If you don’t already know about the MOOCs—Massive Open
Online Courses-- being offered by platforms such as Coursera.org, get yourself to
the site and start learning—it’s free, and the courses are taught by experts in
the field.
Your FIRST stop should be a course that started last
week—called “Introduction to Sustainable Development.” It speaks directly to what I’ve been trying
to get a handle on in Aceh and “provides an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of sustainable
development, and draws upon the most recent developments in the social, policy
and physical sciences. It describes the complex interactions between the world
economy and the Earth's physical environment, and addresses issues of
environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive development. By the end of
this course, students will gain a broad overview of the key challenges and
potential solutions to achieve development in the 21st century.”
It’s taught by Professor Jeffrey
D. Sachs of the University of Illinois.
Dr. Sachs “is a world-renowned economics professor, leader in
sustainable development, senior UN advisor, bestselling author, and syndicated
columnist. Professor Sachs serves as the Director of The Earth Institute,
Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy
and Management at Columbia University. He is Special Advisor to United Nations
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the Millennium Development Goals, and held the
same position under former Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He is Director of the
UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, as well as co-founder and
director of the Millennium Villages Project. Sachs is also one of the
Secretary-General’s MDG Advocates, and a Commissioner of the ITU/UNESCO Broadband
Commission for Development. Professor Sachs is widely considered to be one of
the world’s leading experts on sustainable economic development and the fight
against poverty. His work on ending poverty, promoting economic growth,
fighting hunger and disease, and promoting sustainable environmental practices,
has taken him to more than 125 countries with more than 90 percent of the
world’s population. For more than a quarter century he has advised dozens of
heads of state and governments on economic strategy, in the Americas, Europe,
Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. He has authored three New York Times
bestsellers in the past 7 years: The End of Poverty, Common Wealth: Economics
for a Crowded Planet, and The Price of Civilization. His most recent book is To
Move the World: JFK’s Quest for Peace."
It's fascinating. Sign up now, take the course, and we'll talk.
https://class.coursera.org
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