Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Environmental Decision-Making, Ezra Markowitz

Sustainability Education Resources

Over the past 30 years, there has been a growing recognition amongst environmental advocates, resource managers, policymakers and researchers that the underlying cause of most environmental, conservation and sustainability issues is human behavior. As NRC and ENVIRSCI majors, you have received extensive technical training in how natural systems operate yet relatively little training when it comes to influencing or understanding how people make environmental decisions that affect those natural systems. Recognizing the fundamental role that human decision-making plays in shaping the environment reveals a new set of tools and approaches for both understanding the challenges we face and confronting those …

Architecture Now: A History Of Sustainable Architecture, Meg Vickery

Sustainability Education Resources

As we move further into the 21st century, architects, planners, landscape architects and the general public are increasingly concerned with climate change, environmental degradation, energy and water consumption and the role the built environment plays in contributing to or addressing these issues. Buildings consume almost 40% of the energy used in this country. The way we access buildings, the materials used to construct them, the demands of users within the building all require the earth’s increasingly precious resources. So how did we get here? How did our built environment evolve to require so much energy, water and so many resources? …

Assignment: Climate Action Plan 3.0 (Sustainable Living), Lena Fletcher

Sustainability Education Resources

The UMass Amherst Climate Action Plan 2.0 lays out strategies to meet UMass’s energy goals by 2050, but many projects are still in the planning phase and have not been implemented on campus yet. It’s time for you to design the Climate Action plan 3.0!

As a team, you will create and present one solution from your Climate Action Plan 3.0 to help UMass become carbon neutral ahead of schedule. Your energy solution can be a policy, program, transportation improvement, or energy-saving technology. Research the Climate Action Plan 2.0 thoroughly to make sure your solution has not already been proposed.