Global Citizenship and Sustainable Futures for the Digital Age - Semester I12 ECTS

CM3a examines the complex interplay between global development, sustainability, and digital citizenship, equipping students with the knowledge and analytical tools to understand the challenges and opportunities of a digitally interconnected world. It explores the role of individuals, organisations, and governments in promoting sustainable development, highlighting how digital technologies can act as both enablers and barriers to progress.

Through real-life case studies and interactive discussions, students learn to identify key influencing factors and links between digitalisation and global sustainability agendas. The course encourages critical reflection on how digital citizenship can contribute to addressing urgent global issues such as climate change, inequality, and social inclusion. Special emphasis is placed on the responsibility of global citizens and institutions to ensure that digital innovations are aligned with ethical principles and sustainable practices. Students develop the ability to critically analyse policies, practices, and initiatives at local, national, and international levels, considering their broader social and environmental impacts.

Taught in English and offered on a biennial basis, the course combines theoretical insights with applied learning, preparing students to engage constructively in debates and practices at the intersection of digitalisation, sustainability, and global development.

Course Content

The Course is organized in two parts.

• • Part I, titled Global Sustainable Development, will address the following topics: a) Progress and Development; b) Data and Sustainable Development Goals; c) Poverty; d) Sustainability; e) Anthropocene.
  • In Part II, titled Digital and Global Citizenship, the course will go through the following topics: a) Digital and Global Communities; b) Smart Cities; c) Global Migration; d) Altruism and Longtermism.

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and understanding

Students will be able to critically analyze the interplay between global development, sustainability, and digital citizenship. In the first part, they will survey development, poverty, and long-term sustainability in the Anthropocene, viewing these concepts through the lens of intra- and inter-generational inequality and the Sustainable Development Goals. In the second part, they will examine global citizenship, first through digitalization and smart cities, then through global inequalities within the state-based system that both incentivize and restrict international migration, while also opening space for global altruism.

Applying knowledge and understanding

Students will be able to engage in analyses, discussions, and real-world case studies to develop a comprehensive understanding of how these interconnected factors shape our global environment and future.

Course Syllabus

The detailed syllabus of the Module CM3a is available for students enrolled at DIGISOC via the Learning Management System OpenOLAT:

• Compulsory Module 3a: Global Citizenship and Sustainability (146505).

CM3b explores the challenges of global citizenship in the digital age, with a focus on the tensions between international responsibilities and national government agendas. It examines how digitalisation reshapes governance, participation, and justice, highlighting both opportunities and barriers for inclusive decision-making. Students learn to critically identify and evaluate these challenges, considering how global interdependence, technological change, and policy frameworks influence citizenship in contemporary societies. The course emphasises the importance of public participation in democratic processes, encouraging reflection on mechanisms that strengthen civic engagement at local, national, and global levels.

A central theme is the role of digital justice, which addresses fairness, equity, and accountability in the design and use of digital technologies. By engaging with theoretical perspectives and practical case studies, students assess how digital innovations can both support and undermine human rights, inclusion, and social cohesion. Taught in English and offered on a biennial basis, the course provides students with the analytical and ethical tools to critically examine the interplay between citizenship, governance, and digitalisation, preparing them to actively contribute to debates and solutions in this evolving field.

Course Content

The course aims to promote the acquisition of specialist skills and advanced methodological tools for studying and understanding the main topics of political reflection on citizenship, globalization, government, and global governance. Particular attention will be given to:

1. 1. understanding the historical and philosophical foundations of citizenship;
   2. the conceptual framework and political vocabulary necessary to understand and interpret the issues of citizenship, globalisation and governance;
   3. the theoretical and critical elements fundamental to understanding the challenges to democratic citizenship in the context of globalisation.

Referring critically and problematically to the objectives of the UN’s 2030 Agenda, the course aims to promote the acquisition of intellectual tools useful for ‘promoting the rule of law at national and international level’ and ‘developing effective and accountable institutions’, as well as the critical skills necessary to independently problematise and actualise the knowledge acquired, thus falling within objectives 4 (Quality Education) and 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).

The course will address the following topics:

Introducing Global Citizenship

Part I – Defining Citizenship

• A conceptual and historical introduction: from the Ancient to the Modern;
• Contemporary philosophical and political perspectives on citizenship;
• From citizenship to global democratic citizenship.

Part II – What is the Global?

• Framing political modernity: from the State to Nation-State;
• Globalization: contested definitions;
• On Cosmopolitanism.

Part III – Our Global Neighborhood?

