TOKYO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Course description and aims

This course – taught as part of the Japan Summer Program in Sustainable Development surveys the broad domain of global development by focusing on issues targeted in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. In taking this approach, we embrace the view that unsustainable development sows the seeds of its own eventual demise. The central pedagogy of this course is problem-based learning supplemented by field trips and guest lectures. In this course you will discover what is it like to work on and solve a highly complex problem whose solution requires teamwork that combines engineering analysis with social scientific understanding and cultural/contextual awareness. Your work will be conducted in multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural teams under the guidance of a facilitator who will guide the problem solving process without giving you answers. You and your teammates will be tasked with deconstructing a complex real-world sustainability problem into manageable elements from which objective, data-driven solutions that recognize broader societal needs and ethical concerns can be generated.

Student learning outcomes

LEARNING OUTCOMES
• Students will have the ability to objectively and systematically employ different types of data to evaluate the sustainability of an entity – such as a community, municipality, or nation-state – and to propose means of achieving sustainable development.
• Students will demonstrate an understanding of how, why, and with what consequences the social, political, and economic forces that influence sustainable development develop, persist, and change.
• Students will become more aware of the diversity of the world’s cultural, ethical, and institutional systems and the shaping effects of these systems on policy and behavior.
• Students will be able to work in multidisciplinary, multicultural groups in a way that demonstrates respect for their colleagues and 
efficiency in working collaboratively towards projects and goals.
• Students will be able to express their arguments clearly and effectively both in written reports and class 
discussions.

Keywords

Global development, sustainable development, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, developed countries, developing countries, Global North, Global South, state actors, private-sector, multinational corporations, civil society, non-governmental organizations, official development assistance, foreign aid

Competencies that will be developed

Class flow

While the bulk of your time will be spent working in teams, some sessions will be set aside for a classroom lectures. The aim of these lectures is to create a common conceptual framework through surveying the key concepts of global development, highlighting the stakeholders and their respective roles (e.g., governments, multinational corporations, non-governmental organizations, international bodies, etc.), and equipping you with the analytical tools of the Sustainable Development Footprint Approach and the Comparative Method. You will use the skills you acquire to propose solutions to the problems of sustainable development by evaluating current challenges faced by Ogaki City, a community in the Japanese countryside. In this exercise, teamwork is essential because – as you will discover – solving complex sustainability problems in a short amount of time requires many minds and many hands. To be successful in this course, therefore, you must become a self-directed learner, ready and able to extend your knowledge through systematic inquiry. You will be spending time out of class seeking the most reliable, up-to-date and relevant information needed to solve the problem. The problem you and your team will be tasked with solving is designed to help you deepen and broaden your conceptual base in engineering and social scientific analysis. To succeed in all this, you must hone your teaming, communication, and interpersonal skills. In sum, you will need to become and disciplinary and cultural boundary spanner.

Course schedule/Required learning

Textbook(s)

There are no required textbooks for this course, although you expected to purchase a field journal. Common readings – i.e., required readings for the entire class – are available either through the Georgia Tech Library’s e-journals portal or will be uploaded to T-Square or GoogleDrive. However, be aware that the bulk of the reading you do for this course will be determined in discussions within your PBL group. If you have questions or wish to pursue a particular topic in more depth, you are encouraged to consult with one of the course facilitators.

Reference books, course materials, etc.

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Assessment criteria and methods

Grade weighting
• Inquiry update 5%
• Interim policy brief (group work) 15%
• Written report (group work) 40%
• PowerPoint presentation (group work) 30%
• Self / Peer Evaluation 10%

Related courses

• TSE.C301 ： Introduction to International Development
• TSE.C311 ： Sustainable City, Consumption and Production
• TSE.C315 ： Energy, Environment, and Policy
• TSE.C316 ： Global Development Capstone

Prerequisites (i.e., required knowledge, skills, courses, etc.)

None

Other

The following webpages are available for this course.

http://japanprogram.gatech.edu/

http://www.tse.ens.titech.ac.jp/~jspsd/