The goal of this course is to provide a solid introduction to the concept of sustainable growth and development. Students will learn how to professionally navigate the current debate on sustainability and to assess strategies to promote sustainable communities and a sustainable planet. The course will blend qualitative and quantitative analysis of sustainable development, with large use of data analysis to measure progress towards sustainable development. Special attention will be paid to the role of technological innovation.  This course is open to all GT students and satisfies the requirements for an undergraduate ethics course. 

Why should I take this course? This course will be very useful for students from all backgrounds because it provides key tools to think about sustainability in a systematic and coherent way. The knowledge built with this course will be useful over students’ entire professional careers and will make them better citizens and stewards of the planet. Engineering students will appreciate the frequent use of quantitative tools to examine sustainable development trajectories and will get exposed to main insights from economic growth and sustainable development theory. All students will enjoy the deep dive into the major social and environmental challenges that our societies face today, including climate change, international trade, health care, food production, education for all, sustainable water use, deforestation, gender issues and income inequality.