François Chung, Ph.D.

Tag: sustainable development

Sustainable development: issues and paths

Sustainable development: issues and paths

UL training, MOOC (2015). Given online by Université Laval (UL), this training provides the main keys to understand the concept of sustainable development in order to promote active participation in debates and actions for transition to its implementation. The training explains the basic concepts of environmental, social and economic issues related to the development, while taking into account the diversity of discourses and the complexity of issues.

Module 1: Greatness and misery of development in the 20th century

Main topics:

  • The industrious years;
  • Stockholm Conference;
  • Brundtland Report.

Module 2: Ethics, environment and development

Main topics:

  • Ethics of sustainable development;
  • Limits and precaution;
  • Ecocentric ethics.

Module 3: A garbage atmosphere

Main topics:

  • Low-altitude pollution;
  • Depletion of the ozonosphere;
  • Climatic changes.

Module 4: A twisted hydrosphere

Main topics:

  • Assimilative capacity;
  • Biogeochemical cycles;
  • Sampling volume.

Module 5: A humanized biosphere

Main topics:

  • Ocean acidification;
  • Expansion of agricultural land;
  • Biodiversity loss.

Module 6: Footprints and paths

Main topics:

  • Population;
  • Consumption;
  • Technology;
  • End of the linear economy.

Module 7: Complexity, vision and commitment

Main topics:

  • Complexity;
  • Pragmatism of targets;
  • Measures of happiness;
  • Collective actions.

Reference

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UL – Université Laval

Sustainability in practice

Sustainability in practice

Coursera training, MOOC (2015). Given online by The School of Design (PennDesign) of the University of Pennsylvania (US), this training provides an introduction to the ideas and practices that people are using to understand and change connections, including connections across time, that create systems that are greater than the simple sums of their parts, with consequences that are often unexpected. The objective is to pursue more sustainable processes and communities.

Week 1: Connections

Main topics:

  • Climate change;
  • Brundtland Report;
  • Systems thinking;
  • Design thinking;
  • Sketching.

Week 2: Allocation

Main topics:

  • Efficiency;
  • Natural capital;
  • Externality;
  • Lifecycle accounting.

Week 3: Resilience

Main topics:

  • Climate change;
  • Adaptability, transformability and diversity;
  • Collaboration.

Week 4: Emergence

Main topics:

  • Complex systems;
  • Informal settlements;
  • Computational models;
  • Innovation.

Week 5: Jurisdiction

Main topics:

  • Carbon Tracker;
  • Confirmation bias;
  • Product-service system.

Week 6: Performance

Main topics:

  • Benchmarking;
  • Energy efficiency;
  • Awareness raising;
  • Big data.

Week 7: Disruption

Main topics:

  • Disruptive innovation;
  • Integrated design;
  • Triple bottom line.

Reference

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Global sustainable energy

Global sustainable energy

Coursera training, MOOC (2014). Given online by the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering of the University of Florida (US), this training covers concepts of work and energy and their relationship with our modern society. Each aspect of this relationship is analyzed, including consumptive patterns for the residential, commercial, industrial and transportation sectors. Sources for fossil fuels and the differences between reserves and production are also examined.

Module 1: History of energy

Main topics:

  • Energy sources;
  • Brush wind power machine;
  • Steam and diesel engines.

Module 2: History of mechanized agriculture

Main topics:

  • Crop yields;
  • Fertilizers and pesticides;
  • Fuel requirements.

Module 3: Transportation

Main topics:

  • Fuel types;
  • International consumption patterns;
  • Driving techniques.

Module 4: Residential energy consumption

Main topics:

  • Energy efficiency;
  • Energy footprint;
  • Energy savings.

Module 5: Commercial energy consumption

Main topics:

  • Heating;
  • Ventilating;
  • Air conditioning (AC);
  • Lighting;
  • Energy efficiency.

Module 6: Industrial energy and total energy requirements

Main topics:

  • Primary materials;
  • Fossil fuels;
  • Recycling.

Module 7: Energy availability

Main topics:

  • Fossil fuel availability;
  • Total energy requirements;
  • Export Land Model.

Module 8: Marketplace

Main topics:

  • Oil commodity market;
  • Commodity exchanges;
  • Speculation.

Module 9: Current warnings

Main topics:

  • Peak Oil;
  • Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC);
  • Fungible products.

Module 10: Transformations I – electricity

Main topics:

  • Energy efficiency;
  • Renewable energy sources;
  • Subsidies.

Module 11: Transformations II – oil

Main topics:

  • Transportation sector;
  • Energy efficiency;
  • Driving techniques.

Reference

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