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11:22

An Introduction to Sustainable Development

This lecture examines the different ideas behind sustainable development. It acts as an introduction to the complexities that make up the world in relation to sustainable development. This video is not available under a Creative Commons license and should not be considered open content. However, the video is freely available for viewing or sharing with individuals or groups for educational purposes, such as in a classroom, workshop, or training. Please give attribution to the SDG Academy.…

18:10

Consumption and Diets

This chapter discusses the current state of our diets and the dietary trends around the world. There are four things that are happening globally: people are consuming too many calories, those calories are of poor quality, diets are not very affordable, and they’re not sustainable. People are consuming more than they need to on average, but what they consumer is of poor quality, or “junk food.” Sugar consumption is on the rise, particularly with processed foods. Our diets cost…

07:44

Equality of Opportunity

Non-discrimination is an interesting concept in law; Joshua Castellino argues that in society, some discrimination is perfectly justifiable. Unjustifiable discrimination occurs in the context of marginalized groups as a consequence of a person’s identity, not necessarily ability. Tools for nondiscrimination need to promote equality of opportunity for all. Societies put in place measures like affirmative action to try to remedy this, though these are only temporary solutions. This video…

10:17

The Goal of Less Than 2ºC, Part I

How does emission of greenhouse gases lead to global warming? This chapter depicts and analyzes significant factors and illuminates anomalies contributing to the drastic change in our climate. Lastly, this chapter addresses the perils of global warming and the urgency to keep global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius, as stated in the Paris Climate Agreement. This video is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA license.

14:56

Public Awareness and Consumer Activism

In this chapter, Professor Sachs talks about the importance of civil awareness of sustainable development and the desire of society to improve economic conditions, improve social inclusion, and move towards environmental sustainability. He provides cases of how citizens can be active, including ethical consumerism and behavioral shifts. This video is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA license.

15:38

How Climate Change Threatens the Poorest of the Poor

The Millennium Development Goals were commitments made in the year 2000 by the UN to help Africa and other poor regions of the world end extreme poverty, and also to fight the battle against climate change because there is no way to end extreme poverty if climate change runs rampantly out of control. All of Africa and the drylands, which are some of the most vulnerable places in the world to climate change, are experiencing rapid population growth, and the combination fo these demographic…

10:21

Cities: Challenges and Opportunities

This chapter is about the challenges and opportunities that urban centers face. Urban centers are expanding beyond traditional urban boundaries in a process called urban sprawl, which consumes a lot of land. While there are certainly megacities with populations of more than 10 million, a lot of population growth will occur in small and medium cities. There are even a few shrinking cities. Key challenges ahead include increased resources needed for growing, affluent populations. Local…

16:47

Business as Usual Versus Sustainable Development

This lecture introduces two paths for the future: the Business as Usual path and the Sustainable Development path. It examines the major negative impacts of the Business as Usual path and puts an emphasis on the different ways the world can move towards the Sustainable Development path. This video is not available under a Creative Commons license and should not be considered open content. However, the video is freely available for viewing or sharing with individuals or groups for educational…

14:35

Virtue Ethics: An Indigenous Perspective

In this chapter, Grand-father T8aminik (Dominique) Rankin and Grand-mother Marie-Josée Tardif discuss ethics and the connections between people and the Earth in the Anishinaabe tradition of northeast North America. This video is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA license.