About the Course
Planetary Boundaries helps students to explore and apply a range of emerging concepts within sustainability science. These concepts include: the Anthropocene, planetary boundaries, the social-ecological systems approach, and resilience thinking. Such concepts are at the core of contemporary research and debates in the arena of global sustainability.
They are key to frame and understand rapidly changing trends in global environmental change caused by humans, and to assess responses that aim at addressing the consequences and impacts of these changes. They are also helpful in exploring pathways for ensuring safe and just human development for present and future generations.
This course aims at expanding and updating participant’s ‘conceptual toolbox’ in matters of global sustainability. Upon successful completion, a participant will be able to demonstrate a clear understanding of key concepts on global environmental change and their theoretical underpinning, as well as an up-to-date understanding of current debates in the global sustainability arena and emerging examples of approaches and solutions currently being developed.
The success of this course depends on an active student base representing a diversity of experiences, cultures, and perspectives. So get involved, and be part of this critical conversation!
Course Structure and Requirements
Planetary Boundaries is a self-paced course. The course is available in its entirety when you enroll and will close on August 31, 2023. This means that all lecture videos, quizzes, and readings have been uploaded to the platform and are available to you at once.
This course is structured around a series of pre-recorded lectures, readings, ungraded quizzes, and homework activities. Each course component can be completed at a time that is convenient for the student. Verified learners also have access to graded mid-term and final exams.
Learners who successfully complete the course on the Verified Track will receive a digital certificate of completion signed by Professor Rockström. If you enroll as an auditor but wish to purchase a Verified Certificate at a later time, you can do so at any point until the course closes. While no academic credit is granted, we encourage students to work with their own institutions to explore the option of granting credit for their online coursework.
Prerequisites
None. There are no pre-requisites for this course.
Course Engagement
While we encourage students to use the Discussion Forum, the discussions will not be managed by course staff for this course. We hope students will pose questions and thoughts to each other in this format!
There are three main ways to use Discussions:
1. Discussion-Based Activities
Activities in this course ask you to engage with the content in a new way. Each activity involves several steps — including posting to an Activity Discussion Board and responding to another learner's posts. The more you post on the Discussion Boards, the more engaged you and your fellow learners will be!
2. Module Discussions
You will have the opportunity to engage with other learners around that module's content. Post general impressions about the topic of the module, ask outstanding questions, and converse with fellow learners.
3. Course-wide Discussion Forum
There is also a course-wide Discussion Forum, which you can access by clicking "Discussion" at the top of the course screen.
This is the place for you to ask general questions or have an overall discussion about the course (under "General").
If you want to keep track of who is replying to your posts, click the “Discussion” tab and check the box to receive daily digests about new activity on your posts. This is a great way to keep engaged with the course and contribute to a meaningful learning environment!
4. SDG Academy Social Media accounts
For more updates from the SDG Academy, including announcements of upcoming courses, you are encouraged to like and follow the SDG Academy on social media:
- Facebook (facebook.com/sdgacademy.org)
- Twitter (@SDG_Academy)
- LinkedIn (@SDG-Academy)
- Instagram (@sdg_academy)
Learners are also invited to join the SDG Academy Alumni Facebook Group.
Please be sure to direct any technical questions to edX. Questions about course content should be addressed to courses@sdgacademy.org, using the subject line "Planetary Boundaries."
Course Materials Provided
The lecture materials provided will be:
- Course lectures: Video lectures for each module.
- Assigned reading: Each module has assigned reading materials, most of which will be free links. Please check the Course Literature tab for more information.
- Quizzes and homework exercises
There are ungraded quizzes that correspond to each lecture. All quiz questions are posted under each lecture video and based off of the required readings from each module.
In addition to quizzes, each lecture will also have a homework exercise which all learners are encouraged to attempt. Homework exercises are similar in format to the quizzes but require engagement with the core readings, news articles and external webpages to reflect more deeply and engage with the debate on global sustainability outside of this course. Whether or not you are pursuing a certificate, you are encouraged to complete all of the assessments, as they are your opportunity to gauge how well you understand the material.
Verified learners also have access to graded mid-term and final exams. The mid-term exam counts for 40% of your grade, and the final exam counts for the other 60%. You must pass with a 70% or above to receive your Verified Certificate.