Sustainable Business

This course employs a systems approach to understanding the intersection of business and nongovernmental organizations and the Earth system. The geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere, and how they are interrelated, are explored with a focus on climate change. Systems thinking emphasizes relationships and interdependencies — students learn to identify the connections between the planet and an organization by considering whole systems, rather than component parts, and discern systems within systems. Students apply systems thinking and their knowledge of the Earth system to analyze organizations and address sustainability challenges, including resource use, waste management, and climate change.

Socially sustainable communities and businesses are equitable, diverse, connected, democratic and provide a good quality of life.  Social sustainability occurs when the formal and informal systems and relationships actively support the capacity of current and future generations to create healthy and livable communities. From a business perspective, social sustainability is about understanding the impacts of corporations on people and society. This class will examine how social sustainability interacts with diversity, as well as how business decisions should be proactive with identifying and managing the impact on employees, workers in the value chain, customers, and local communities.

Ecological economics addresses the complexity inherent in the process of determining how we decide, utilize, and prioritize resources in a way that does not jeopardize the future well being of natural and human systems.  This course will focus on how economic and political systems interact to generate varied outcomes in relation to the goals of sustainability, justice, and economic well-being. Alternative measurement systems will be compared to neoclassical tools for their ability to measure progress and students will consider private and public sector approaches for creating a transition toward a more sustainable and just society.  Throughout the course, we will focus on what “works” and place significant emphasis on relating the material to students personal and career goals.