• Governance without Government;
• Global governance vs Cosmopolitan democracy;
• Global citizenship and the future of democracy.

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Students must be familiar with and able to independently and critically analyze issues related to power, the state, citizenship, and globalization. To this end, students must read and correctly interpret the texts and documents provided. Students must also understand and interpret the theoretical foundations and methodological choices that distinguish the main currents of contemporary philosophy and political science on the topics covered in the course. Students will be able to problematize some of the most current political issues relating to the forms, principles, and values of modern and contemporary political systems, as well as changes in the very nature of politics, with a specific focus on contemporary democracy and the horizon of international relations. Students will also become familiar with the epistemological foundations of the history of political thought and with the methods and techniques of historical-political sciences.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding

Students will be able to identify and understand the arguments of a text and a political document, contextualize and historicize these arguments while understanding their ethical, political, and theoretical elements. Students will be able to identify and locate the main bibliography and sources for the analysis of a text and the analysis of a political issue, as well as classify information, citing the source and secondary literature. Students will be able to apply the knowledge and skills acquired to the contemporary democratic political context with critical and reflective skills. Students will also be able to: engage in rigorous analyses, discussions, conduct collaborative and team-work research and analysis of texts and documents to develop a comprehensive understanding of how these interconnected factors may shape our future.

Course Syllabus

The detailed syllabus of the Module CM3b is available for students enrolled at DIGISOC via the Learning Management System OpenOLAT:

• Compulsory Module 3b: Global Citizenship and Governance (146506).

CM3c examines the complexity of digital technologies and their profound impact on the development and practice of international and European law. It introduces students to the legal challenges arising from rapid digitalisation, with a particular focus on digital privacy, data protection, and digital security. Students gain insight into how digital innovations create new questions for international legal frameworks, requiring adaptation and reinterpretation of existing norms and principles. The course highlights the interplay between global governance, national regulation, and EU law, showing how different jurisdictions respond to shared digital challenges.

Key issues include the regulation of cross-border data flows, the protection of human rights in the digital sphere, and the role of international institutions in shaping digital governance. Students critically analyse case studies and legal developments, assessing how legal systems balance technological innovation with the need for security, accountability, and individual rights. Taught in English and offered on a biennial basis, the course equips students with the ability to describe, analyse, and critically reflect on the evolving relationship between digital technologies and international law, preparing them to engage with pressing legal and ethical debates in the digital era.

Course Content

The course aims to provide students with a foundational understanding of international and European law and its core concepts, institutions, and values, enabling them to contextualise digital technologies within the broader framework of global governance. Moreover, students will familiarise with the ways in which digital technologies challenge, adapt, or transform established rules and structures of international and European law. Students will develop the ability to critically assess the adequacy of existing legal frameworks (international responsibility, jus ad bellum/in bello, human rights, EU law, internet governance) when applied to digital technologies. In addition, they will work to cultivate the skills to apply international and European legal principles to contemporary and emerging issues, ranging from cyber operations and data protection to artificial intelligence and quantum technologies. Finally, the course aims to encourage independent, interdisciplinary, and critical reflection on the evolving relationship between law, technology, and society.

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Explain the fundamentals of international and European law (actors, sources of law, key principles, values) and connect them to the context of digital technologies;
• Identify and analyse how international law addresses issues of force, armed conflict, and state responsibility when applied to cyber operations and other digital domains;
• Describe the multi-level system of human rights protection and assess its application to digital rights and freedoms;
• Analyse the foundations, sources, and scope of EU law and evaluate its regulatory responses to digital disruptions, including data governance, the GDPR, Big Tech regulation, and the AI Act;
• Understand how governance structures at international, European, and multi-stakeholder levels address the regulation of the internet and frontier technologies such as quantum computing.

Applying knowledge and understanding

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Apply international and European legal principles to practical scenarios involving digital technologies (e.g. attribution of cyber operations, data protection cases, AI governance challenges);
• Engage in rigorous structured analyses, discussions, and real-world case studies to develop a comprehensive understanding of how international and European law aspects of digital technologies shape our global environment and future;
• Compare and evaluate different institutional and normative approaches to governing digital technologies at the international, regional (EU), and private governance levels;
• Demonstrate the capacity to critically assess contemporary debates, case law, and policy documents and translate them into reasoned legal arguments.

Course Syllabus

The detailed syllabus of the Module CM3c is available for students enrolled at DIGISOC via the Learning Management System OpenOLAT:

• Compulsory Module 3c: International and European Law Aspects of Digital Technologies (146507).