring in the labour market.
- K_K07 – The student is ready to reflectively assess the social consequences of changes in the labour market, including precarious work and the lack of a decent income.
Assessment criteria
Active participation in classes – up to 70 points,
ongoing assessment – up to 70 points,
test – up to 30 points,
additional work – essay on a given topic up to 30 points
Passing threshold: 120 points
Practical placement
-
Bibliography
Proposed literature (however not limited to):
1. Holmberg, S. (2020). Social trust-The Nordic Gold? https://socialeurope.eu/ubi-bad-idea-welfare-state
2. Chen, Martha Alter. 2012. The Informal Economy: Definitions, Theories and Policies. WIEGO Working Paper No. 1. WIEGO, https://www.wiego.org/publications/informal-economy-definitions-theories-and-policies
3. Polasky, S., Kling, C. L., Levin, S. A., Carpenter, S. R., Daily, G. C., Ehrlich, P. R., ... & Lubchenco, J. (2019). Role of economics in analyzing the environment and sustainable development. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(12), 5233-5238, https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.1901616116
4. Decent work and the SDGs: 11 charts that tell the story, https://ilostat.ilo.org/decent-work-and-the-sdgs-11-charts-that-tell-the-story/
5. 100 statistics on the ILO and the labour market to celebrate the ILO centenary, https://ilostat.ilo.org/100-statistics-on-the-ilo-and-the-labour-market/
6. Digital labour platforms and the future of work. Towards decent work in the online world, http://wtf.tw/text/digital_labour_platforms_and_the_future_of_work.pdf
7. The Future of Work in the ‘Sharing Economy’, publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC101280/jrc101280.pdf
8. Countouris, N. (2019). Defining and regulating work relations for the future of work. International Labour Office. Geneva., http://www.ilo.int/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_dialogue/documents/publication/wcms_677999.pdf
9. Decent Work and the Sustainable Development Goals A Guidebook on SDG Labour Market Indicators, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---stat/documents/publication/wcms_647109.pdf
10. Goralski, M. A., & Tan, T. K. (2020). Artificial intelligence and sustainable development. The International Journal of Management Education, 18(1), 100330.
11. Dantas, T. E. T., de-Souza, E. D., Destro, I. R., Hammes, G., Rodriguez, C. M. T., & Soares, S. R. (2021). How the combination of Circular Economy and Industry 4.0 can contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 26, 213-227.
12. Kulkov, I., Kulkova, J., Rohrbeck, R., Menvielle, L., Kaartemo, V., & Makkonen, H. (2024). Artificial intelligence‐driven sustainable development: Examining organizational, technical, and processing approaches to achieving global goals. Sustainable Development, 32(3), 2253-2267.
13. Leal Filho, W., Lange Salvia, A., Beynaghi, A., Fritzen, B., Ulisses, A., Avila, L. V., ... & Nikolaou, I. (2024). Digital transformation and sustainable development in higher education in a post-pandemic world. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 31(1), 108-123.
14. Romero, D., Stahre, J., & Taisch, M. (2020). The Operator 4.0: Towards socially sustainable factories of the future. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 139, 106128.
15. Fonseca, L. M., Domingues, J. P., & Dima, A. M. (2020). Mapping the sustainable development goals relationships. Sustainability, 12(8), 3359
16. ILO (2019). Work for a brighter future (Report of the Global Commission on the Future of Work). Geneva: International Labour Organization, https://www.ilo.org/publications/work-brighter-future
17. Newell, P., & Mulvaney, D. (2013). The political economy of the 'just transition'. Geographical Journal, 179(2), 132–140. https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/geoj.12008?casa_token=1NOCKYAuIRQAAAAA:80pS4puPSTfHkSQRTyzF1mzqo8rDc9cBhwt32l0vtAOXCAVPXXmmqBJo0zYHsvoeNIM_XMJo4GdTwGDk
18. Duflo, E. (2012). Women Empowerment and Economic Development. Journal of Economic Literature, 50(4), 1051–1079. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w17702/w17702.pdf
19. Żuk, P. (2025). Labour, energy transition, and social change: On critiques of unjust transition in the context of popular classes. The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 36(4), 884-898. https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/566CAE98C61DBAA87431F5491DCFFA8B/S1035304626100702a.pdf/div-class-title-labour-energy-transition-and-social-change-on-critiques-of-unjust-transition-in-the-context-of-popular-classes-div.pdf
20. Frey, C. B., & Osborne, M. A. (2017). The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation?. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 114, 254–280. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162516302244?casa_token=pRggFpLzJJEAAAAA:B7yhU_NiwgM8gAJ7op9POhfoNY33erShh4yGPqr6xaPq0gnCYFIlKqJrF1OVXqKKn9wZrnBqdgU
21. OECD (2018). Good Jobs for All in a Changing World of Work: The OECD Jobs Strategy. OECD Publishing.
22. Ernst, E., Merola, R., & Reljic, J. (2025). Fiscal policy instruments for inclusive labor markets: A review. Journal of Economic Surveys, 39(5), 2020-2041.
23. Li, Y., Zhang, J., & Lyu, Y. (2023). Toward inclusive green growth for sustainable development: A new perspective of labor market distortion. Business Strategy and the Environment, 32(6), 3927-3950.
24. Peña-Casas, R., Ghailani, D., & Sabato, S. (2025). Building resilient and inclusive labour markets in Europe: unpacking policy synergies and challenges. WeLar Project Deliverable. Brussels: European Social Observatory.
25. Rubery, J. (2017). Reregulating for inclusive labour markets. In Regulating for Equitable and Job-Rich Growth (pp. 31-62). Edward Elgar Publishing
26. Statistical data ofGUS, Eurostat, OECD
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Term 2025Z:
Literature, not limited to: 1. Holmberg, S. (2020). Social trust-The Nordic Gold? https://socialeurope.eu/ubi-bad-idea-welfare-state |
Term 2026Z:
Proposed literature (however not limited to): 1. Holmberg, S. (2020). Social trust-The Nordic Gold? https://socialeurope.eu/ubi-bad-idea-welfare-state |
Notes
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Term 2026Z:
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