SUSTAINABILITY TOOLS: SYSTEMS THINKING & LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
Explores fundamentals of systems thinking and how to apply a systems-based approach to understanding and addressing sustainability issues ranging from climate change to environmental racism. Systems content is complemented with foundational skills in life cycle assessment (LCA), an inherently systems-based application of sustainability science that considers the full measure of resources used and waste created throughout the cradle-to-grave supply chain of a product or process. Life cycle and systems-based approaches are used to characterize both human and natural systems in local and global contexts. These approaches also will be integrated with sustainability concepts including the triple bottom line, industrial ecology, and the circular economy. Concepts include: life cycle stages, supply chains, stocks, flows, feedback loops, and unintended consequences.
Prerequisites & course information
Requisites: Sophomore standing Course Designation: Core GenEd - Natural Science & Wellness Breadth - Natural Science Level - Intermediate L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Spring 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Analyze sustainability issues and/or practices using a systems-based approach. Audience: Undergraduate 2. Use sustainability principles for developing personal goals and professional values. Audience: Undergraduate 3. Explain life cycle and systems thinking approaches to addressing sustainability issues while evaluating their utility compared with alternative or traditional approaches to problem solving. Audience: Undergraduate 4. Apply systems thinking concepts such as stocks, flows, and feedback loops to specific contexts ranging from local campus systems to global systems. Audience: Undergraduate 5. Characterize the life cycle stages for a product system or process and quantify the relevant inputs and outputs at each stage. Audience: Undergraduate 6. Determine the goal, scope, and relevant functional unit for a life cycle assessment and evaluate the environmental sustainability of a system by interpreting a life cycle assessment on a product or process. Audience: Undergraduate 7. Connect the sustainability-related aspects of campus-based systems to local, national, and global contexts. Audience: Undergraduate 8. Evaluate the role that life cycle assessment and systems thinking can have in addressing sustainability concepts such as (1) the triple bottom line, (2) industrial ecology, and (3) the circular economy. Audience: Undergraduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Analyze sustainability issues and/or practices using a systems-based approach. Audience: Undergraduate 2. Use sustainability principles for developing personal goals and professional values. Audience: Undergraduate 3. Explain life cycle and systems thinking approaches to addressing sustainability issues while evaluating their utility compared with alternative or traditional approaches to problem solving. Audience: Undergraduate 4. Apply systems thinking concepts such as stocks, flows, and feedback loops to specific contexts ranging from local campus systems to global systems. Audience: Undergraduate 5. Characterize the life cycle stages for a product system or process and quantify the relevant inputs and outputs at each stage. Audience: Undergraduate 6. Determine the goal, scope, and relevant functional unit for a life cycle assessment and evaluate the environmental sustainability of a system by interpreting a life cycle assessment on a product or process. Audience: Undergraduate 7. Connect the sustainability-related aspects of campus-based systems to local, national, and global contexts. Audience: Undergraduate 8. Evaluate the role that life cycle assessment and systems thinking can have in addressing sustainability concepts such as (1) the triple bottom line, (2) industrial ecology, and (3) the circular economy. Audience: Undergraduate
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027