Sustainability Metrics And Decision Tools (UEP-0267)

Spring 2025 · UEP 0267 · Tufts University · 3 credits · Undergraduate

(Required core course option for M.S. Sustainability) Governments, companies, institutions, and non-government organizations are making both internal and public commitments to greenhouse gas reduction and sustainability. Whether driven by regulatory or voluntary efforts, operationalizing these commitments effectively and consistently can be challenging. This course examines how sustainability targets are established, metrics are identified and tracked, and progress is reported and communicated in order to continue to inform decision-making for sustainable management. A range of topics and metrics will be covered, including greenhouse gas emissions, clean energy, waste, food systems, health outcomes, land use, transportation, resilience, and economic indicators, among others, as well as systems and tools for assessing and managing them. Students will learn how sustainability is measured by a variety of stakeholders, consider how progress is communicated, and how sustainability data inform their decision-making processes. This course will also begin to explore how ecological, environmental quality, and sustainability data combined with spatial data can provide important insights for understanding local economies, human health, climate risks, and resource consumption, and how approaches to data visualization can be used to address multi-faceted sustainability challenges.

Course codes: UEP-0267, UEP 0267, UEP0267, UEP-267, UEP 267, UEP267

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