Description
“When I say, ‘Sustainability’, do you think of the environment? If you do, you only have a part of the answer. Sustainability is about endurance of people, planet, and the environment. Can we truly be sustainable in our actions? That is the tough question we are going to try to figure out through this course. Will we find straight-forward solutions? It is highly unlikely but we will try to better understand how complex this world really is and realize that sustainability is a convoluted concept.”
~Instructor, “Prof.” Aparna
Using United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, we will build a holistic definition of sustainability. Each goal leads to action; each action has consequences that can be at direct odds with another goal. So there are many dilemmas that come with making decisions.
We will weigh human development projects, their environmental consequences, & balance urban and rural growth.
We will examine how resources are finite (the bane of everyone’s life!) and how policy makers and planners have to make choices that are hard and end up like a tightrope act. It’s not easy, it is not a clear-cut, black and white world. It is a world full of grays but I think we can see that it is still a world worth fighting for with a future that can at least be positive.
This will be a thought-provoking class with a look into sustainable development projects across the world. I want students to be able to see how complex these projects can be and through their research, look at the consequences of some of these projects. They will also be picking up and designing / improving one project that they present to the class.
Notes for Parents:
- The structure of this course follows this plan: concept introduction, discussion of projects, and research.
- Homework completion is expected. Expect 1-1.5 hours of homework that includes reading research, or design of a project to be presented during Week 7’s webinar.
- Please contact the instructor, “Prof.” Aparna Varadharajan. to help you determine if this course is right for your child.
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