What You Will Learn

  • Understand the evolving definition of “sustainability” and its implications across key historical moments and sectors

  • Lenses for understanding sustainability concepts, including planetary boundaries, natural capital, ecological footprint, Natural Step, Gaia Theory and more

  • Explore the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  • Meet inspiring figures from the sustainability movement

  • Put systems-thinking to work bringing about change to solve the world’s toughest challenges

Who is This Course For?

► Prospective sustainability professionals
► Mid-career professionals making the transition to sustainability
► Those building the green workforce
► Learners new to sustainability concepts
► Anyone interested in contributing to a world that can sustain healthy, livable societies

Course Description

At their core, sustainability concepts are about understanding and fostering systems — economic, social, and environmental — that can operate in perpetuity. Here is your invitation to take a tour with ISSP, the leading global network of sustainability professionals, as we present a foundations-level course to ready prospective sustainability practitioners of all backgrounds to be agents of positive change in their communities, companies, and the green workforce.

Across four self-paced modules, you’ll visit key moments, concepts, and figures throughout sustainability’s history, from first Earth Day and the groundbreaking environmental policies it inspired to the adoption of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. You will also introduced to the body of knowledge that has contributed to sustainability becoming one of the fastest-growing industries today, including flyover lessons on: Triple Bottom Line, Fritjof Capra's Principles of Ecology, Gaia Theory, James Lovelock’s Bioservices, natural capital, ESG, CSR, Corporate governance, principles of good governance, CERES Principles, Transparency, Bcorps, Global Initiative for Sustainability Reporting.

The course is presented in four, 1-hour modules: 

Module 1: Defining sustainability
Module 2: Key issues of sustainability
Module 3: Core concepts of sustainability
Module 4: Levers used to bring about change

Course participants will take one quiz at the end of each module, approximately 25 questions each.

Certificate

Following the successful completion of the course, students will receive a Certificate of Completion, indicating they understand the basics of sustainability concepts, frameworks used by practitioners, and the leading initiatives advancing sustainability around the world.

ISSP Sustainability Foundations Course Overview Sidebar.jpg
PHOTO ISSP Certificate of Completion.JPG

Your Syllabus

Module 1: Defining Sustainability

1 hour

Your introduction to sustainability as a definition and frameworks for practice, will cover key historical moments and movements, introduce the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and focus on the climate crisis.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Understand the definition of sustainability.

2. Understand the SDGs as a more comprehensive and detailed definition.

3. Recognize the key areas where the biosphere and its inhabitants are impacted by current practices.

Module 2: Key Areas of Impact for Sustainability

1 hour

You’ll define the planetary boundaries that underpin our current climate and ecological crises. Learn about ecosystem services and natural capital and see how emerging opportunities to measure basic human needs—such as the OECD Better Life Index and Gross National Happiness Index—are helping to bring human and nonhuman systems into balance for a more livable planet. The economic principles of priorities, modeling, lifestyles and consumption patterns are presented in the sustainability context.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Recognize the key areas of ecological, social and economic impacts related to sustainability.

2. Understand how these key issues relate to sustainability.

3. Recognize some key figures and players in sustainability.

Module 3: Core Concepts of Sustainability

1 hour

Frameworks are in focus, and you’ll unpack foundational and emerging concepts for measuring and reporting on sustainability. Limits to Growth, Ecological Footprint, Whole System Mapping, Principles of Ecology, and The Natural Step are just a few of the systems-thinking approaches you will explore.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Recognize core concepts of sustainability at a high level.

2. Understand how the concepts relate to each other and sustainability.

3. Understand a measure of the history behind the core ideas.

4. Recognize a few key figures in sustainability.

Module 4: Levers Used to Bring About Change

1 hour

Just as in nature, sustainability is an active, evolving process — and the sustainability practitioner is a fulcrum for change and momentum for their organization. In the final part of the course, participants will discover a number of sectors where this change is happening, including in: Corporate governance, finance and economy, social justice movements, civil society and government, manufacturing and supply chains, innovation and design. You will also learn several of the reporting standards and protocols these sectors are using to report on sustainability action.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Recognize ways that people can apply leverage to systems to bring about change.

2. Understand how each lever relates to the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Course Contact

Email us at: Education@SustainabilityProfessionals.org

Meet Your Course Creator

Course Creator Holly Robbins Bio.jpg

Holly Robbins is one of the founding faculty for the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) Master of Arts in Sustainable Design program, a purpose-built, discipline-agnostic online program intended to create the next generation of skilled creatives who will envision and design a more sustainable future. As adjunct faculty, she teaches courses on the practice of sustainable design and also authors courses for the program and ISSP. She is also a partner and co-owner in This Is Folly, an award-winning creative firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA and a former Target Corporation creative director.

About the International Society of Sustainability Professionals

The ISSP is the world’s leading professional association of sustainability practitioners. A member-driven nonprofit organization, ISSP moves the sustainability profession forward by defining professional excellence and empowering individuals, educational institutions and companies to advance sustainability within their organizations, regardless of sector. ISSP launched the Sustainability Excellence Associate (SEA) and Sustainability Excellence Professional (SEP) credentials (formerly the ISSP Sustainability Associate and ISSP Certified Sustainability Professional credentials) in 2016 to define and recognize competency in the field of sustainability. Since, ISSP has partnered with GBCI, which formally acquired the credentials in 2019, to enhance, scale and promote the credentials in order to drive positive environmental, social and economic outcomes in organizations and communities worldwide.

Copyright and Sharing

This course was developed by the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP). The material is intended for the individual who purchased the material and no part of it may be shared or reproduced without the written permission of ISSP.