Become a Leader in Sustainable Development

        Hi leaders! Welcome to Leadership for Sustainable Development - Online.  Good luck going through all the documents and videos in this course.  Please give us any feedback at info@earthrightsinstitute.org as you go through the course.  We're looking forward to you joining together with this amazing group of leaders in sustainable development to save our world.  Thanks for your ideas and support.

Please look over the text document in this lecture for information on the assignments for this week.

The Welcome Video - An introduction given by both instructors, Annie and Zach. They will give you an overview of the entire course, what to expect, how long and how you customize your time in taking the course. Each instructor talks about their background, what area of the course they will be focusing on and what the objectives to this course are to help you become a leader in sustainable development.

Please read and explore the questions in the Creative Diary. Then share on the forums your responses to the following questions:

• What is creativity for you?
• Why do we talk about developing access to creative states instead of developing creativity?
• What blocks your access to creative states?
• What can you do to transcend those blockages?
• How can you help others identify and transcend their own blockages?
• How are creativity and innovation related?
• What role does innovation play in sustainable development?
• Why are creative and informed leaders important for sustainable development?

What is Sustainable Development? Who defines it and how do we describe so that it can be better understood?This presentation is about the literal definitions of sustainability and sustainable development as well as a discussion of those definitions.

Please read the text document in this lecture for a detailed list of this weeks assignments.

In this lecture, Annie will share our definition of Sustainable Development, explain the 3 spheres of Sustainability, and describe the 4 System Conditions of Sustainable Societies. You will learn about the basics of sustainable development and be able to compare what you thought it meant before watching this lecture and other suggested videos defining it.

In this lecture, Marta Benavides, Earth Rights Institute's Central American Consultant and UN delegate, defines her view of what 'Sustainability' means. She will give you a better understanding of a cross-cultural outlook on sustainability and what her perspective is as a global expert representing the people of the south.

Details on your assignments for Week 3. Learning about the global perspective of sustainable development. Getting a general outline of the United Nations MDGs and what next is evolving into the 2016 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Please look at the presentation below to learn about Together 2030. This will give you the current and most updated focus of the campaign. Additional information and resources on Together 2030 are available at the end of the presentation.

Please follow the instructions in the text document to complete the assignments for week 4. These tasks will give you a better understanding of how The Global Goals are being implemented or addressed by either an organization, community or individual. The purpose is to give examples on how you can apply or engage yourself into the global sustainable development community.

In this lecture, Annie will describe how an organization, like Earth Rights Institute, works towards achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals. How sustainability comes about through integrating and interconnecting the issues and what are the building blocks to implement sustainable development. Do you think that it is necessary that non-profits and/or organizations should think through how they are creating sustainability within their own objectives?

In this lecture, Annie will explain step by step all the elements to build a sustainable community. The content and images are from Earth Rights Institute's work in building eco-villages in Africa. This lecture is about how a community addresses sustainable development. What building blocks are necessary to enable the community to move towards sustainability. You will learn the importance of communications and building a social base before a community can engage in sustainable development. And see how integrating and interconnecting the needs and issues of the community is the base for sustainability. The question is when do you know that a community is ready to learn to be self-reliant? What methods can help a community begin to develop a master plan to become sustainable.

In this lecture, Annie will explain how you as an individual can engage into becoming more sustainable. She will give you the 10 basic steps towards building sustainability in your life. You will learn how these steps are integrated and interconnected as well as why you need to look at yourselves and what your impact is on the world today.

You will learn that engaging in these 10 keys will make you more conscious and pro-active in becoming more sustainable in your lifestyle.

Please follow the instructions in the text document to complete the assignments for week 5.

Hi Everyone,

After watching lecture 21, please check our supplementary materials to learn more about Guatemala, the website of Earth Rights Institute Living Lab, and our partner Imagitlan to understand better what we do in Guatemala.

How successful were you at making a useful recommendation last week? It's time to evaluate!

A simple game that aims to have students reflect on their own ability to make decisions and then act on them, and how that ability relates to sustainable development.

Please read the attached text document for indications on how to complete the assignments for this final week. This Section also has extra resources to provide you with examples of what organizations are doing to be become active leaders for sustainable development and the Global Goals. Thanks for accompanying us on this journey! We hope to see you again soon.

Examination of the results of the HAPI implementation.

Concluding this exploration of Sustainable Development.

A compilation of organizations doing sustainable development work in Guatemala.

Some examples of macro sustainable development achievements.

This is the final assignment. We would like to have your feedback. Please send your answers to info@erilivinglab.com. The questionnaire can be downloaded in the resources for your convenience.