Master’s Program in Strategic Innovation and Design for Sustainability, 120 credits

Programme structure

The programme is a two-year master’s degree focused on enabling sustainable transformation in industry. It is designed to gradually build your competence – from understanding complex sustainability challenges to developing concrete and innovative solutions together with companies and other actors, while leading the change processes needed for successful transitions to sustainability.

During the first year, you will study core courses that provide a solid foundation in strategic sustainable development, sustainable product development, and strategic organisational management and change. You will work both theoretically and practically, often in project form and in close collaboration with external partners.

The second year provides greater freedom to shape your profile. You may choose an internship in an organisation, take elective courses at BTH or at other universities in Sweden or abroad. The programme concludes with a thesis where you specialise in an area you are passionate about and bring together all parts of the programme.

Year 1 – Foundations in Strategic Innovation and Design for Sustainability

The first year focuses on providing a shared base and a common language for working with sustainable transformation in industrial contexts.

You will encounter the following areas:

Strategic sustainable development

You deepen your understanding of global and industrial sustainability challenges and their causes. You learn a structured methodology for working strategically with sustainable development, and you practise analysing complex systems and identifying pathways forward.

Leading Change in Socio-Technical Systems

You develop knowledge of leadership relating to transformative change, particularly within socio-technical systems where technology, organisation, and society are interconnected. Through practical exercises, you train skills needed to lead in uncertain and complex situations and to engage others in change processes.

Introduction to Sustainable Product Development

You gain an introduction to how products and services can be developed with sustainability as a foundation. You learn about the relationship between design decisions, resource use, and sustainability consequences, and you receive an overview of key concepts within sustainable product development.

Sustainability Assessment Methods and Design Strategies in Product Development

You learn methods and tools for analysing and evaluating sustainability performance in products and systems, such as various types of lifecycle assessments and other assessment methods. You also explore design strategies such as design for circularity and design for the environment.

Product Innovation and Design for Socio-Technical System Transformation

You deepen your understanding of how innovation and design can contribute to broader system changes for sustainability. In project form, you develop solution concepts – for example, product‑service systems – that respond to both business needs and societal challenges.

Project Course in Innovation and Design for Industrial Sustainability Transformation

You apply your knowledge in a concrete project, often in collaboration with an external partner. You gain practical experience in developing prototypes, working with sustainability criteria, and managing trade-offs between different solutions.

Strategic Planning and Management for Industry Transitions

You develop an advanced understanding of corporate sustainability, including key tools, policies, risks, and business opportunities, while strengthening the ability to think and plan strategically for sustainability. The course also focuses on applying methods for strategic sustainable development to structure and guide sustainability work, and on building core sustainability competencies through teamwork in complex contexts. In addition, the course introduces central concepts such as sustainable business models, supply chain management, governance, and decision-making under uncertainty.

Advanced Leadership in Socio-Technical Systems

A supporting course during the second term that further develops your personal and organisational leadership. The focus is on leading sustainability transitions, both by influencing structures and by developing your own leadership skills.

Throughout the first year, you work closely with teachers who are active researchers with industry experience. You practise collaborating in interdisciplinary teams and communicating complex issues clearly and engagingly.

Year 2 – Specialisation, Electives, and Internship

The second year allows you to shape your own path within strategic innovation and design for sustainability.

During the first part of the year, you may:

• Complete an internship in an organisation working with sustainability‑driven innovation, such as industrial companies, consultancy firms, public‑sector organisations or other types of organisations. The internship duration may vary, allowing you to adapt it to your goals. During the internship, you apply your knowledge in practice, understand the professional role, and build valuable contacts.
• Take elective courses at BTH or other universities, in Sweden or abroad. Here you may specialise in areas such as entrepreneurship, specific technical fields, design, innovation, sustainable business development, or other subjects that complement the programme’s core.

The open structure during the second year enables you to create a profile that suits your career ambitions – whether you aim to work in industry, as a consultant, in the public sector, or continue within academia.

Projects, Collaboration, and Practical Work

A recurring theme throughout the programme is close collaboration with industry and other external partners. You will work repeatedly with:

Projects connected to real challenges

Many course components are based on real cases from companies and organisations seeking to develop their products, services, business models, or working methods in a more sustainable direction. This provides you with concrete experience and a clear understanding of how your competence can be used in working life.

Interdisciplinary teams

You study alongside students with diverse backgrounds, which trains your ability to collaborate across disciplinary and cultural boundaries – a key competence in all work involving sustainable transformation.

Internship as a bridge to working life

Internship courses during the second year allow you to deepen your expertise in a particular industry or type of organisation. You gain a better understanding of the expectations placed on professionals in the field, while building a professional network.

Research‑linked learning

The programme is strongly connected to current research in strategic sustainable development, sustainable product development, and system innovation. You gain insight into ongoing research projects and how research results can be applied in practice – excellent preparation for your thesis.

Thesis – Specialisation and Personal Profile

The programme concludes with a major thesis project where you specialise in a specific area within strategic innovation and design for sustainability.

You may choose to focus on, for example:

• Development of new concepts for sustainable products or services
• Strategies for corporate sustainability work and business development
• Methods and approaches for leading transformation in complex systems
• Analyses of how technology and design can support long-term sustainable societal development

In the thesis, you are expected to use relevant research methods, work independently or in teams, and integrate the programme’s various perspectives. Many students choose to conduct their thesis in collaboration with companies or other organisations, often leading to deeper partnerships and sometimes even future employment.