Our human society consists of many intertwined Large Scale Socio-Technical Systems (LSSTS), such as infrastructures, industrial networks, the financial systems etc. Environmental pressures created by these systems on Earth‰ŰŞs carrying capacity are leading to exhaustion of natural resources, loss of habitats and biodiversity, and are causing a resource and climate crisis. To avoid this sustainability crisis, we urgently need to transform our production and consumption patterns. Given that we, as inhabitants of this planet, are part of a complex and integrated global system, where and how should we begin this transformation? And how can we also ensure that our transformation efforts will lead to a sustainable world? LSSTS and the ecosystems that they are embedded in are known to be Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS). According to John Holland CAS are "...a dynamic network of many agents (which may represent cells, species, individuals, firms, nations) acting in parallel, constantly acting and reacting to what the other agents are doing. The control of a CAS tends to be highly dispersed and decentralized. If there is to be any coherent behavior in the system, it will have to to arise from competition and cooperation among the agents themselves. The overall behavior of the system is the result of a huge number of decisions made every moment" by many individual agents. Understanding Complex Adaptive Systems requires tools that themselves are complex to create and understand. Shalizi defines Agent Based Modeling as "An agent is a persistent thing which has some state we find worth representing, and which interacts with other agents, mutually modifying each other‰ŰŞs states. The components of an agent-based model are a collection of agents and their states, the rules governing the interactions of the agents and the environment within which they live." This course will explore the theory of CAS and their main properties. It will also teach you how to work with Agent Based Models in order to model and understand CAS.

Have you ever asked what “biobased” means or wondered about the key aspects in developing and commercializing biobased products? This course will answer those questions and more; highlighting the opportunities, hurdles, and driving forces of the bioeconomy.

Today’s industries face enormous global challenges when it comes to the fossil-based economy. Fossil resources are no longer a desirable feedstock for many products and governments’ climate goals put various limitations to its usage. Moreover, consumer perception has become an increasingly important factor. With biobased products as an alternative to the fossil-based economy, the bioeconomy can provide viable solutions to these challenges.

The course describes the different types of biomass, the methods of refinery and typical conversion technologies used for biobased products. You’ll also engage in a study of the practical and real-life examples emerging in the market: biopolymers, bioenergy, bioflavours, and biosurfactants.

The course has been developed by a team of experts from seven different institutions and universities in three different countries, all sharing their personal perspectives on the opportunities and challenges faced by the biobased industry. The three top-ranked institutions Delft University of Technology, RWTH Aachen University, and Wageningen University & Research offer additional, more advanced courses to continue your learning journey:

Industrial Biotechnology: a more advanced course that digs deeper into engineering aspects of bio-based products.
MicroMasters Chemistry and Technology for Sustainability: Help drive the transition from fossil sources to renewable energy ones and engineer a biobased future.
Sustainable Development: The Water-Energy-Food Nexus: Introduction to sustainable development and its relation to the Water-Energy-Food Nexus.

Design and construction of breakwaters and closure dams in estuaries and rivers. Functional requirements, determination of boundary conditions, spatial and constructional design and construction aspects of breakwaters and dams consisting of rock, sand and caissons.

This book is based upon the edX MOOCs Engineering: Building with Nature and Beyond Engineering: Building with Nature. The Engineering: Building with Nature MOOC, explores the use of natural materials and ecological processes in achieving effective and sustainable hydraulic infrastructure designs, distilling Engineering and Ecological Design Principles. In the Beyond Engineering: Building with Nature course, the missing element of Social Design Principles is developed and taught.

Join us in exploring the interface between hydraulic engineering, nature and society!

Based on working on exercises on project decision making and planning, the specific context of working abroad in general and in developing countries in particular is illustrated, with regard to socio-cultural aspects, planning and financing of projects, roles of (consulting) engineers and contractors, local materials, techniques and knowledge and environmental issues.

Overview: In this video, Liano Boop goes over the effects of climate change.

Author: Dr. Liana Boop, San Jacinto College Faculty

OER Provider: San Jacinto College

Creative Commons License: CC BY 4.0
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Language: English

Anthropogenic climate change is one of the, if not the most, pressing issues of our times. The problems that it causes range across many social and environmental domains from habitat and species loss and displacement to the more human and social concerns and issues of access to water, sea level rise that affects coastal communities, to economic degradation as a result of the aforementioned and other connected issues such as increased frequency of storms, droughts, wildfires, and the like. We also know that the affects of climate change are not distributed evenly across populations- that many will and do feel the negative effects of this slow developing problem earlier and more intensely than others based on where they are located both geographically and within economic and other socio-cultural hierarchies. We also know that recently, there is a marked effort to begin to move away from simply decrying the horrors of climate change to a continued recognition of those horrors as they exist now and into the future alongside attempts to begin to come to terms with the changing climate and to rethink the ways that our social and environmental relations and communities are organized with an eye toward both adapting to these changes and mitigating further damage. There is, however, much work to be done. This book was co-authored by undergraduate students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute while exploring the influences of Earth systems and human systems on climate change and the communities at most risk in an interdisciplinary project-based first year course. This course attempts to bring together knowledge of the science of ecological and climate systems and their changing status with knowledge of the social and communal structures within which these systems are embedded and through which they have been influenced. The book highlights key interests and insights of current students in their quest to think through these issues and to create a better world.

