With world population of nearly 8 billion and global GDP of $85 trillion, human impacts on the environment have already reached dangerous levels. By 2050, world population could reach 9 billion and global GDP $200 trillion. Despite unprecedented growth in countries such as China and India, over 700 million people still live in extreme poverty-concentrated especially in South and Central Asia and Africa. The central challenge for humanity in the 21st century is the triple endeavor of ending extreme poverty, improving social inclusion, and achieving sustainability for the planet. Any effort to address these three complex, interlinked challenges must be interdisciplinary. Policies at the local, national and global level will need to draw on the best of our knowledge and innovation across sectors such as energy, biodiversity and conservation, health, sustainable business practices, food and nutritional security, social service delivery, and good governance. Interventions and policies in these sectors must be gender sensitive, address racial inequalities and discrimination, and be in keeping with international standards of human rights. They must involve governments, the private sector, and civil society. In September 2015, the world adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2015 to 2030 at the UN General Assembly while the historic Paris Climate accord was also reached under the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change.

With world population of nearly 8 billion and global GDP of $70 trillion, human impacts on the environment have already reached dangerous levels. By 2050, world population could reach 9 billion and global GDP $250 trillion. Despite unprecedented growth in countries such as China and India, over 1 billion people still live in extreme poverty-mostly in South Asia and Africa. The central challenge for humanity in the 21st century is how to address the triple issue of ending extreme poverty, improving social inclusion, and achieving sustainability for the planet. The 13 weeks of the course include a significant practical element. Students will work in small groups for a partner organization (a business or non-profit) involved in this topic to complete a project that helps achieve the organization's mission and contributes to sustainable development. Enrollment in the course is limited and will be subject to the professor's review.

With world population of nearly 8 billion and global GDP of $70 trillion, human impacts on the environment have already reached dangerous levels. By 2050, world population could reach 9 billion and global GDP $250 trillion. Despite unprecedented growth in countries such as China and India, over 1 billion people still live in extreme poverty-mostly in South Asia and Africa. The central challenge for humanity in the 21st century is how to address the triple issue of ending extreme poverty, improving social inclusion, and achieving sustainability for the planet. The 13 weeks of the course include a significant practical element. Students will work in small groups for a partner organization (a business or non-profit) involved in this topic to complete a project that helps achieve the organization's mission and contributes to sustainable development. Enrollment in the course is limited and will be subject to the professor's review.

With world population of 7 billion and global GDP of $70 trillion, human impacts on the environment have already reached dangerous levels. By 2050, world population could reach 9 billion and global GDP $250 trillion. Despite unprecedented growth in countries such as China and India, over 1 billion people still live in extreme poverty-mostly in South Asia and Africa. The central challenge for humanity in the 21st century is how to address the triple issue of ending extreme poverty, improving social inclusion, and achieving sustainability for the planet. Any effort to address these complex, interlinked challenges must be interdisciplinary. Policies at the national and global level will need to draw on the best of our knowledge and innovation across sectors such as energy, biodiversity and conservation, health, sustainable business practices, food and nutritional security, social service delivery, and good governance. Interventions and policies in these sectors must be gender sensitive and in keeping with international standards of human rights. There is growing international support for a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2015-2030 to replace the Millennium Development Goals when they expire late this year-and the nations of the world will meet at the UN General Assembly in September 2015 to adopt these new goals. This course will take advantage of this historic moment to examine these issues, providing foundational knowledge within key sectors on the challenges of sustainable development.