Applied Sustainability for Technical Managers

As the world’s population continues to rise toward an expected 10 billion citizens by 2050, it is imperative that business practices change to ensure a high quality of life is possible for all of us, both human and non-human. Today’s learners are very aware of this. Moreover, they are highly motivated and have the extraordinary capacity to create a future that provides both economic success and a more enduring, resilient, and sustainable planet. If you are one of these learners, then Sustainability and the Circular Economy is a course for you. Sustainability and the Circular Economy is the first course in the Applied Sustainability for Technical Managers specialization. It aims to provide learners with the strategies and tools to realize their vision by integrating sustainability into everyday life, and in the companies where they work. The course opens with an examination of climate change and human impact on the environment, and the opportunities created for innovative solutions that drive real change. We then explore the sources of many of our environmental challenges, and the need to transition to a zero-carbon energy future. A sustainable future is more than just renewable energy, as we need to pay attention to our ever-growing desire for products that add value to our lives. Therefore, the course explores how we’re electrifying transportation, making our homes more energy efficient, eating more sustainable food grown with regenerative agricultural practices, and wearing clothes designed to last and made from more natural materials using fair and equitable labor. It is important to recognize that many of the 10 billion global citizens will want the same products and lifestyles as citizens in wealthier industrialized nations. Yet products require materials - and our current extractive approach to resources will not meet this burgeoning demand. The course concludes with an overview of the Circular Economy, an innovative way of decoupling such economic growth from traditional resource extraction. Sustainability and the Circular Economy provides the foundation for the next two courses in the Applied Sustainability specialization. This course can be taken for academic credit as part of CU Boulder’s Master of Engineering in Engineering Management (ME-EM) degree offered on the Coursera platform. The ME-EM is designed to help engineers, scientists, and technical professionals move into leadership and management roles in the engineering and technical sectors. With performance-based admissions and no application process, the ME-EM is ideal for individuals with a broad range of undergraduate education and/or professional experience. Learn more about the ME-EM program at https://www.coursera.org/degrees/me-engineering-management-boulder.

Applied Sustainability Engineering, the second course in the "Applied Sustainability for Technical Managers" specialization discusses the techniques used by engineers and scientists to develop and assess the environmental impact of products and processes required to make those products. It begins with a discussion of different renewable energy technologies and their economics – highlighting how continued reductions in cost have made wind and solar power the least expensive way to generate electricity. It then addresses carbon footprints and how they are determined, applying a practical example where you determine your residential and transportation carbon footprints. From there, the course transitions to defining sustainable and circular products and packaging and showcasing several examples. As Technical Managers, you’ll need metrics for determining whether a product is truly sustainable, so the course introduces techniques such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Streamlined LCA (S-LCA), and the Eco-Audit methodologies. The course concludes with an overview of sustainable product design frameworks, including Cradle-to-Cradle, Design for the Circular Economy, and Biomimicry, just to name a few. This course is very practical, introducing you to several areas critical to managing and learning about sustainability initiatives, from assessing the environmental and social impacts of a product or process, to designing more sustainable and circular products. If you want to work towards having a positive impact on the planet and on society, then this course is for you! This course can be taken for academic credit as part of CU Boulder’s Master of Engineering in Engineering Management (ME-EM) degree offered on the Coursera platform. The ME-EM is designed to help engineers, scientists, and technical professionals move into leadership and management roles in the engineering and technical sectors. With performance-based admissions and no application process, the ME-EM is ideal for individuals with a broad range of undergraduate education and/or professional experience. Learn more about the ME-EM program at https://www.coursera.org/degrees/me-engineering-management-boulder.