Global history of climate change from theory to practice: a cross-cultural learning approach

Innovative project idea

This project proposes a joint class between the Historisches Seminar (HIST) of the UZH and the Master in International Relations and Diplomacy (MPIRD) of the University of Shanghai (SHU). It combines theoretical training in the global history of climate change with a small-scale simulation of an international climate policy negotiation. Its innovative potential lies as much in its intellectual approach (the mobilization of historical knowledge for a practical negotiation model) as in its pedagogic methods (low-carbon intercontinental teaching made possible by the involvement of digital tools).

Benefits for students and teaching at UZH

The project puts global history into practice, by bringing different continental perspectives together and by evidencing the practical outcomes of historical knowledge. It will enhance students’ communication and negotiation skills as well as intercultural competences, and foster a lively intercontinental teaching network which could be actively exploited at the UZH in the future. It will also constitute a unique experiment in using a variety of digital tools, out of which we intend to design practical recommendations for making future internationally coordinated teaching units possible.