Academic Programs

The global imperative for increased sustainability is redefining how what is learned in higher education can be applied. This drive for greater sustainability increases the value of students' education if it has developed their abilities to analyze the challenges and create implementable solutions. EFI helps academic institutions develop sustainability education that accomplish those two objectives.

Courses and Seminars

EFI designs and delivers sustainability courses either in collaboration with faculty or on a "course- in-a-box" basis with the option for content, materials and instruction to be provided face-to-face or on-line. Courses can be offered on a stand-alone basis or integrated with an existing curriculum to form certificate and minor programs. Examples include:

Global Sustainable Societies
A survey of the full range of global social, economic and environmental sustainability issues and trends, this course results in significantly increased awareness and understanding of global sustainability challenges and the types of solutions being used to tackle them.

Sustainable Societies for Business
These courses are targeted to business students and business professionals who want to understand the impacts and opportunities that the global drive toward greater sustainability will have on business.

Regional Sustainability
These courses offer in-depth study of sustainability issues in a specific region so that students gain significant knowledge that they can apply in creating locally relevant solutions.

Sustainable Societies Africa
Developed in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Sustainable Societies in Africa: Modules on Education for Sustainable Development explores the broad range of most critical social, economic, and environmental challenges in Africa and develops students’ abilities to design and introduce strategies to address the problems in their local communities.

Sustainable Societies James River Basin
Developed in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University, SSJRB examines Virginia's James River basin, an ideal geographic region to study American social, economic and environmental sustainability because the basin transects the a coastal state from sparsely populated, wooded mountain areas, through agricultural lands in the center to more densely-populated, industrialized, urban areas and an extensive coastal tidewater area.

Sustainable Societies Great Plains
Developed in partnership with the University of Nebraska, Sustainable Societies Great Plains examines the critical sustainability issues and opportunities of the Great Plains -- a region of North America bounded by the Rocky Mountains on the west and as far east as the Missouri River on the east, stretching from Texas into the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Faculty Workshops and Training

EFI can provide and lead workshops or faculty learning communities (FLCs) to orient faculty to student-centered, sustainability learning pedagogy, discuss how sustainability issues and best practices can be integrated into the existing curriculum and identify materials for inclusion in sustainability courses or programs.

Institutional Leadership

EFI can help define and implement a cross-disciplinary approach to sustainability education by engaging key stakeholders, including administrators, faculty and potential community partners. Services can include defining need, identifying key steps to be taken and designing an educational plan that can be adopted across the University.