Sustainability and Development MasterTrack Certificate (MTC)

The Sustainability and Development Initiative has developed a curriculum in partnership with the University of Michigan’s Center for Academic Innovation that equips learners with actionable knowledge to critique, assess, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Those who successfully complete the Sustainability and Development MasterTrack Certificate (MTC) will earn up to 6 credits towards the University of Michigan’s Master of Science in Environment and Sustainability, if admitted to the residential program. Through the MTC students are introduced to the main theoretical currents in Sustainability and Development as a field of study with an in-depth understanding of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the methods and skills necessary for designing innovative solutions to sustainability and development problems.

Beyond the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Addressing Sustainability and Development (MOOC)

A core course within the MTC is a massive open online course (MOOC). “Beyond the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Addressing Sustainability and Development,” is live and open for enrollment. The MOOC explores three of the most pressing challenges undergirding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including climate change, poverty and inequality, and ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss with case studies to guide and challenge our thinking. We discuss the trade-offs, co-benefits and synergies between these challenges, especially as they relate to designing innovative solutions for achieving our sustainability and development goals.
 

**The MOOC is free and available to everyone, regardless of your interest in the MTC.**

SEAS Residential Master’s Program in Sustainability and Development

The SEAS residential master’s program also offers a specialization in Sustainability and Development (SusDev). The SusDev specialization at SEAS aims to meet the substantial and growing need for trained professionals and researchers to address sustainability and development problems at multiple scales. Students will understand, assess, and apply the SDGs as conceived by the UN and adopted widely, but also go beyond that framework, both theoretically and methodologically. Instruction through the new specialization emphasizes collaboration across multiple disciplines, from the social and ecological sciences to engineering, public health, policy, education, and business.

SusDev Syllabi Share

As a resource for those working in the field of Sustainability and Development, we have curated a multidisciplinary syllabi sharing archive on courses spanning the social and natural sciences from colleagues across the globe. Our hope is to provide students, teachers and practitioners with the latest states of knowledge on a wide variety of topics related to the challenges of sustainability and development. If you would like to participate in this project, please send your syllabi to John Mullen and we will upload them as soon as we are able. A hearty “thanks” to all who have already contributed!

Want to learn more?

For further details on the MOOC and MTC, please contact John Mullen  Post Doctoral Research Fellow, SEAS, at jdmullen@umich.edu.                     
For further details on the SEAS master’s specialization, please contact Cristy Watkins, Program Manager, SEAS, at watkinsc@umich.edu.