Studying Up on the Anthropocene
Two recommended sources for free online courses
Suffice to say, it’s a crucial time to be alive.
Anyone living in the developed world today is having an oversized impact and should take responsibility. How? A simple start is to get up to speed. With access to vast educational resources, including for free, there’s no excuse not to gain at least a basic understanding.
As Hannah Arendt says, first of all, we need to:
Think what we are doing.
Then we can begin to take serious, responsible action, both individually and collectively.
Project Drawdown
Though it focuses almost exclusively on climate, Project Drawdown is an authoritative source for learning, starting with its introductory course, Climate Solutions 101. There is also a book. Both are highly recommended.
SDG Academy at edX
I’m frankly skeptical that the UN is the best way to address the wide range of issues we face, but one role the UN surely can play is to provide education and information. There is no other organization as well positioned to be a clearinghouse for communications and data.
The SDGs or Sustainable Development Goals are a series of 17 major goals with more than a 150 specific targets, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015, that aim to fundamentally resolve or improve a wide array of planetary and human-centric measures by 2030, to “provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.”
The short titles of the 17 SDGs are:
No poverty (SDG 1)
Zero hunger (SDG 2)
Good health and well-being (SDG 3)
Quality education (SDG 4)
Gender equality (SDG 5)
Clean water and sanitation (SDG 6)
Affordable and clean energy (SDG 7)
Decent work and economic growth (SDG 8)
Industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9)
Reduced inequalities (SDG 10)
Sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11)
Responsible consumption and production (SDG 12)
Climate action (SDG 13)
Life below water (SDG 14)
Life on land (SDG 15)
Peace, justice, and strong institutions (SDG 16)
Partnerships for the goals (SDG 17)
Source: Wikipedia
How can you learn more about the SDGs?
The SDG Academy has created a portfolio of 40 free online courses you can take via the edX platform.
I have taken a number of these courses myself, and I can personally recommend them, although some are more dry, some are more entertaining, some are more aimed at professionals or experts, others are aimed at a general audience. Focus on topics you care about and sample several courses before deciding which will best suit your purposes.
Happy learning!