PrintTo close our unit on responses to climate change, we're going to look broadly at the concept of sustainable development. It's a term you probably hear regularly in discussions about addressing our global challenges, and perhaps you're already quite familiar with the UN's sustainable development goals - it's become a widespread framework from which we think about all the things we're trying to do to improve quality of life the world over. Are the SDGs perfect? No. One of your readings will argue pretty heavily against the framework entirely. On balance, I think they're a huge step in the right direction because it has provided this universal language in which we can speak about these issues.
What are we fighting for?
Credit: Cartoon by Joel Pett run in USA Today right before the Copenhagen Climate Summit in 2009.
What will we learn?
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
- understand the UN's sustainable development goals and the historical context under which they emerged;
- consider the relative merits and drawbacks of different economic models;
- articulate various definitions of 'development';
- find possible problematic aspects to the UN's sustainable development goals and the concept of sustainable development more broadly.
What is due this week?
This lesson will take us one week to complete. Please refer to the corresponding module in Canvas for specific assignments, deliverables, and due dates.
Questions?
If you have questions, please feel free to post them to the "Have a question about the lesson?" discussion forum in Canvas. While you are there, feel free to post your own responses if you, too, are able to help a classmate.