Strategic Sustainability Distance Learning

Blekinge Institute of Technology (BHT), Karlskrona Sweden
Sustainability at BHT: http://www.bth.se/site/sustainability.nsf/pages/home

The BHT offers a variety of residence and distance-learning educational opportunities. One of them is the first class of the resdence Master's Programme in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability  (MSLS). I took the Fall of 2009 distance class--Introduction to Strategic Sustainable Development--and found it exceptional. However, it is real school, repleat with reading, lectures, assignments, and a final exam delivered via web technology. It requires 10-20 hours per week to get the full benefit. The class consisted of about 50 students spanning the four corners of the globe and ranging from recent college grads through senior professionals. They were engaged and the experience was inspiring.

The class provides training in a unique and robust whole systems strategic planning methodology focused on achieving global sustainability. It is based on the content and method developed by Karl-Henrick Robert and The Natural Step over the past 20 years. The integration of multiple disciplines and practces is truly one of humanity's important, but as yet, under appreciated innovations. It holds the potential to develop the strategic focus, alignment, and context required for the myriad of tactical sustainbility impulses exploding onto the world stage recenlty to lead to global sustainability successs. My prognostication is that if humanity is successful, we will look back on the invention as a miraculous phenomonenon of just-in-time social innvoation. If we fail, it will still be the same phenomenon, it's just that there may not be as many of us looking back. Powerful. Valuable. Well worth your time if you're interested in the larger challenge of sustainability and the requirements for an effective response.

The BHT describes their sustainbility efforts as follows.

Sustainable development - striving for human progress and well-being within ecological limits - is a global pursuit of the utmost importance. By necessity it is a transdisciplinary field that calls for input, interpretation and application from and within all disciplines. At BTH, sustainable development is part of our profile Applied IT and Sustainable Development of Industry and Society. We are striving to integrate it seamlessly in everything we do. There are various specialized programmes where sustainability education and research are studied directly. Other programmes study the consequences of unsustainability and look for mitigation strategies and new and better ways of meeting society's needs. Many of our programmes also specialize on the enabling technologies that can be developed and harnessed in support of sustainable development objectives.

Distance learning Options http://www.bth.se/site/sustainability.nsf/pages/sustainability-distance-learning

Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability (Master's Level)
http://www.bth.se/site/sustainability.nsf/pages/mi2407_distance

THE COURSE WILL COVER 2 MODULES:

Module 1: Core Concepts of Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD). Today's environmental problems from a systems perspective. The cyclical processes in nature vs. the traditional linear use of materials in today's society. How to use a systems view and strategic planning for sustainable development. Principles of sustainability stemming from basic science: thermodynamics, energy, biological systems and social systems

Module 2: Applications of SSD understanding. Various tools and concepts currently in use for sustainable development, and their individual strengths and limitations.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES
On completion of the course the student will:   

• Be able to discuss key sustainability challenges facing today's society, including some of the causes of both environmental and society problems.
• Be able to describe the major components of a framework for strategic sustainable development.
• Be able to independently apply the strategic planning tool (the ABCD analysis) to an organization.
• Be able to describe different tools and concepts relevant to sustainable development and demonstrate the ability to apply the SSD framework to describe how these tools and concepts are best utilised.