ES/SO 360 - Designing the Sustainable City

In this course, students will be asked to identify the most pressing sustainability issues in your host city. Working in small teams, they will design a new housing community that can offer solutions to the issues they have identified at the local level, taking into account the environmental, historical and social characteristics of their host city. Fellow students will be from the multiple IES Abroad Centers and will represent a variety of academic backgrounds. Together, they will be part of a greater learning community, guided by faculty experts from diverse backgrounds, working towards solutions to the identified problems. Substantive field visits and connections with local NGOs will allow students to gather valuable data and information as they develop their projects; innovative technology will enable them to share their experience and findings across the three locations; and problem-based learning will culminate in each team delivering a multi-media presentation to the group. Upon successful completion of this course, students will earn a micro-credential in Sustainability and Development that will demonstrate their sustainability literacy and ability to find innovative solutions to complex problems.