Anne-Kathrin Peters

I am a Docent and Associate Professor at the Department of Learning at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, where I co-lead the research cluster Transformative Research in Education for Sustainability (TREES).

In my research, I examine the role of education and technology in societal transformation towards more just and sustainable ways of living. I am particularly interested in how education both contributes to change and reproduces existing norms and structures. I study how norms, values, and identities are formed in educational settings, how they are shaped through power relations, and how they can be challenged and re-worked. A central theme in my work is the relationship between environmental and social sustainability, including questions of equality, equity, justice, and democracy. Much of my research focuses on engineering and technology education, fields that hold high societal status and shape ideas about progress, responsibility, and the future, and which can therefore be critically examined and transformed.

My work is interdisciplinary and engages several research communities, including education for sustainable development and environmental and sustainability education, science and technology studies (STS), feminist technology studies, gender research, and computer science and STEM education. I draw on these perspectives to address sustainability challenges that cut across educational, social and technological domains.

In addition to research, I am involved in educational development at KTH and across higher education institutions. I teach courses in higher education pedagogy and sustainability for university teachers. I have served as coordinator of the focus group “education for sustainable development” within the Swedish Higher Educations' climate network (Klimatnätverket), supporting Swedish universities in developing education for sustainability. I also advise on sustainability in IT education as a member of the Advisory Board of the Excited Centre at NTNU (Norway), the Centre for Excellent IT Education.

At KTH, I also serve on the faculty board of the School of Industrial Engineering and Management (ITM).

Selected recent publications

1. Peters, A. K., Laurell-Thorslund, M., Eriksson, E., Pargman, D., & Zembylas, M. (2026). Dread, hope and the politics of emotion in engineering education. European Journal of Engineering Education, 1–26. (download)
2. Flodin, V.; Peters, A.-K.; Lundegård, I.; Österlind, E.; Huitric, M-; Dahlberg, L. (2026). Undervisning för hållbara framtider - skapa rörelse för förändring. Stockholm University. Educational resource. https://doi.org/10.17045/sthlmuni.31151290.v2 (Final report from the project "Teaching natural science and technology in the Anthropcene" financed by Universitets- och Högskolerådet (UHR))
3. Peters, A. K., & Rosén, A. (2025). Pain and Pleasure in working with sustainability and transformation at a technical university: An exploration of the role of educational developers through collaborative autoethnography. European Journal of Engineering Education, 1–30. (download)
4. Peters, A.-K., Capilla, R., Coroama, V., Heldal, R., 
   Lago, P., Leifler, O., Moreira, A., Paulo, J, Penzenstadler, B., Porras, J., Venters, C. (2024) Sustainability Education in Computing: A Systematic Literature Review, Transactions in Computing Education (TOCE) (download)
5. Barrineau, S., Mendy, L., Peters, A.-K., (2022) Emergentist education and the opportunities of radical futurity. Futures. (download)