“The workplace is the most important environment for most people’s health, whether it is a home, office, factory or forest.” (Kjellström 2007)

“Social” sustainability is one of three global goals noted in the Rio Convention 1992 by the UN World Commission of Environment and Development. Economic sustainability is a booster of change for the modern organisation; ecological sustainability remains a constant task, while social sustainability is less regarded in the everyday workplace. Statistics since 2005 show alarming figures concerning the well-being and health of working people world wide. Therefore, it is important to understand how organisational structures and the individual’s processing and coping are interlinked.
This training-seminar is bridging sociological and psychological knowledge, focussing on concepts that support an understanding of how organisations and their role actors can shape a workplace “socially sustainable”. We will explore the psychological effects of the quality of a social climate, in order to understand social vulnerability. We scrutinize effects of socially anti-sustainable workplaces marked by problems as work addiction, burnout and mobbing, and sustainability supporting approaches like occupational health management, work-life-blending, and how to deal with digital stress. Ethics and responsibilities become apparent.
English is used as a lingua franca; effects of this setting are part of the reflection within the training setting. Students are supported to express themselves, didactically and by the lecturer. The interactive training-setting combines theoretical and practical elements,. Students should be willing to participate actively and in a reflective manner.
Beside interchangeable contents, the “how” is essential for all parts of this training seminar: students learn process planning, group moderation, use of Metaplan techniques, and other demands typical in the organisational practice.

Open for 1st semester students and above, recommended for Sociology Bachelor students before their internship and thesis, as well as for Master students. Open to students of other faculties. As a training seminar limited to 20 participants.

2 SWS: Fortnightly, starting in the 2nd week of the term: Tuesdays 4-7 pm; 3 hours (s.t.!). Limited to 20 participants, therefore please register reliable via Stud.IP for your participation. After the start workshop, this training-group will be closed.
[In case the seminar must be held online: participation only with camera turned on!]

References
Hämäläinen, Riitta (2006). Workplace Health Promotion in Europe. Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
Meyerhuber, Sylke (2014). Trust and Time in Reorganisations and the Role of Middle Managers. In Guido Becke, Mindful Change in Times of Permanent Reorganisation – Organizational, Institutional and Sustainability Perspectives. Heidelberg New York London: Springer, 147-166.
Pongratz, Hans & Voß, Günter (2001). From Employee to ‘Entreployee’ – Towards a ‘Self-Entrepreneurical’ work force? In: SOWI – Sozialwissenschaftliche Informationen, 2001, pp. 42-52.

Performance requirement for 6 CP (ECTS)
Preparation of an interactive workshop and exposition in small groups.

This seminar will thematise the issue of equality and social inequality vis-a-vis the living situation of refugees in Germany. It will examine the different levels of inequality based on current situations and participants will be encouraged to explore real life cases.

Health systems of low- and middle-income countries are often characterised by inequality and discrimination, that is the availability and quality of health services vary greatly among different social groups. This seminar examines the institutional division between the care provided to the poor versus to the middle and upper classes in specific countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, and how this impacts the general health status of poorer nations.