91˿Ƶ

News

Successful first year for new program 
in Sustainability, Science and Society

Published: 10 May 2011

Multidisciplinary approach tackles complex questions over the role of science in decision-making

Is it more sustainable to eat locally grown, grain-fed meat or organic vegetables imported from far away? If all nations decide to curtail global warming by 2°C, how much would we need to cut emissions? How could these reduced emissions be distributed in an ethically responsible way?

The new 91˿Ƶ BA & Sc Interfaculty Program in Sustainability, Science and Society (SSS) will provide students with the necessary scientific, economic and ethical tools to tackle questions such as these.

The first students in the inter-disciplinary, interfaculty program, offered through a partnership between the 91˿Ƶ School of the Environment, the Department of Geography and various other departments, have recently completed their course work and exams. “The program seems almost too good to be true,” says William Miller, one of the students enrolled in the program. ”It gives me a practical set of skills, but also the flexibility to be at a place where the issues intersect. I want to be a problem-solver and I feel comfortable in a program that’s about the biggest problems that we’re facing as a species.”

Martin Grant, the Dean of the Faculty of Science, who was instrumental in creating the program, is enthusiastic about the direction it’s taking.

“With looming global challenges around such issues as food security, access to clean water, poverty, and climate change, it’s especially important to give students the tools to analyze specific problems within a larger societal context. We believe that this program will equip students to make useful contributions to creating a sustainable future.”

For more information about the BA & Sc Interfaculty Program in Sustainability, Science and Society (SSS): .

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