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Collaborative Course Design Abstract & Objectives Course Material Inflow Course Material Outflow Course Material Stock Collaboration with Professors Discovery of New Materials Elimination of Old Materials Independent Research Independent Revision INVESTIGATE Read through course materials assigned by professors. Discover new readings and course materials via independent research. ORGANIZE Eliminate assigned course materials which are not useful or have superior substitutes. Categorize readings according to similar uses or subject matter. ANALYZE Prepare oral and/or written summaries about pertinent resources, their contents, and their applications. Extrapolate from these resources to make suggestions about course goals, structure, and content. PROVIDE FEEDBACK Discuss weekly findings with professors. Provide my student perspective regarding course design, course difficulty, assignment feasibility, and the clarity & usefulness of readings. COLLABORATE For 30-60 minutes weekly, meet with professors to discuss course goals, program objectives, readings, assignments, and novel ideas for their courses. For Principles of Sustainability Science, my primary research material was Bert J.M. de Vries Sustainability Science, a textbook which uses a system dynamics perspective to unify sustainability theories across the social sciences and the natural sciences. In addition to de Vries, I utilized numerous academic journal articles, conference papers, video lectures, and sustainability course syllabi from other universities. For Climate Policy & Technology, my research materials primarily included academic journal articles discussing anthropogenic climate change, mitigation strategies, and energy technologies. To cover the policy portion of the course, I also incorporated several industry reports, energy use forecasts, government documents, and environmental action plans. Materials & Methods Week DayTopic 1Tues.Course Introduction: Defining Sustainability Thurs.Sustainability Science: An Emerging Discpline 2Tues.Interpretations of Sustainability Thurs.Measuring Sustainable Progress: Eliminating the Greenwashing 3Tues.Introduction to System Dynamics Thurs.Applications of Systems Science in Sustainability 4Tues.Modeling Complex Systems Thurs.Systems Modeling in Sustainability: Reconstructing Lakeland 5Tues.Energy: The Unifying Principle Thurs.World Energy Flows: Electricity, Transportation, & Uses 6Tues.Thermodynamics, Energy Efficiency, & Implications for Sustainability Thurs.Fossil Fuel Stocks, Energy Systems, & Impacts 7Tues.Toward a Sustainable Energy System: Alternative Energy & Renewables Thurs.Anthropogenic Climate Change: Sustainable Mitigation & Adaptation 8Tues.Earth Systems: Water, Soil, & Vegetation Thurs.Human Impacts: Land Degradation, Eutrophication, & Pollution 9Tues.Ecosystem Dynamics in Sustainability: Population Ecology, Limits to Growth, and Food Webs Thurs.Sustainability & Nature: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services 10Tues.Anthromes: Land Cover Change, Agriculture, & Agro-Food Systems Thurs.Global Industrial Agro-Food Systems: Models & Implications for Sustainability 11Tues.Renewable Resources: Stocks, (Un)sustainable Extraction, & Economics Thurs.Renewable Resource Systems: Resource Chains, Models, & Implications for Sustainability 12Tues.Nonrenewable Resources: Stocks, Exploration & Extraction, Depletion, & Economics Thurs.Industrial-Nonrenewable Resource Systems: Resource Chains, Models, & Implications for Sustainability 13Tues.Sustainability Economics: Growth, Development, & Homo economicus Thurs.Optimizing Our Future: Competing Goals, Visions, & Models 14Tues.Presentations/Closing Assignments Thurs.Presentations/Closing Assignments Integrating Sustainability Across Penn Curricula Luke Saputelli ISAC 2013 Climate Policy & Technology Professor Andrew Huemmler Climate Policy & Technology Identify available and developing strategies and technologies for mitigating anthropogenic climate change. Analyze economic, political, and social hurdles associated with the implementation of these strategies. Discern between those strategies which are currently viable and those which require ongoing research and development. Principles of Sustainability Science Characterize sustainability science as a unifying discipline centered on the analysis of interactions between complex human and natural systems. Develop tools and methods for quantifiably measuring sustainable progress. Apply systems modeling techniques to selected topics in sustainability and identify how these models enhance students understanding of sustainability science. Principles of Sustainability Science Professor Alain Plante SocialEconomic Environmental Access to Healthcare Public Transportation Use Level of Education Income Distribution GDP Per Capita Industry Employment Air, Water, & Soil Quality GHG Emissions Biodiversity Professor Plante and I placed a strong emphasis on developing methods for quantifiably measuring sustainability. We found that sustainability indicators (examples listed above) are both a flexible and effective system for measuring sustainable progress. The inherently interdisciplinary nature of sustainability proved an initial challenge for Professor Plante and me. We observed that one cannot confine a sustainability issue to one field alone all sustainability issues involve overlapping (often competing) human and natural systems. We concluded that an integrated systems approach is essential to studying sustainability science. Sustainability science necessitates bridging gaps between overlapping human and natural systems. Examples include ecosystems, economic, energy, and resource systems. This course utilizes STELLA modeling software (shown above) to enhance visualization of these interacting systems. The early stages of designing this course centered on characterizing sustainability as a unique academic discipline. The result: bridging elements of several disciplines. Unlike Principles of Sustainability Science, Climate Policy & Technology is already an existing course at Penn. Hence, my work with Professor Huemmler focused on top-down restructuring rather than bottom-up construction. The primary focus of this restructuring was updating course content in a manner that reflects current strategies and technologies to mitigate climate change. In the past few years alone, there have been great strides in both mitigation technologies and policies discussed in this course. In contrast, other technologies and policies in the course have become obsolete or have been deemed ineffective. Through reading industry reports, academic journal articles, and attending outside conferences, I eliminated several outdated materials and added comparable new materials which reflect current standards and technologies. In addition to replacing outdated course materials, my work also entailed synthesizing new materials. These materials were generally PowerPoints or brief reports about topics which Professor Huemmler wished to incorporate more soundly into his course. Some examples of these topics include alternative fuels, the Kyoto Protocols Flexible Mechanisms, sustainable buildings, and Obamas climate proposals. The above and right images reflect these topics. Integrating Sustainability Across the Curriculum (ISAC) pairs Penn students with Penn instructors in a collaborative effort to incorporate sustainability topics into Penn courses. As an ISAC intern, I worked alongside Professors Andrew Huemmler and Alain Plante to revamp and design their respective courses: Climate Policy & Technology and Principles of Sustainability Science. An initial task of mine was to develop concise objectives for each course: