Fundamentals of Sustainability, a course offered through the Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics program, provides students with a broad and deep introduction to sustainability concepts and challenges through the lens of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs).
Throughout the course, students are presented with case studies highlighting scalable sustainability practices and examples of organizational leadership for sustainability while also engaging directly with several global thought leaders. Students collaborate in groups to research a sustainability issue and with the UN-SDGs as a guide, discuss challenges, propose solutions, and explore global, national, and local impacts of positive progress toward goal achievement.
This fall, some student teams examined how social media, printing technologies, and school programs can help address global sustainability challenges. Read the following projects for details about each issue and how the UN-SDGs form a blueprint for addressing the world's most critical social and environmental challenges.
- How Tech Companies and Social Media Platforms Can Help Meet U.N. SDG 12: Created by Alyssa Hudson and Natalia Mendoza, this project highlights how Google can help its users make more sustainable choices and how using an alternative search engine like Ecosia has an immediate and direct impact on reforesting the world.
- Utilizing 3D Printing to Revitalize Coral Reefs: Students Monica Ratnaraj and Eric Stack explore the emerging use of 3D printing to counteract coral reef loss with “bionic” synthetic corals and artificial reefs.
- Educational Cultural Change as a Solution to Food Loss and Waste: Line-Ariel Bretous and Kanchi Desai make recommendations for decreasing food waste by implementing strategies throughout the education system like developing school gardens, shifting to more plant-based school lunches, and embracing concepts to reduce plate waste while also distributing edible excess food.
Read more about other projects developed for this course: Promoting prosperity, protecting the planet >
Foundations of Sustainability is offered to students enrolled in the Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics, Master of Environmental Studies, and Master of Science in Applied Geosciences programs. Read more about the course Fundamentals of Sustainability >
