Planetary Boundaries and Human Opportunities

Written by

Solutions

Risk and variability

Topics

Climate and resilience

“We face an unprecedented global challenge.” Johan Rockström, Executive Director of the Stockholm Resilience Center (SRC) sets a stark tone while introducing the SRC and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s (SDSN) newest online course, Planetary Boundaries and Human Opportunities: The Quest for Safe and Just Development on a Resilient Planet. “Humanity is now a force of change at the planetary scale.”

Unprecedented challenges at a planetary scale may sound daunting. Luckily there are people around the globe working to face these challenges, and on November 17^th their tools and ideas will be available and open to anyone with an internet connection as a free MOOC – massive open online course.

Massive Open Online Courses - MOOCs

MOOCs have been around since the late 2000’s with the notion of providing free open access education with no restrictions on participation. The idea is to allow anybody on the web to be able to learn, while connecting individuals across the globe. Generally there is no face-to-face interaction with MOOCs, though courses still tend to still be interactive through the use of forum boards and social media. MOOCs also tend to use a more media-based approach than a traditional classroom by presenting video lectures and hyperlinks to other resources.

Planetary Boundaries and Human Opportunities: The Quest for Safe and Just Development on a Resilient Planet

To date, there are already nearly 3000 people signed up, from about 50 different countries, and these numbers are only expected to increase leading up to the November 17^th start date. Over the course of eight weeks, the course will explore key concepts in sustainability science, such as:

Each of these concepts will be explored through video lectures from top sustainability scientists, led by SRCs very own Johan Rockström. All of the content was professionally produced by Kontent Real, a documentary film production company who produced the film Ecoist. Lectures will be supported by quizzes and homework exercises as well as a selection of open access core literature to help participants to go deeper and learn more effectively.

Although it is an online course, it is designed to be as interactive as possible. For instance, a forum will be available for students to discuss their thoughts and ideas, with input and further recommendations from a number of different teaching assistants. In addition, scheduled “hangouts” will offer course participants an opportunity to ask direct questions to the lecturers themselves. In addition, we have invited leading experts such as Professor Will Steffen and Kate Raworth to join as special guests during the hangouts to provide diverse perspectives on the myriad issues, opportunities and questions around Planetary Boundaries and Human Opportunities.

By the end of this course, our hope is that it equips participants with a new and broader perspective on how to think about sustainability and environmental problems. In other words, the idea is to provide a conceptual toolbox that participants can use in their studies, research, work, or in everyday life. This course is just the beginning of the conversation and it is hoped it will spark both an ongoing discussion and new initiatives to tackle the challenges we face collectively as a species.

Achieving a food secure future

The mission of CGIAR is to secure a food secure future for all. The creation of a safe and just operating space for human flourishing on a resilient planet is well-aligned with this mission. The global food system is one of the main drivers of human impact on the planet but the food system also holds many of the seeds of transformation and must be the site of many solutions to our shared set of interacting global environmental and development challenges. It is hoped that community members participating in the course will be able to bring new insights and knowledge to bear as they go about contributing individually and collectively to creating a food secure future for all.

As Johan Rockström will point out during the course, we are amongst the first generation to understand the magnitude of the impact of the human enterprise on our planet. There are more and more of us all around the world willing and able to help move the human species towards operating as sustainable stewards on a resilient planet. This course is not about creating a picture of insurmountable challenges but about empowering through knowledge so that we may bravely face the challenges and embrace the incredible opportunities for a better future.

Enrol now and spread the word: www.sdsnedu.org

What benefits and challenges do you foresee in terms of the potential contribution of online education towards sustainable development at the local level?

What would you hope to gain from your participation in the Planetary Boundaries and Human Opportunities course?

Join the discussion in the comments section below or on twitter with #PBMOOC.

Interviews with Johan Rockstrom:

Planetary Boundaries Part 1: Defining a safe operating space for human existence

Planetary Boundaries Part 2: Living within the boundaries

Ted Talk

#PBMOOC Title Card