Sustainability 101

Sustainability101 will help you to get the facts about climate change and sustainability. This online module will introduce you to tools that can help you to understand and reduce your climate impact. By increasing your sustainability self-awareness, you will be able to make a positive difference in your own life, and in the organisations and communities around you.

This module will support you to make a real contribution to society locally, to be globally conscientious and socially respectful, to be self-reflective, and to develop awareness of your civic, ethical, and environmental responsibilities. Therefore, this module will support you in developing the Active Citizen and Personal Abertay Attributes.

By the end of this module the student should be able to:

1. Understand sustainability and learn how to improve your personal impact.

1 What is sustainability and how is it linked to Climate change?

We define sustainability, enhancing understanding of the links between society, economy, and environment. Climate change is explained and linked to sustainability. We provide clear accessible information about the reliable science of climate change. We describe the efforts towards limiting human-induced global warming (limiting cumulative CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions).

2 Global sustainability

We introduce the United Nations Sustainability Goals (SDGs). The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth - all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.

3 Personal sustainability

The WWF environmental footprint tool is a great way to start your personal sustainability journey. The planet is in crisis - from climate change to the pollution in our oceans and devastation of our forests. It's up to all of us to fix it. Take your first step with our environmental footprint calculator.

4 Community sustainability and climate resilience

Community climate resilience comes in many forms. In this topic we introduce ideas which can provide multiple benefits of people, planet, and prosperity. We showcase inspiring examples whereby working with natural processes (Biophilic design, blue and green infrastructure) we can connect people with nature to improve their well-being and quality of life, whilst simultaneously tackling climate change and storing carbon.

5 Global solutions

What is the world doing about it? What impact do Global Climate and Biodiversity agreements (COP26 etc) really have? What's happening here? Where are the challenges and the good news stories? We showcase positive initiatives focussed on progress.