Sustainability Education

Undergraduate Programs

Undergraduate sustainability programs are offered by the following departments and schools:

• University Studies
• Environmental Sciences and Management
• School of Urban Studies and Planning

University Studies

The University Studies general education program's purpose at Portland State University is to facilitate the acquisition of the knowledge, abilities, and attitudes that will form a foundation for lifelong learning among its students. This foundation includes the capacity to engage in inquiry and critical thinking, to use various forms of communication for learning and expression, to gain an awareness of the broader human experience and its environment, and appreciate the responsibilities of persons to themselves, to each other, and to community. The University Studies Program emphasizes group experience, employment and applied experience, community experience, and awareness of the urban setting. The following two clusters are part of PSU's University studies undergraduate program:

• Environmental Sustainability Cluster - This cluster creates a bridge between the scientific approach to analyzing and solving environmental problems, the socioeconomic concerns involved in formulating and administering environmental policy, and historic and philosophical basis of humanity's relationship to ecosystems. With the common goal of defining, characterizing and understanding environmental sustainability, the cluster identifies how each participating discipline can creatively contribute and thus, enable students to direct their own courses of study toward this end. Contact Cluster Coordinator Joe Maser at maserj@pdx.edu.

• Global Environmental Change Cluster - Students are barraged on a daily basis with news stories of El Nino, global warming, CO2 increasing, greenhouse effects, ozone hole, etc. This cluster will introduce some of the scientific concepts and issues of natural global cycles and how the systems have changed in the past. We will discuss the physical, chemical and biological changes of the earth's environment in the past, present and future. The past will concentrate on the physical, chemical and biological changes that are recorded in the rock, ice and sediment record. The present will concentrate on recent changes on the oceans an atmosphere and discuss the human dimensions. The future will discus the merits and limits of global models. Contact Cluster Coordinator Georg Grathoff at grathoffg@pdx.edu.

Environmental Sciences and Management

Environmental Science and Management is the study of the interactions between society and the physical, chemical, ecological, and biological processes that structure and maintain ecosystems. Our work is critical to understanding and developing sustainable ecosystems, human societies, and economies.

• Major in Environmental Studies - at the undergraduate level, students may pursue a Bachelor of Science (BS) or Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Environmental Studies. For more information please see: http://www.esr.pdx.edu/degrees/evst-sheet.pdf.
  

• Minor in Sustainability - the proposed minor offers an integrated series of lower and upper division courses that comprise a multidisciplinary study of the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability. Students receiving the minor will complete 7 linked classes:

Students will gain an understanding of the major theories and concepts related to the key dimensions of sustainability, as well as experience with applications of sustainability in the service-learning course. For more information, please contact Joseph Maser at maserj@pdx.edu.

School of Urban Studies and Planning

The Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning is the nation's oldest continuously operating instructional program in urban studies. Understanding metropolitan regions and their problems, and analyzing policies to shape their evolution and overcome obstacles are major concerns of the Schools degree programs.

• Major in Community Development - the Portland area is an exciting place to enroll in our undergraduate major in community development. We understand community development as a process in which people act together to promote the social, economic, political, and physical well being of their community. Students graduating with a degree in community development will be citizen activists, empowered to take leadership roles in public affairs.

Community Development majors often find careers in not-for-profit organizations, private consulting firms, advocacy groups, and state, regional and local governments. Locally, a graduate may find a career with the City of Portland, Portland Bureau of Housing and Community Development, METRO, or any of Portland's Community Development Corporations. Community development practitioners work on a range of issues including housing, community organizing, transportation, the environment, and economic development.

• Minor in Sustainable Urban Development - a minor in Sustainable Urban Development will provide students with an opportunity to further their understanding in the important issues and challenges in making cities sustainable while providing a foundation for advancing their academic and professional interests in the numerous opportunities emerging in the field of planning and urban development. The School of Urban Studies and Planning is working with other academic units, including Environmental Sciences, Architecture, Geography, Economics and Civil Engineering to provide expanded curricular offerings in topics concerning sustainable urban development. This is the only undergraduate program offered in the Oregon University System with a specific focus on sustainable cities.

The Minor includes a required foundational course that will provide an overview and introduction to the important concepts and issues facing urban planning and efforts to make cities sustainable. In addition, students will be required to take 3 other courses that focus on the built environment, healthy cities and green economics. Students then will elect a series of other classes offered in the School of Urban Studies and Planning, Geography, and Environmental Sciences and Resources to expand their knowledge and focus attention on the specific fields that best complement their academic and professional interests. The Minor is a 27 credit-hour program.

Students who complete the minor will understand the foundations of sustainability, including the 3 E's of environment, economies and equity as these domains of learning apply to the urban and built environment. In addition, students will develop literacy in the applications of these concepts to specific fields of urban planning and community development, including land use, transportation, urban environmental management, natural resource conservation and urban ecology.