The University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ is offering a new way for students to incorporate sustainability into their undergraduate education. The Undergraduate Certificate in Sustainability provides students an opportunity to explore links between their major area of study and environmental stewardship.
UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹’s (ISR) spearheaded the certificate program, which aims to help students develop and expand in three areas:
- understanding of the interconnectivity of human and natural systems;
- evidence-based reasoning on the implications of sustainability problems and/or proposed solutions;
- understanding that multiple knowledge systems inform processes for achieving sustainability.
“The new undergraduate certificate provides students another option to study sustainability in addition to the BA in sustainability,” said ISR Director Makena Coffman. “The certificate is designed to complement students¡¯ primary field of study, and give a broad grounding in issues of sustainability.”
The UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ undergraduate certificate in sustainability requires a total of 15 credits, of which three to six are lower and nine to twelve are upper division to provide flexibility for students at any stage in their undergraduate education. Students can choose sustainability courses in disciplines offered through UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹¡¯s colleges and schools including:
- College of Education
- College of Engineering
- College of Arts, Languages and Letters
- College of Natural Sciences
- College of Social Sciences
- College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources
- Â鶹´«Ã½nuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge
- School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology
In a survey from 2019, 95% of students at UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ were concerned or very concerned about climate change. Many students showed interest in being part of the effort toward a sustainable future, and the new certificate allows them to integrate sustainability with a wide range of disciplines.
Students interested in the new Undergraduate Certificate in Sustainability can email isr@hawaii.edu. Read more about sustainability certificate and degree opportunities at the .
This effort is an example of UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹¡¯s goals of (PDF) and (PDF) two of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.