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ENV 506 Sustainability Science

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Course Information

This course aims to orient students to the problems of the ‘Anthropocene’ – a new geologic epoch characterized by climate change, increasing human population, pollution of air, water and soil, overuse of natural resources, and underserving of human needs. This course will help students think about these challenges through the discipline of ‘sustainability science,’ and build ‘systems thinking’ skills we can use to advocate for solutions that contribute to a positive future. 

​The course is a core course of the Master's of Science in Environmental Science program of the Environmental Science & Studies (ENV) Department, as well as in the Master’s of Science in Sustainable Management (MSSM) program through the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business.   

Learning Outcomes

ENV 506 SQ23 Syllabus

By the end of this course, students will: (Key words italicized.)

1. Be able to explain how human activities have caused the planet to enter the Anthropocene, an era of unprecedented climate crisis, in which Earth’s planetary boundaries are being exceeded, human needs or social foundations are not being met.
2. Utilize systems thinking skills (a la Meadows 2008) to:
   1. Recognize key features of systems (including thresholds, nonlinearity, surprise, resilience, adaptive cycles,etc.) and systems archetypes (common configurations of systems that yield particular behaviors or outcomes) in a variety of everyday contexts and with respect to current environmental problems; 
   2. Apply systems thinking to generate solutions to an environmental problem you are passionate about.
   3. Assess how knowledge of systems can be used to solve the biggest sustainability challenges and create systems transformation; and,
3. Be able to explain the systems thinking logic behind the “five turnarounds” (a la Dixon-Declève et al. 2022)necessary for generating a sustainable future where humans thrive within Earth’s planetary limits.
   
4. Embrace the full range of emotions you may have about the climate including eco-anxiety and eco grief, and find a way to use these feelings to contribute to a flourishing future for yourself, your communities, adjacent communities, and the planet. 

Key Course Texts