Principles of Sustainability & Climate Change

Catalog description

The purpose of this course is to uncover the foundational principles that govern all sustainable systems, including a dynamic balance between human activities and climate. It will focus on three scientific laws (the law of limits to growth, the second law of thermodynamics, and the law of self-organization) and numerous substantive strategies for addressing climate change that are scientific, social, and cultural in nature. The laws and strategies will be examined at various spatial and temporal scales in biological and ecological systems to show how they function in the world. We will then examine them in the context of human systems - organizational, social, economic, political, and intentionally designed systems. Students will learn how to evaluate, from a foundational perspective, why practices or policies will either support or thwart sustainability in any system.