holly caggiano

In the face of compounding global ecological and social inequities, thoughtful planning for environmental sustainability and resilience is a critical area of practice. Our natural and built environments both shape and are shaped by our livelihoods, cultural practices, and basic human needs. Thus, resisting extractive and inequitable environmental degradation requires us collectively to envision and practice new ways of planning. This course will provide a broad overview of the ways in which scholars theorize the many facets of environmental planning and how practitioners implement planning tools in real contexts. Together we will review historical and recent conceptions of environmental planning, examine current and emerging ecological challenges at the local, regional, and global levels, and identify tools to carry forward into future planning practices. We will unpack challenges along the way in a supportive environment, brainstorming creative solutions and learning from each other.

Energy underpins almost every aspect of our daily lives – we use it to cook, bathe, work, play, travel, and communicate. To mitigate the anthropogenic drivers of climate change, we must transition our global energy systems away from traditional fossil-based fuels that are associated with greenhouse gas emissions. New forms of energy generation, distribution, and storage involve different resources and supply chains, require more and different types of land use, and often disrupt existing livelihoods and economies. This course situates energy transitions as a critical issue for planning practice, viewing energy systems in their geographic and social contexts. Further, the implicit infrastructural, social, and economic transitions associated with energy transitions present both opportunities and barriers to equitable and just outcomes for individual communities. This course will provide an overview of current and rapidly evolving energy transitions research, consider planning implications of ongoing energy transitions, and explore pathways to (in)justice where planners can intervene.

Course description:
In our current global political economic context, extractive resource consumption 1) drives environmental degradation and climate change and 2) shapes our livelihoods, wellbeing, daily comforts, and cultural practices. In the face of this incompatibility, many call for the need for transformative changes across economies, institutions, and cultures. This graduate level course course aims to provide a broad overview of the many ways through which scholars theorize consumerism and sustainability and practitioners work toward change on the ground. Together we review popular models of consumer behavior, explore the links between individual behavior and collective action, and examine how professionals across a diverse sample of sectors and industries integrate sustainability into their work. More importantly, this course encourages students to think critically about consumerism and sustainability in the context of their own fields and interests. While in class lectures, discussions, and activities provide a high-level overview of many complex and challenging issues, students individually delve deeper into material that they find intellectually stimulating through final projects. We unpack challenges along the way in a supportive environment, brainstorming creative solutions and learning from each other.

Course description:
As devising solutions to climate change grows increasingly urgent, understand prominent debates that connect world population, natural resources, and environmental issues. This class will develop student
proficiency using online data sources and tools including the Census Bureau and Population Reference Bureau to investigate population trends and projections. We will identify the major phases of demographic change throughout human history and link these changes to key environmental indicators (like land use change and greenhouse gas emissions). Throughout the course, students will engage in group discussion to deconstruct debates and theories about the relationship of population to environmental issues and the links between resource consumption and economic growth. As a class and individually, students will brainstorm creative economic and policy solutions to tackle these pressing issues.