Modules, games and labs focused on teaching climate change. Developed by graduate students and faculty associated with the UW Program on Climate Change, a cross departmental collaboration to research, teach and communicate climate science. Updated regularly.

This course will focus upon the geographers bi association of site and situation. The primary goal of the course is to increase the awareness of students through didactic knowledge that is necessary in the planning process. That leads to the course design which in the first part of the semester will focus upon site issues and the last part of the course will focus upon situation issues involving the interactions of the site.

Developing Change Agents examines the role of academia in creating the next generation of sustainability leaders. Delving into strategies to transform higher education, this volume empowers universities to develop change agents who can scale solutions to meet the wicked environmental, social, and political challenges of the present and future. Developing Change Agents advances a revolutionary perspective on the way academia functions from the administrative hierarchies to faculty, and the classroom and to deep engagement in the communities where the solutions must be co-created. This book works to find a transdisciplinary, effective method of tackling the world’s issues with reference to emotional intelligence, diversity, community, and reward structures and supports a tailored, reflexive approach based upon each university’s diverse and unique students, faculty, programs, and communities.

The course provides the technological background of treatment processes applied for production of drinking water. Treatment processes are demonstrated with laboratory experiments.

Being able to step voltages to a higher value and step voltages down to a lower value is one of the benefits of alternating current. This book will explain how this is possible through transformers with a focus on single phase.

This open textbook covers the most salient environmental issues, from a biological perspective. The text is designed for an introductory-level college science course. Topics include the fundamentals of ecology, biodiversity, pollution, climate change, food production, and human population growth.

Lecture slides for each chapter are available from https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/119oj6XXHnQMpwu_rCgczDFrZPMbqGN8W

This book was written by undergraduate students at The Ohio State University (OSU) who were enrolled in the class Introduction to Environmental Science. The chapters describe some of Earth's major environmental challenges and discuss ways that humans are using cutting-edge science and engineering to provide sustainable solutions to these problems.

The second volume of the Environmental ScienceBites book was authored by 30 unique undergraduate students enrolled in the course Introduction to Environmental Science at The Ohio State University. The book highlights both articles and posters describing critical environmental issues important to the first-time authors.

This open online textbook on Environmental Toxicology aims at covering the field in its full width, including aspects of environmental chemistry, ecotoxicology, toxicology and risk assessment. With that, it will contribute to improving the quality, continuity and transparency of the education in environmental toxicology. We also want to make sure that fundamental insights on fate and effects of chemicals gained in the past are combined with recent approaches of effect assessment and molecular analysis of mechanisms causing toxicity.

"Global Climate Change through Geologic Time"  is a remix with enhancements that fits within content I implement with my students called the "Global Change Modern and Paleo Considerations" module, for example.  My adopted then adapted expanded item is an extension of earlier modular activities I designed to do with students including How Science Works from Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and using the HHMI Earth Explorer interactive to consider data trends through time that my classes do earlier in a semester.  There is also a series of embedded, supporting ADA Compliant streaming videos used and I also include engagement through the UCMP Understanding Science interactive platform.

Learn about urban water services, focusing on conventional technologies for drinking water treatment. This course focuses on conventional technologies for drinking water treatment. Unit processes, involved in the treatment chain, are discussed as well as the physical, chemical and biological processes involved. The emphasis is on the effect of treatment on water quality and the dimensions of the unit processes in the treatment chain. After the course one should be able to recognise the process units, describe their function, and make basic calculations for a preliminary design of a drinking water treatment plant.

This course uses the basic principles of biology and earth science as a context for understanding environmental policies and resource management practices. Our planet is facing unprecedented environmental challenges, from oil spills to global climate change. In ENSC 1000, you will learn about the science behind these problems; preparing you to make an informed, invaluable contribution to Earth’s future. I hope that each of you is engaged by the material presented and participates fully in the search for, acquisition of, and sharing of information within our class.

Introductory Physical Geology lecture text content equivalent to Texas GEOL 1403. Authored by Salt Lake Community College geosciences faculty that are well versed in common core content for such non majors and majors entry-level courses.