Certificate of Achievement
has completed the following course:
Concepts in Sustainable Development: An Introduction to the Key Issues
This online course explored the conceptual foundations of sustainable development, and discussed the issues around sustainability as a complex problem. The course covered topics such as the flow of energy and materials worldwide; social and political issues; wealth inequality; the impact of geography, history and culture on sustainability today; and the problems of collective action.
6 weeks, 3 hours per week
Derek Raine
Emeritus Professor at the University of Leicester
University of Leicester
Transcript
Learning outcomes
- Explain what is meant by a complex system and its relevance to sustainability
- Evaluate the Brundtland definition of sustainable development
- Explain how economy and ecology work together as one system
- Summarise the prospects for a circular economy
- Identify the effects of the agricultural and industrial revolutions
- Identify and discuss the practical and moral issues around inequality
- Evaluate the difficulty in assigning causation in complex systems
- Discuss the implications of past actions for current generations
- Describe what is meant by the term 'tragedy of the commons'
- Explain what is meant by globalisation, and its implication for sustainability
- Discuss the major problems of sustainability and the prospects for solutions
- Discuss the range of views on approaches to development
Syllabus
- Week 1: Sustainable development and complexity
- Week 2: The economy and ecology as a metabolic system
- Week 3: Economic growth and inequality
- Week 4: The importance of geography, history and culture and the impact of human activity on the environment
- Week 5: The problem of collective action
- Week 6: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
Issued on 17th November 2018
The person named on this certificate has completed the activities in the transcript above. For more information about Certificates of Achievement and the effort required to become eligible, visit futurelearn.com/proof-of-learning/certificate-of-achievement.
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