About this course: The Age of Sustainable Development" gives students an understanding of the key challenges and pathways to sustainable development - that is, economic development that is also socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable.
Created by: Columbia University
Taught by: Jeffrey Sachs
Director, Earth Institute; Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development; Professor of Health Policy and Management
| Commitment | 2 hours of lectures per module |
| Language | English, Subtitles: Chinese (Simplified) |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Course Materials
Information about the general course structure and reading list can be found here.
3 readings
- Reading: Suggested Readings for The Age of Sustainable Development
- Reading: Syllabus
- Reading: Course Overview
What is Sustainable Development?
Professor Sachs provides an overview of the challenges the world faces, and introduces the topic of sustainable development.
5 videos
- Video: Intro to Sustainable Development
- Video: Economic Growth and Progress
- Video: Continuing Poverty
- Video: Environmental Threats
- Video: Paths
Graded: QUIZ: What is Sustainable Development?
WEEK 2
Inequality Around the World
Professor Sachs delves into the reasons for and the measurements of inequality between and within countries.
5 videos
- Video: Incomes Around the World
- Video: Urban/Rural Inequality
- Video: Income Inequality Within Countries
- Video: Measuring Wellbeing
- Video: Convergence or Divergence?
Graded: QUIZ: Inequality Around the World
WEEK 3
A Short History of Economic Development
Professor Sachs provides a history of economic development, starting with the Industrial Revolution and ending with the current state of modern economic growth.
5 videos
- Video: Economic Development is New
- Video: The Industrial Revolution Starts in England
- Video: The Great Waves of Technological Change
- Video: The Diffusion of Economic Growth
- Video: Economic Development Since World War II
Graded: QUIZ: A Short History of Economic Development
WEEK 4
The History of Inequality
Professor Sachs analyzes the intersecting roles of various factors that contribute to some countries advancing while others do not.
5 videos
- Video: The Idea of Clinical Economics
- Video: The Role of Physical Geography: Transport, Energy, Disease, and Crops
- Video: The Role of Culture: Demography, Education, Gender
- Video: The Role of Politics
- Video: Which Countries are Still Stuck in Poverty?
Graded: QUIZ: The History of Inequality
WEEK 5
The MDGs and the End of Extreme Poverty
Professor Sachs outlines the pathways for achieving the end of extreme poverty.
5 videos
- Video: The Reasons to Believe that Extreme Poverty Can Be Ended
- Video: A Strategy to End Extreme Poverty in Africa
- Video: South Asia: The Continuing Challenge of the Food Supply
- Video: A Closer Look at Official Development Assistance
- Video: Designing Practical Interventions: The Case of Millennium Villages
Graded: QUIZ: The MDGs and the End of Extreme Poverty
WEEK 6
Growth within Planetary Boundaries
Professor Sachs details the various planetary boundaries and their implications for growth dynamics.
5 videos
- Video: The Planetary Boundaries
- Video: Growth Dynamics
- Video: Growth and Planetary Boundaries: The Case of Energy (22:04)
- Video: Growth and Planetary Boundaries: The Case of Food (20:06)
- Video: Growth and Planetary Boundaries: The Case of Population (21:31)
Graded: QUIZ: Growth within Planetary Boundaries
WEEK 7
Human Rights and Gender Equality
Professor Sachs delves into the ethics of wealth, poverty and inequality as well as the forces that widen inequalities.
5 videos
- Video: The Ethics of Wealth, Poverty, and Inequality
- Video: Major UN Covenants and Declarations
- Video: Divided societies
- Video: Forces of Widening Inequalities
- Video: Gender Inequality and Solutions
Graded: QUIZ: Human Rights and Gender Equality
WEEK 8
Education
Professor Sachs provides an overview of the state of modern education, and what needs to be achieved for sustainable development.
5 videos
- Video: Life-cycle Approach to Human Development
- Video: Early Childhood Development
- Video: The Rising Returns to Education and the Supply Response
- Video: Social Mobility
- Video: The Role of Higher Education in Sustainable Development
Graded: QUIZ: Education
WEEK 9
Universal Health Coverage
Professor Sachs provides an overview of the challenges and pathways to achieving universal health coverage.
5 videos
- Video: The Human Right to Health
- Video: Poverty and Disease
- Video: Designing and Financing a Primary Health System in Low-Income Settings
- Video: Ten Recommended Steps to Health for All in the Poorest Countries
- Video: The Challenges of Health Coverage in High-Income Countries
Graded: QUIZ: Universal Health Coverage
WEEK 10
Sustainable Food Supply and the End of Hunger
Professor Sachs provides an overview of food security, farm systems, and ecology and reviews what can be done to achieve a sustainable global food supply.
5 videos
- Video: Malnutrition
- Video: Farm Systems, Ecology, and Food Security
- Video: How Environmental Change Threatens the Food System
- Video: How the Food System Threatens the Environment
- Video: Towards a sustainable global food supply
Graded: QUIZ: Sustainable Food Supply and the End of Hunger
WEEK 11
Sustainable Cities
Professor Sachs looks into what makes a city sustainable, the patterns of urbanization, and pathways for urban resilience around the world.
5 videos
- Video: The patterns of urbanization around the world
- Video: What makes a city sustainable?
- Video: Smart Infrastructure
- Video: Urban Resilience
- Video: Planning for Sustainable Development
Graded: QUIZ: Sustainable Cities
WEEK 12
Curbing Climate Change
Professor Sachs provides an introduction to the science behind climate change, and describes the negotiations and policies that are necessary to mitigate and prevent the consequences.
5 videos
- Video: The Basic Science of Climate Change
- Video: Consequences
- Video: Mitigation
- Video: Mitigation Policies
- Video: Policies and Global Cooperation for Climate Change
Graded: QUIZ: The Basic Science of Climate Change and Consequences
WEEK 13
Saving Biodiversity
Professor Sachs reviews the various threats to the world's ecosystem and biodiversity.
5 videos
- Video: What is Biodiversity?
- Video: Biodiversity Under Threat
- Video: Oceans and Fisheries
- Video: Deforestation
- Video: International Dynamics
Graded: QUIZ: Saving Biodiversity
WEEK 14
The SDGs
Professor Sachs recounts the history of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and describes what is necessary to achieve them.
5 videos
- Video: The proposal for SDGs at Rio+20
- Video: Goal Based Development
- Video: Financing for Sustainable Development
- Video: Principles of Good Governance
- Video: Feasibility of Sustainable Development
Graded: QUIZ: The SDGs
Graded: Final Exam
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Ratings and Reviews
A very complete and current matter course, prof. Sachs he is an authority on SDGs.
Absolutely billiant, very informative. Highly recommended for everyone. It teaches you things you never knew and gives you indepth knowledge on sustainable development. Now I am confident to hold a conversation and even work effectively in this area. It is the perfect beginners course for sustainable development
A class for this era that is imminently appropriate and desperately needed. A debt of gratitude to Professor Jeffrey Sachs, UN Special Advisor, to be repaid by continuing to spread the knowledge and themes of the course, and striving towards our sustainability goals.
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I have learnt a lot, and I will keep learning more. Now I feel inspired to get involved more directly, like volunteer workdays, getting active with ONGs, etc. Thank you very much for this course, hope many people around the world does this course so we all can understand the problems we are facing already and invest in sustainable development.