Jacques Rousseau

Jacques Rousseau is a renowned philosopher and has been a lecturer in the Faculty of Management Studies at the University of Cape Town (UCT) since 1998. He is the founder and director of the Free Society Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to social justice, critical citizenship, scientific thought and secular humanism since 2011. Having taught and researched for over 25 years and served on various research and ethics committees, he is also a peer reviewer, author, editor, publisher, and editor-in-chief.

During his four-week guest lectureship at the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld, Jacques Rousseau taught on the English-language Master‘s degree program „International Material Flow Management (IMAT)“ (www.imat-master.com) with interdisciplinary module design, which aims to train future managers in the field of international material flow management - in particular on topics such as sustainable development, circular economy, zero emissions, energy efficiency, sustainable resource management, and renewable energies.

The lecture series deals thematically with academic writing and critical thinking concerning sustainability and the circular economy; it was attended by IMAT students from different semesters as well as interested Bachelor students from the Sustainable Business and Technology (SBT) course. As a philosopher, Jacques Rousseau sheds light on sustainability-related topics from an ethical perspective. This innovative, critical approach and the change of perspective were very well received by the international students. The active teaching format and the interaction between the participants also enabled an intercultural exchange and generated added value for everyone involved. This lecture series established a reference to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and promoted the students‘ sustainability skills.

Jacques Rousseau‘s teaching activities are shaped by his experience and commitment to the academic management structures of one of the leading universities in the Global South. Illuminating sustainability-related topics from an ethical perspective not only enriches the students but also promotes a sense of responsibility and the decision-making skills of our future managers and also provides important long-term impetus and food for thought for future courses. The intercultural exchange and cooperation across national, institutional, and departmental boundaries have proven to be very beneficial for all involved. The guest lectureship, therefore, contributed to improve the quality of teaching and thus to achieving SDG 4 “Quality Education.“