Explore the reasons and solutions for the climate crisis, equipping you to create a better today and tomorrow.
Duration
3 weeksWeekly study
3 hours
Taking on the Climate Crisis with Social Change
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Discover how social transformation can help us tackle the climate crisis
The harsh realities of global warming and climate change often make people feel helpless, but there is a lot that can be done. This three-week course will open your eyes to the actions you can take.
You’ll learn how to drive the social change that is fundamentally required for an effective response to climate change so that humanity can build a sustainable future.
Create social change to tackle the climate crisis
This is more than a course in how to tackle the climate crisis; it gives you real insight into how climate works and how humans are perturbing it.
To start with, you’ll get an in-depth exploration of our current situation and of how it happened, by people separating themselves from nature. From there you’ll learn climate basics, explaining global warming and how human beings are contributing to it.
Armed with this knowledge, you’ll be ready for the course’s final stage which focuses on what we can do to combat the climate crisis, both now and in the future. Special attention is paid to stopping climate change through social change, and transforming how society responds to this issue.
Gain balanced insights into the climate and environmental crisis
The course is structured around nine activities, which makes for a very dynamic learning experience. Each topic is carefully curated to show you how Earth’s climate works, how nature and culture are entwined, how to repair the damage that we have done to the climate, and how to live in a way that prevents future climate change and harm.
Explore climate crisis solutions from every angle
The Stockholm University scholars convening this course come from multiple disciplines, which all influence their balanced approach to global warming. Learn how to tackle the climate crisis with a team that is truly passionate about the issue.
What topics will you cover?
- The Anthropocene: How the human has become a major geological actor and a driver in climate change
- Nature cultures - How nature and culture are entwined.
- Earth’s climate - How it works.
- Earth’s cycles - The natural cycles that make the Earth work and upon which we depend on for our survival.
- Human perturbations - How we have perturbed these natural cycles since the start of the Great Acceleration in 1950.
- Tipping points - What happens if we perturb these cycles too far.
- Planetary boundaries - Defining a safe operating space for humans.
- Repairing the damage - How do we fix the damage we have done to the Earth.
- Building a better future - How do become good ancestors for future generations.
Learning on this course
On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Reflect on the role of humans in the Anthropocene.
- Describe how nature and culture are entwined.
- Explain how Earth's climate works.
- Assess the damage humans are causing to Earth's present and future climate.
- Identify a safe operating space for humans in the Anthropocene.
- Present solutions to the climate crisis.
- Create better futures by becoming a better ancestor.
Who is the course for?
This course is designed for anyone who is concerned about the current climate crisis and its underlying social causes, and wants to do something about it.
Who will you learn with?
I am Professor of Geochemistry and Petrology at Stockholm University. I research on and teach about climate change from a geological perspective and about the ongoing climate crisis.
I am an Associate Professor in Archaeology at Stockholm University. Since 2012 I have worked with the emergent field of the Environmental Humanities, with an interest in deep time & matters of care.
Miriam is a researcher and educator in Sustainability Science at the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University.
Learning on FutureLearn
Your learning, your rules
- Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
- Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
- Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores
Join a global classroom
- Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
- Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
- Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others
Map your progress
- As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
- Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
- Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate
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