Learning Objectives

Sustainable Development
Foundational Knowlege Integration
1.1 | Remember the Brundtland Report definition of sustainable development; 3.1 | Through research, determine how natural systems and social systems are linked to one
1.2 | Understand that the term “sustainable development” has many interpretations; another through stocks and flows;
1.3 | Remember that proactive prevention of (environmental, societal, or economic) damage requires 3.2 | Recognize the connection between sustainable development and topics such as system
far fewer resources than reactively attempting to reverse damage after it has occurred; thinking, population, water, material and energy;
1.4 | Understand that sustainable design addresses societal, economic and environmental 3.3 | Identify sustainable indicators that have a local and global relevance;
concerns in an integrated (or holistic) way; designs that address less than all three are unlikely 3.4 | Relate the concept of sustainable development to their own behavior and decisions;
to be sustainable; 3.5 | Develop a set of sustainable development indicators for their lives;
1.5 | Remember that economies (“the trade of goods and services”) are wholly-owned subsidiaries 3.6 | Describe the importance of environmental integrity (species diversity, health of ecosystem)
of societies, both of which require a healthy environment to thrive; to real human well-being.
1.6 | An activity will not be sustainable unless A) its effective consumption of resources is less
than the environment’s ability to regenerate those resources and B) it functions to increase
societal equity; Human Dimension
1.7 | Identify the strengths and limitations associated with the following decision-making tools: 4.1 | Understand both sides of the sustainable development balancing equation (capacity of the
Life-cycle assessment, ecological footprint, design for environment; natural system and demands of the social system) can be altered significantly by human
actions and their impact on the local environment, global environment, and community;
1.8 | Sustainable development indicators are locally-defined;
4.2 | Understand their role in sustainable development;
1.9 | Sustainable development indicators derive from social, environmental and economic measures;
4.3 | Understand that one’s own view of the world results from mental models where facts are
1.10 | Sustainable solutions rely on local resources;
ascribed personal meaning only represents part of the whole situation and is biased by
1.11 | Sustainable development implies a shift in thinking from “economy of scale” to “economy one’s mental models;
of scope”;
4.4 | Appreciate others’ views on sustainability and see a situation from another’s perspective;
1.12 | A minimum set of sustainable development indicators must include indicators for 1. sufficiency
4.5 | Sustainable solutions require the consideration of all peoples’ aspirations and the
of real human well-being for all and 2. sustainability of environmental integrity, and 3. the ratio
collaboration with others;
of the two, which measures the efficiency of converting natural capital to real human well-being.
4.6 | Awareness and reflection on mental models facilitates sustainable design.

Application Caring
2.1 | Use causal loop diagram to approximate the behavior of a complex system;
5.1 | Feel they are important and “part of the solution” for sustainable development;
2.2 | Identify appropriate sustainable development indicators for a system;
5.2 | View the field of engineering as one of tackling challenges caused by the global economic
2.3 | Select the right method to evaluate the sustainability of products, processes or services from
system (i.e., as a field with a high human purpose);
system perspective;
5.3 | Value the perspectives brought by other disciplines in solving sustainable development
2.4 | Define a design problem from a systems view (e.g., The need to relocate an company’s office
challenges;
buildings may be more of an issue of transmitting information instead of creating a new location
for people to meet); 5.4 | Care about their community (e.g., campus), environment.
2.5 | Identify leverage points within a system that can serve to make the system more sustainable;
2.6 | Create innovative solutions (strategies, designs, consumption patterns, policy) that have the
potential to make the system more sustainable;
Learning How to Learn
6.1 | Familiarize with Internet resources related to local and global issues of sustainable
2.7 | Learn to set sustainable development goals and select appropriate indicators and methods to
development;
monitor sustainability performance of a system;
6.2 | Identify a problem related to sustainable development in their community that they have
2.8 | Learn to dynamically model a simple system using causal loop diagram, stock-flow diagram
a passion;
and make sustainable decisions;
6.3 | Identify resources to get information for solving the problem from 6.2;
2.9 | Learn how to manage campus sustainable development projects with application of all
above thinking. 6.4 | Solve the problem by synthesizing information found through self-directed learning in 6.3;
6.5 | Practice the virtues of inquiry and critical thinking when evaluating new information:
1. Intellectual integrity 2. Intellectual humility 3. Confidence in Reason 4. Intellectual
Perseverance 5. Fairmindedness 6. Intellectual Courage 7. Intellectual Empathy 8. Intellectual
What impact do I want this module experience to have on students, Autonomy 9. Develop a metacognitive awareness of their own thinking process (how their
that will still be there a year or more after the course is over? biases enter in the selection of data and reasoning).
© 2009 - Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa