Sustainable development is the mainstream response to meeting the key challenges of our time – combining economic development with environmental and social sustainability. Back in September 2015, world leaders from 193 nations cemented their commitment to achieve the ambitious UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Did they realise what they were signing up to? From this moment, if we really mean it, everything changes. Are we prepared to do what it really takes to deliver sustainable prosperity within planetary boundaries?
‘Shifts Happen!’ is a three-hour interactive lecture – developed for the Copenhagen Sustainability Initiative (COSI) at Copenhagen Business School – designed to develop an understanding of the key elements of sustainable development and the role of the UN SDGs, along with an appreciation of systemic constraints and challenges in delivering on the promise of the SDGs. Does our current system of economy enable or hinder our efforts towards achieving the SDGs?
By incorporating an evaluation of options for alternative systems – students can move towards developing design principles and criteria for an economic operating system that more fully supports sustainable development. We then explore the key shifts that are already underway – supported with examples of new practices – that are enabling the transition towards a more sustainable economy.
These sessions provided incredibly insightful experiences for our students – Mike demonstrated a remarkable capacity to bridge knowledge on sustainability challenges and solutions with relevance from global to local, from public to private, from multinational enterprises to small and medium enterprises.
The Shift happens class was very enjoyable. The class was interactive and related back to reality and the challenges we face as humanity moving forward.
The class gave us understanding with holistic knowledge base gained in regards to the issue of overcoming suitability challenges from differing academic disciplines. This enabled me to understand and think in a more interdisciplinary manner in regards to the rest of the course topics.