Digital Commons Network^™

Social And Environmental Enterprises, Elizabeth Schmidt

Sustainability Education Resources

Social and Environmental Enterprises examines organizations that place a social mission ahead of or on par with their financial mission. Students in this course take initial steps towards creating a fictional social mission enterprise, using tools such as systems thinking, design thinking, Lean Startup methodologies, impact measurement, and budget development. Once we understand the practical challenges and opportunities of these enterprises, we consider norms and public policies that can help social enterprises succeed--taxation, governance, finance measures, asset locks, and employment rules. We will have several guests over the course of the semester, who will also help us see how these …

Governing Knowledge Commons, Charlie Schweik

Sustainability Education Resources

Over the last decade or more, there has been a detectable and growing dissatisfaction among students with the "status quo" in the way the society works. Students have witnessed terrorism, long-term war, a "great recession," the "Occupy" movement, effects of climate change and worse projections to come, and most recently, a global pandemic with a great impact on the economy. Many students are looking for models of hope and alternatives to the status quo on how society at local, regional and global levels might operate to collectively address problems.

In this course, we will review historical and contemporary commons cases. …

Clean Energy And Climate Policy In Massachusetts, Dwayne Breger

Sustainability Education Resources

Over the past 20 years, Massachusetts has evolved as a leader in clean energy policy, which has led to market development, job and economic growth, and reductions in greenhouse gas and other emissions. This course will provide direct insights into the brief history of these policy developments, including policy objectives, legislative and regulatory roles, tradeoffs of costs and benefits, the use of analytical methods to establish program design, and stakeholder perspectives and engagement. The course will explore the market and economic development and challenges that have resulted from the policy, and explore the economic tradeoffs and distributional impacts that may …

Syllabus: Foundations For Sustainable Enterprise, Bogdan Prokopovych

Sustainability Education Resources

In this course we examine environmental and social challenges that arise as a result of how businesses and organizations interact with their natural environment. From a managerial standpoint we explore national and international implications of business' and governments' responses to these challenges. Can businesses contribute to the shift towards a more sustainable future? We analytically consider both supporting and opposing answers to this question. We learn about drivers of sustainability initiatives adopted by organizations and become familiar with current debates related to sustainability among business thought leaders. Finally, we look at the challenges of adopting sustainability strategies by organizations, learn …