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Cornell University

Cornell Outdoor Education

ALS 2000: Leadership for Sustainability

This course is for students who are interested in becoming leaders for sustainability while on campus and throughout their lives. It is open to all levels. Students will focus primarily on sustainability issues in residence halls but opportunities to address similar issues across campus and/or in the community are also available. In the fall semester, the focus is on reducing waste. During the spring semester emphasis is on reducing energy use and the risks associated with a changing climate. Students will increase their leadership and communication skills and better understand how to motivate themselves and others to change behaviors that will improve our stewardship of the world around us.

Offered:Fall and Spring Semesters
 

Outcomes

  • Demonstrate knowledge of climate change and the ways in which we can reduce our carbon footprint, especially through the reduction in energy use (spring semester). Demonstrate knowledge of waste on campus and its environmental consequences (fall semester).

  • Identify and evaluate behaviors and practices that reduce waste and/or energy use.
  • Identify specific practices that can be used to motivate themselves and others to develop new behaviors and practices around waste reduction and energy use.
  • Identify critical elements of leadership; identify their individual leadership strengths and weaknesses; practice new leadership skills.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of Community-Based Social Marketing and use it to change their own and others' behaviors to increase campus sustainability.
  • Describe how social-economic class, ethnicity, gender, and race affect perspectives toward sustainability.
  • Identify and use skills to work effectively in teams.
  • Find credible information on issues related to waste reduction, energy use, and climate change, and the connection to sustainability.
  • Demonstrate project management, peer-education, and assessment skills by implementing projects.
  • Demonstrate improved communication skills about controversial sustainability issues.
Course Attribute:

 (CU-CEL, CU-SBY)