Sustainability Leadership

What is sustainability and why is it essential for the future of humanity? Learn how to analyze and articulate the sustainability imperative across four dimensions—ecology, economy, experience, and equity—while examining sustainability considerations at multiple scales in the built environment, from cities and regions to individual buildings and interiors.

Learn how to apply systems thinking and modeling to analyze the dynamics of various environmental issues and to identify leverage points for effective interventions. Selected case studies provide an overview of current patterns of global environmental degradation and allow students to practice systems modeling. After developing these analytical skills, students are ready to complete a final assignment defining the dimensions of a real-world environmental issue facing their own organization or a client selected by the faculty.

Review and assess a variety of current business strategies and models for reorganizing companies, organizations, and governments around more sustainable practices. Students consider how strategies such as B Corporations, circular economies, and Triple Bottom Line Accounting and metrics such as life cycle assessment and greenhouse gas inventories can be combined to produce and measure progress towards sustainability. Drawing on these concepts and assessment options, students design a strategic approach to an environmental challenge facing their own organization or a client selected by the faculty.

Master the concepts, tools, and practices needed to advance a sustainability initiative from an initial plan to tangible results. After training in topics that range from project management to intrapreneurship to behavioral economics, students develop a detailed implementation plan and a compelling pitch to gain the support of key stakeholders in their own organization or of the clients in their assigned project.