About The Program

The Global Classroom: Integrated Approaches to Sustainable Development Practice

This course aims to provide students with a general introduction to the basic core competencies and practical skills required of a “generalist” development practitioner. The course was initially launched at 12 universities around the world on January 22, 2008. Drawing from key concepts within the multi-disciplinary field of “sustainable development,” the curriculum is grounded in a practical approach that focuses on the inter-relationship of each of the following core fields of study:

  • Agriculture and Nutrition
  • Economics
  • Environment and Climate Science
  • Management
  • Policy, Anthropology and Social Studies
  • Public Health
  • Technology and Engineering

Intended learning outcomes:

  • To expose students to the core technical skills required to solve professional problems within the field of sustainable development.
  • To provide students the opportunity to demonstrate functional knowledge of the core issues of sustainable development through the analysis and diagnosis of real-world problems.
  • To enable students to determine an appropriate course of action when faced with a complex development challenge.
  • To provide students with a heightened awareness of the cross-cultural, multi-disciplinary, multinational dimensions of the field.
  • To encourage students to identify, create, and reflect upon “integrated approaches” and appropriate interventions that may lead to poverty alleviation and sustainable development

Course Calendar

Each week highlights practical lessons from an expert practitioner within the field of sustainable development. Students log onto the course “Super Site” to view pre-taped lectures and to review relevant reading materials, presentations, and other on-line resources. Materials posted on the “Super Site” serve to prepare students for the weekly discussion sections, conducted “live” to allow for the simultaneous participation across the network of partner universities. Weekly classes will also include local discussions facilitated by the local professor.