Sustainability Managment Program

“It is difficult to get people to understand something when their salary requires them not to understand it."

~Upton Sinclair

Sustainability Management & the Million Green Communities Project

There is probably no greater challenge in our current consumer economy to creating a sustainable society than the creation of sustainable career and job opportunities. People simply must meet their basic needs. U of Earth faces this challenge head on through its curriculums. Creating "million green communities" is the vision of U of Earth’s Sustainability Management Program director Scott Terrell and his emphasis on “green career” opportunities is a central feature of the program.

University of Earth’s degree program in Sustainability Management takes the current academic disciples of natural resource management, business, economics and marketing and integrates them in a meaningful way that will allow trained sustainability managers to more effectively manage a community’s or region’s natural resources for a healthier environment, economy and society.

The Sustainability Management Degree Program ties these disciplines together in order to understand how they can all work together to optimize resource use through appropriate management for our times.   Using “real-world” examples of how this is accomplished, while at the same time, becoming involved in community or regional programs and projects that are currently underway, students will graduate with a skill set that positions them to become leaders in their field.

Why Sustainability Management

Locally and Globally, we continue to experience increasing warnings of the limit of our planet’s natural resources, such as energy, water, land, soils, metals, etc.  The fundamental principle of economics of supply and demand tells us that as supplies dwindle and the demand for natural resources stays the same or increases, there is an upward price pressure or cost for the use of these resources. These pressures will necessitate redefining what is meant by the quality of life.

To ensure we make optimum use of our planet’s resources they need to be managed effectively for the health and well-being of the people and the planet.  There are currently many piece-meal approaches for solving this challenge and a more integrated approach is required.  At U of Earth we advocate taking an integral approach to solving our environmental, social and economic challenges by reversing the priorities of the current business model of maximizing profits for the benefit of the people, often to the benefit of a small number of people, and instead making our resource use decisions based on maximizing the benefit to the planet, the people and the profits; in that order.

Program Overview

For information contact:

Scott Terrell - Program Director: ScottTerrell@UofEarth.org   530 386-5678

About Scott Terrell

 Degree and Certification Program: Sustainability Management BA/MA - Total Credits 60

Curriculum Overview:

*Sustainability Core Curriculum: Credits 30/33