This is the syllabus for the Lehigh University course only. Each participating institution will provide their students with a separate course syllabus.

Course title: Foundations of Sustainable Development Practice 

Course number: SDEV/ES 310/410 (Lehigh University)

Credits: 3 for ES 410, 4 for SDEV/ES 310

Meeting Dates and Times: Tuesday 08:00-10:35 AM US EST/EDT.

The class session on Tuesdays will consist of two consecutive parts. The first part of the class, 8:00 am to approximately 9:15am, will constitute the “Global Classroom”. While it will be hosted by Lehigh University, it is streamed live to students at institutions across the world who are taking this course. The other part of the class on Tuesdays, from 9:15-10:35 am, is exclusively for Lehigh students. 

Location: EWFM Room 625

Instructor: Dr. Bill Hunter, Coxe Hall Room 110 x84505
Email: wdh3@lehigh.edu

Lehigh University endorses The Principles of Our Equitable Community (https://www1.lehigh.edu/diversity). We expect each member of this class to acknowledge and practice these Principles. Respect for each other and for differing viewpoints is a vital component of the learning environment inside and outside the classroom.

Course description:

With the world at 8.14 billion people and a current annual GDP  of around US $100.88 trillion, human impacts on the environment have already reached  dangerous levels. By 2050 there may well be 9 billion people and global GDP of more than US$150 trillion. The challenges of governance for sustainable development in a globalizing world are real and many. National governments must coordinate policy development and implementation with diverse actors: businesses, local governments, regional/international institutions, and civil society organizations. The global information and communication revolution is leading to increased transparency, with growing demands for participation in decision making in every country. Multinational corporations are key players in global trade, finance, manufacturing, resource extraction, and technological change, and often more so than most national governments. Globalization makes possible regulatory and tax arbitrage across jurisdictions, undermining the effectiveness of national economic policies, taxation, and environmental regulations. Tackling problems that require global cooperation is extremely challenging in a multipolar world. The world urgently needs a practical and effective framework for sustainable development to address the simultaneous challenges of ending poverty, increasing social inclusion, and sustaining local and planetary life systems.

Leaders of 193 countries adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the UN Sustainable Development Summit on September 25, 2015. It includes a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030.  In the years preceding the summit, a number of activities initiated under the leadership of UN Secretary-General set the stage for the SD Summit. They included the UN SG’s High-Level Global Sustainability Panel Report recommending that the world adopt a set of Sustainable Development Goals. As part of UN SecretaryGeneral’s initiatives to promote sustainable development, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions  Network (SDSN) was launched in 2012 to mobilize global scientific and technological knowledge on the challenges of sustainable development, including the design and implementation of the post-2015 global sustainable development agenda (The SDSN is the entity that supports development and distribution of this course).

In 2014, the Open Working Group of the UN released its  proposal for post-2015 development agenda for consideration and appropriate action by the UN General Assembly. The outcome document of the United Nations Summit for the post-2015 development agenda, “Transforming Our World: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development” was agreed to by member states on Aug 11, 2015, and adopted at the UN SD Summit in New York, September 25-27.

Feasible pathways to long-term sustainability are highly complex, subject to technological uncertainty, and require substantial financial resources. Sound policy-making in each country requires a long-term approach that integrates strategies vis-à-vis many challenges: food and nutritional security, social service delivery, energy policy, water resource management, urbanization, infrastructure, human rights, biodiversity, adaption to climate change, mitigating greenhouse gases, sustainable business, good governance, and much more. New kinds of cross-disciplinary expert teams, knowledgeable of and sensitive to these issues, and often working across national borders, are needed to provide an integrated approach to sustainability.

The broad goal of this course is to introduce the foundations of key sectoral and thematic knowledge for these important challenges to sustainable development. Through the Global

Classroom, an approach pioneered by Columbia University and the Global MDP Association, and led for the past few years by Lehigh University, we will do this together with academic partners from around the world.

Course Objectives: Upon successful completion of the course, students will become familiar with current and emerging global issues related to the Sustainable Development Goals, be equipped to analyze critical dimensions of sustainable development in the context of both industrialized and developing countries, and be cognizant of the key spatial and temporal connections and their integration for successful policy and practice of sustainable development.

Method of instruction: The course will achieve its learning objectives by deploying a combination of lectures from internationally recognized experts, classroom and online discussion, extensive readings, and class writing projects. Each class on Tuesdays will run for 160 minutes, in two parts. First, the Global Classroom with a lead speaker and discussion (for about 75 minutes). Following a short break, the second part of the class is the Lehigh classroom, involving moderated discussion.

The course will be sub-divided in two different ways:

  • The course is divided into four modules, one for each pillar of Sustainable Development: Economic Well-Being, Environmental Protection, Social Inclusion, and Governance for Sustainable Development.
  • Each module is presented by a Global Thought Leader to provide a current overview of the module or a practitioner currently applying the SDGs in action to offer a perspective from the front lines.

An interactive discussion in real time involving students from across the MDP Network will occur in this fashion:

  • Global Thought Leaders will speak for at least 45 minutes, and any remaining time will be devoted to Q&A between classrooms and the speaker;
  • We will then close the Zoom and begin our in-class segment.

