Planetary Boundaries and Human Opportunities

Here is a wonderful MOOC to dabble with . 

It is jointly offered by Stockholm Resilience Centre and Sustainable Development Solution Network.

This course is tailor made for people who are interested in joining the Global conversation on Sustainability and to contribute to the discussion with conceptual clarity . 

This course aims at expanding and updating participant’s ‘conceptual toolbox’ in matters of global sustainability. 

The course duration is 8 weeks and it covers topics like the Anthropocene, planetary boundaries, the social-ecological systems approach and resilience thinking. Such concepts are at the core of contemporary research and debates in the arena of global sustainability.

The best part of this MOOC is the chance it offers to closely watch the thought process of the great minds in this field like Johan Rockström who is the lead Instructor of this course . He is the Professor in Environmental Science with emphasis on water resources and global sustainability at Stockholm University and the Executive Director of Stockholm Resilience Centre. He is an internationally recognized scientist on global sustainability issues. 

In addition to him , there are other Instructors who has a great body of work which shows the depth of research that has been performed by them and also reflects the intellectual clarity that we can receive through this MOOC . 

Sounds Interesting ? 

Then click https://www.sdsnedu.org/learn/planetary-boundaries-and-human-opportunities-fall-2014 to decide whether you want to be a bystander in the discussions on Sustainability which is cropping up in every domain or be an informed individual who can talk sane with conceptual clarity . 

Here is the Introduction to the MOOC . 

Looking forward to see you there . 

What is Resilience ?

We have been hearing a lot about 'Resilience' nowadays . Whether we believe in Human-driven Anthropogenic global warming or climate change , we are aware that the change in climate patterns impacts Cities more than any Human conglomerations and we need to worry about whether Cities are 'Resilient' because never in the history of mankind have more humans migrating to Cities which is pressurizing the Infrastructure of these Cities. Countries like India and China are facing massive Urbanization in past few decades and it is said that it is ought to continue in years to come , which is giving rise to Mega-Cities. 

So coming back to 'Resilience' . What is meant by 'Resilience' ? 

Resilience is the capacity of a system to continually change and adapt yet remain within critical thresholds.

As Brian Walker of CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystem (Australia) asks us a simple question, which is  , " How much can you change without losing your Identity , before you become a different kind of person ? " . 

" How much can a city change before it becomes a different kind of City ? " . 

And he says that these two questions are about 'Resilience' , the word for which we are seeking a meaning and perspective to look at . 

Well , he states that , the underlying principle of 'Resilience' is self - organization and quotes Human body as an example . 

Human body is an Self Organizing system as we maintain a constant temperature . If the surrounding temperature increases , the body sweats there in cooling it through Evaporative-cooling and when the temperature goes down , the body shivers , therein through muscle activity the temperature increases . But as always there are limits , the limits to how much can anything change . 

So that is what 'Resilience' is all about . 

It is the question of how do you maintain a Self-Organizing capacity  ability of a system . 

To know more about the Question of 'What is Resilience' check out this short video . 

Stuffs to Google : 

1. Stockholm Resilience Centre : http://www.stockholmresilience.org/

2. Sustainable Development Solution Network (SDSN) : www.sdsnedu.org

3. Open MOOC on Planetary Boundaries and Human Opportunities : https://www.sdsnedu.org/learn/planetary-boundaries-and-human-opportunities-fall-2014