The core courses are intended to provide selleck chemicals llc Students with opportunities to learn skills and different perspectives essential to understanding the interactive mechanisms within and between the global, social, and human systems. Through specific examples, students will obtain holistic knowledge of sustainability issues such as global warming and energy, food, and water issues. Students will

also learn the use of tools such as life-cycle assessment and the importance of trade-offs between different dimensions (economy vs. environmental quality, inter-generations, selleckchem and so on), as well as the role of uncertainty and dynamics. In addition, students will learn not only the limitations but also the usefulness of existing theories and practices, so that they will be able to select and integrate those approaches to challenge sustainability issues. In this sense, sustainability science is trans-disciplinary in that these

core courses challenge questions that cross disciplines (Lattuca 2001). Table 2 provides brief descriptions of the sustainability core courses. Table 2 Brief description of the core courses in the RISS program Course name Objective Valuation methods and technology for sustainability This course introduces students to a broad range of valuation methods and technologies in sustainability. Students are expected to understand, through specific examples, the buy VX-680 usefulness as well as the limitations of existing theories and to apply them to the real sustainability issues Global threats and sustainability (canceled in 2008) This course examines both causes and consequences of environmental and STK38 social change, which provides students with an idea of why a trans-disciplinary approach is necessary

in sustainability. It also deals with specific issues in the environment that are of particular importance in the Asian region, such as energy, food/water, overuse of natural resources, and population growth Society and the environment: human security and sustainability This course introduces issues relevant to human security and the environment around the world. It is intended to equip students with the ability of problem finding in the area, as well as the solutions to them by understanding the interactions between the social and global systems Engineering system design for sustainability This course deals with the theories of three research fields in engineering; environmental management, eco-design, and transportation.