In the last 10 years, dozens (hundreds?) of colleges and universities have added courses related to environmental and social sustainability. While we love many of them (and have contributed to more than a couple, including an awesome 3-course certificate in Sustainability Innovation from the University of Vermont, the big game-changer has been the launch of Coursera.
We are a social entrepreneurship company that partners with the top universities in the world to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free. We envision a future where the top universities are educating not only thousands of students, but millions. Our technology enables the best professors to teach tens or hundreds of thousands of students.
Here are nine free Coursera classes on sustainability topics that have caught our eye. Check them out, and leave us a comment about any that we've missed!
Introduction to Life Cycle Assessment (Northwestern University) - 8 weeks
In this course you will learn the basics of the life-cycle assessment (LCA) method for holistic environmental analysis of products, technologies, and systems. See more...
Planet Earth (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) - TBD
We will also discuss the fascinating interactions and exchanges that take place among land, sea, air, and life, and how these interactions they result in the great variety of landscapes—from deserts to glaciers—that make our planet unique, and influence climate change in the past and, potentially the future. Finally, we will delve into the processes that produce the energy and mineral resources that modern society depends on, to help understand the context of the environment and sustainability challenges that we will face in the future. See more...
Science from Superheros to Global Warming (UC Irvine) - 10 weeks
Explore how science works and what constitutes "good" science through case studies drawn from a wide spectrum of people's experience, for example superheros, movies, and real world issues such as global warming. See more...
An Introduction to the US Food System: Perspectives from Public Health (Johns Hopkins) - 6 weeks
A food system encompasses the activities, people and resources involved in getting food from field to plate. Along the way, it intersects with aspects of public health, equity and the environment. In this course, we will provide a brief introduction to the U.S. food system and how food production practices and what we choose to eat impacts the world in which we live. See more...
Energy, the Environment, and Our Future (Penn State) - 8 weeks
Energy use has done great good for humans by giving those in the developed world the equivalent of 100 energy "serfs" to do our bidding, making up roughly 10% of the economy, and powering most of the economy. However, the unintended consequences of energy use are affecting people around the world and changing the climate in ways that will make life much harder. Numerous options exist for development of a sustainable energy system that provides a stronger economy, more jobs, and greater security that is more consistent with ethical principles. The course explores these issues. See more...
Climate Change (University of Melbourne) - 9 weeks
What is Climate Change? How should we respond to Climate Change? These questions are complex, not least because the responses available to us depend upon who is providing the answers and the particular perspective they take. The economist sees the economic challenges and opportunities of Climate Change; the scientist sees the need to describe and explain Climate Change; the policy-maker and social scientist see Climate Change as a social problem. Therefore, the first step to understanding Climate Change and what we do about it is to see how experts from different disciplines engage with the issue. The second step is to appreciate how our response to Climate Change depends upon the interplay between these different approaches. See more...
Introduction to Environmental Law and Policy (UNC Chapel Hill) - 8 weeks
This course introduces the major substantive themes in environmental law and gives students insight and experience with critical thinking about these themes. Students will demonstrate mastery by learning how past environmental disputes have been resolved, and by applying insights and critical-thinking skills from past disputes to predicting how future ones might be addressed, including future disputes involving climate change. See more...
Climate Literacy (University of British Columbia) - 10 weeks
Climate Literacy tackles the scientific and socio-political dimensions of climate change. This course introduces the basics of the climate system, models and predictions, human and natural impacts, mitigative and adaptive responses, and the evolution of climate policy. See more...
Sustainability of Food Systems: A Global Life Cycle Perspective (University of Minnesota) 8 weeks
This course explores the diversity of the foods we eat, the ways in which we grow, process, distribute, and prepare them, and the impacts they have upon our environment, health, and society. We will also examine the challenges and opportunities of creating a more sustainable global food system in the future. See more...
Coursera currently offers more than 300 courses (with thousands of students taking each class) -- the lectures are recorded, with videos, articles, homework, and discussion boards to enrich the learning experience.
SSC President Jennifer Woofter took the course on Gamification, and was able to apply the concepts to her sustainability work -- so we're sure that there are lots of ways to use Coursera to advance your sustainability practice. Leave a comment, or join the conversation on Twitter (@jenniferwoofter) and tell us how you're using Coursera!