Sphere of Sustainability: Lessons from the University of Utah’s Global Changes and Society Course

Abstract

Global challenges increasingly require interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving. This need should be facilitated by institutions of higher education. With increasing climatic and anthropogenic changes, graduate students must gain collaborative experience communicating and working across disciplines. The evolution of multidisciplinary problem-solving and global, sustainability-minded education provides the impetus for universities to reframe researchers' understanding of the environment and reimagine the spheres of curriculum, research, teaching, outreach, culture, and management. This paper describes a successful multidisciplinary approach at the University of Utah, centered on the project-based Global Changes and Society course. This method has brought about changes within the university and improved linkages to the greater community. Of particular importance is the development and implementation of the course framework, which transitions over time to address region-specific sustainability objectives. The results, pitfalls, and recommendations from this evolving venture are highlighted through a series of universal examples, with the potential to be applied at any institution of higher education focused on adapting the culture, environment, and structure to facilitate multilevel sustainability.

Climate change literacy and commitment in Spanish university students

“…The “Living Laboratory” project at the University of Singapore is for collaborative learning through the planting of trees and their study, collecting data and analyzing them through equations to estimate the carbon biomass and contribute to the reduction of the carbon footprint (Ramchunder and Ziegler, 2021). Finally, community-based participatory research integrates different areas of knowledge and actors for research and local problem solving, as in the “Global Changes and Society Course” at the University of Utah in the United States, in which professionals from different disciplines identified research and ecological preservation needs for the reduction of human impact around Red Buttle Creek, the urban-natural transition zone and the university campus (Walsh et al. , 2015).…”

“…In the context of the environmental crisis, the collective response to the growing changes and vulnerabilities is not only the greatest challenge of our time but also a defining moment for our future as a society. Universities, as educational spaces of diverse disciplines of knowledge, have a fundamental role in educating individuals who will confront these multidisciplinary challenges (Walsh et al. , 2015).…”

“…In the context of the environmental crisis, the collective response to the growing changes and vulnerabilities is not only the greatest challenge of our time but also a defining moment for our future as a society. Universities, as educational spaces of diverse disciplines of knowledge, have a fundamental role in educating individuals who will confront these multidisciplinary challenges (Walsh et al, 2015). In addition, they are organizations with the capacity to influence and strategically link with local, national, and international actors, people and organizations at various stages of their formative and productive processes, Climate change literacy at universities which makes them powerful social and economic actors with the ability to shape public and political discourses (Thaker, 2019).…”

Sociocultural Dimensions in Water Resources Management

“…As global climate change and environmental problems intensify, water resources management and protection has become an important issue for global sustainable development (Walsh et al 2015). In the People's Republic of China (PRC), water has always held a special place in its cultural traditions and customs.…”