Course Overview
You have certainly already many times encountered the term sustainable development. You see
it in newspapers, in political discussions and today even in advertisements. It became well
known after the United Nations Conference in Rio de Janeiro 1992. As this was just at the end of
the Cold War the nations of the world were unusually united: both East and West, industrialized
and developing nations took part. Since then sustainable development has increasingly become
common vocabulary.
Sustainable development is different from many other concepts as it is so all-inclusive. It
includes everything from personal ideas and perceptions, to technical development and political
programs. It is based on knowledge, which partly is age-old, e.g. in agriculture, and partly
completely new, such as new technologies and social and economic arrangements. As a
knowledge-based undertaking sustainable development is based on a systems approach. One
refers to the dimensions of sustainable development as ecological, social and economic, which
all are interdependent and all needs to be included. That makes sustainability as a topic of study
challenging. In at least some areas we are all beginners. It also opens up for dialogue and
different views and opinions.
Course Objectives
By the end of this module participants should be able to:
Define sustainable development.
Identify and understand the social aspects of sustainable development.
Understand the concepts of vulnerability and resilience.
Appreciate the usefulness of risk assessment in disaster management and in climate
change
Understand the risk associated with overdependence of non-renewable Energy.
Understand the SDGs
Course Content
Introduction to Sustainable Development
What is Sustainable Development
Underlying themes on Sustainable Development
Challenges to Sustainable Development
Energy and Sustainable Development
SDGs
Climate Change
Urbanization
Opportunities to foster Sustainable Development.
Assignments
In order to demonstrate their understanding of the course content, students will be required to
submit three assignments.
DURATION: 3 Months
REGIONS TARGETED: Global
COURSE FEE: Euros 400
LANGUAGE: English
FORMAT: Online Learning
GENERAL COURSE CONTACT: info@globalreliefinstitution.org
