New Sustainability Course Designation
East Carolina University now has a Sustainability Course Designation! This will help students find courses about sustainability in their course catalog.
The Brundtland Commission (1987) defines “sustainability” as: “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
This definition encompasses sustainability’s interconnected social, economic, and environmental dimensions.
Sustainability course designation signals the importance of sustainability to students, faculty, staff, and other university stakeholders, both in individual course content and across the university as an institution. Sustainability-designated courses must provide foundational exposure to sustainability as a concept and a set of practices (e.g., students may learn to estimate their personal carbon footprint using an online calculator). Courses focused on sustainability help students understand a systems-thinking approach to problem-solving along the continuum from local to global. Students who complete sustainability-focused courses will be prepared to understand and apply sustainability principles and practices as they enter the workforce and continue to engage in civic life. Sustainability course designation also allows current and prospective students to find and understand sustainability course offerings, which can assist them in planning their academic studies.
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Define sustainability and identify major sustainability challenges.
- Articulate how healthy ecosystems function.
- Identify and evaluate interconnections between the environment, the economy, and society.
- Apply critical thinking skills in assessing the effects of human actions on planet Earth.
For more information, follow the link in the flyer below!