Class Schedule: For Lehigh students, the weekly class schedule will be maintained on our CourseSite page. Speaker schedules, assigned readings and streaming videos can be found on the Global Classroom web site.  

Class Readings & Videos: All readings will be posted on the Global Classroom website, https://wordpress.lehigh.edu/globalclassroom/, a minimum of one week in advance, with some indicated as required and others as recommended. These may change as new ones are considered. For some topics, students may be requested to view a video or become familiar with relevant websites. While the Tuesday Global Classroom speakers will address some of the issues covered in the readings, the readings are designed to provide a background to the topic of discussion and are complementary to the lectures. Students may be invited at random to provide an overview of issues for debate. Take your readings seriously!  Video lectures by global experts occur via live stream on Tuesdays at 8:00 am (Eastern Time). Video files are typically posted to the web page within 24 hours. The web site also contains videos and readings from the 2017-2024 Global Classroom, which may be of interest to students.

Class Grading (applies to Lehigh University students only):

  • In an effort to raise the quality of our classroom discussions, you are responsible for material in “The Age of Sustainable Development” by Jeffrey Sachs (2015). If you are not familiar with a topic being addressed in a particular unit, please start by reviewing the relevant section(s) in The Age of Sustainable Development BEFORE attempting the required class reading. 
  • Presentation to the United Nations General Assembly: You have been asked to write Greta Thunburg or Malala Yousafzai’s speech to the UN in September. What will you say to the world about efforts to achieve the SDGs this past year? As a leading youth voice, what will Greta or Malala tell / demand of the world leaders sitting before them? You are to write a 10-minute speech (roughly 1,500 words) and also record it. This shouldn’t be just a stream of facts. Identify several themes, back them up with facts, and end with a challenge to the world that has not already been presented. This paper / recording accounts for 15% of your final grade. This is due by Monday, September 15. Then, watch President Trump’s UN Speech on Tuesday, September 16.
  • Write a Policy Brief, due by midnight on Friday, Nov 14th. The brief, written individually by each student, should be no more than 750 words in length. The policy brief will require the student to display deep, substantive knowledge of the sustainable development policy field, and grasp of relevant methods / data challenges. The brief is to be uploaded onto CourseSite by the submission deadline. The policy brief accounts for 25% of the final grade.
  • One individual final paper, due by midnight Dec 5th. The paper should be no more than 1500 words. The paper will analyze key challenges in the implementation of sustainable development, in a specific country or sub- national level setting. A

clear exposition of the practical challenges in addition to fluency on substantive issues of the relevant field is expected. The paper will be submitted through CourseSite by the submission deadline. The final paper accounts for 30% of the final grade.

  • Active class  participation,  throughout  the  semester,  accounting  for  30%  of  the  final grade, as described below. Students are expected to participate in the

following aspects:

o For the Lehigh classroom sessions, groups of 2-3 students will moderate a discussion  on  the  week’s  topic,  drawing  on  class  readings,  the  Global Classroom discussion, and their own experience. Each student will do this 2-3 times over the course of the semester. Discussion moderation will account for 20% of the final grade. o In addition to moderating selected Lehigh classroom sessions, each student is expected to actively participate in Global Classroom and Lehigh classroom discussions, drawing deeply on class readings and on their experience. Students are expected to attend every session and actively participate in the discussions. Students are also expected to participate in the 18th SDG challenge. This participation accounts for 10% of your final grade.

Note: Late  submissions  of  assignments  will  not  be  accepted  without  prior approval. 

Please  be  aware  that  such  approvals  would  not  be  forthcoming  on  a routine  basis.  Late  submissions  will  be  penalized  by  10%  of  the  assignment  value  for each day or any part thereof overdue. 

Academic Honesty:

It is the duty and obligation of students to meet and uphold the highest principles and values of personal, moral and ethical conduct. As partners in our educational community, both students and faculty share the responsibility for promoting and helping to ensure an environment of academic integrity. As such, each student is expected to complete all academic course work in accordance to the standards set forth by the faculty and in compliance with the University’s Code of Conduct. For additional information, I encourage to visit this web site:  https://studentaffairs.lehigh.edu/content/academic–integrity–resources

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:

Lehigh University is committed to maintaining an equitable and inclusive community and welcomes students with disabilities into all of the University’s educational programs.  In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, a student with a disability must contact Disability Support Services (DSS), provide documentation, and participate in an interactive review process.  If the documentation supports a request for reasonable accommodations, DSS will provide students with a Letter of Accommodations. Students who are approved for accommodations at Lehigh should share this letter and discuss their accommodations and learning needs with instructors as early in the semester as possible.  For more information or to request services, please contact Disability Support Services in person in Williams Hall, Suite 301, via phone at 610-758-4152, via email at indss@lehigh.edu, or online at https://studentaffairs.lehigh.edu/disabilities.   

The Principles of Our Equitable Community:

Lehigh University endorses The Principles of Our Equitable Community

[http://www.lehigh.edu/~inprv/initiatives/PrinciplesEquity_Sheet_v2_032212.pdf]. We expect each member of this class to acknowledge and practice these Principles. Respect for each other and for differing viewpoints is a vital component of the learning environment inside and outside the classroom.