Short Courses
Building on the legacy of short courses developed through the Resilience Alliance, the annual SocSES online short course draws on our growing international network of researchers to provide explorations of relevant topics and pressing issues. The short course provides participants with the opportunity to learn from leading experts, while engaging with emerging concepts, approaches, and practical applications in the field.
2026 ONLINE SHORT COURSE
The Resilience of Urban Social-Ecological-Technological Systems (SETS)
When: 19-23 October 2026
Where: Online (2-3 synchronous sessions per day)
Who: Open to postgraduate students (Master’s and PhD) and early-career researchers
How: Apply here by 8 September 2026
Course theme
This course draws on the growing international network of researchers of SocSES to provide a timely exploration of urban transformation. Participants will learn from leading experts in urban systems, the SETS framework, and resilience, while engaging with emerging concepts, approaches, and practical applications in the field.
The course will explore the broad theme of urban SETS and resilience from a range of perspectives, drawing connections across topics such as climate change and cities, urban transformation and sustainability, resilience and urban infrastructure, informality, urban imaginaries, and nature-based solutions. Throughout the week, participants will return to a central guiding question: How can we transform cities into some of the best places to live sustainably?
Format and activities
The five-day course will be asynchronous with two online sessions daily. Most sessions will be between the hours of 15:00-18:00 (UTC). Additional sessions outside of these hours will be offered and all sessions will be recorded and shared on the same day to accommodate multiple time zones. The sessions will combine lectures, discussions, applied activities, and offline readings. There will be student-led discussion groups organised according to time zones, and a short pre-course assignment.
Lecturers and experts
The course draws on the resilience and urban SETS expertise of the following ten scholars:
- Sara Meerow, Arizona State University, USA | View bio
- Nikki Franzeskaki, Utrecht University, Netherlands | View bio
- Mikhail Chester, Arizona State University, USA | View bio
- Yeowon Kim, Korea University, South Korea | View bio
- Hallie Eakin, Arizona State University, USA | View bio
- Maike Hamman, University of Exeter, UK | View bio
- Marta Berbés-Blázquez, University of Waterloo, Canada | View bio
- Carly Ziter, McGill University, Canada | View bio
- Nancy Grimm, Arizona State University, USA | View bio
- Michael Schoon, Arizona State University, USA | View bio
Course fees
There is no fee to apply. If accepted, the course fee is $150 USD for SocSES members and $300 USD for non-members. A few waivers are available for early-career researchers from the Global South.
How to apply
Postgraduate students (Master’s and PhD) and early-career researchers are invited to apply by completing the online application form available here. We are seeking to gather a diverse group of participants from across the globe and spanning a variety of disciplinary backgrounds.
Applications are due by 8 September 2026.
For more information
Please direct any questions to Allyson Quinlan at aquinlan@resalliance.org