Academic Programs

Coastal Sustainability Certificate

Climate Change

Important Degree Changes for Fall 2018 Affecting Current Students:

The Coastal Sustainability concentration and corresponding graduate certificates will no longer be accepting new students after Spring 2018.

Students currently enrolled in the Coastal Sustainability concentration or certificates have the option to change their concentration of study or select from the following courses to complete their degree requirements:

  • EVR 6216 - Water Quality Policy and Management
  • IDS 6223 - Waste Not, Want Not: Reconsidering Waste, Re-purposing Wasted Resources
  • IDS 6246 - Water Sensitive Urban Design for Sustainable Communities
  • IDS 6247 - Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation
  • OCE 6085 - Ocean Policy

 

Certificate Description:

Populations and developed areas in coastal areas are growing rapidly, with over 55 percent of the U.S. population already living within 50 miles of the coasts. The environmental impacts of development impacts directly affect communities' ability to balance natural resource protection with sustainable community growth. The sustainability of coastal areas largely depends on effective and timely planning at the local level. The certificate introduces sustainable community planning as practiced around the world and in particular the United States, focusing on coastal areas. It also provides strategies for implementation addressing the nine planetary boundaries.

This certificate program will provide a general foundation for coastal sustainability. It is designed to appeal to an audience with a wide range of backgrounds and interests in the advocacy, planning, non-profit environmental and community development fields. The certificate will be of particular interest to sustainability students, planning professionals, environmental organizations, climate change advocacy groups and non-profit/community development organizations.

 

Required Courses (6 credit hours): 

  • IDS 6234 - Systems Thinking: The Key to Sustainability (3)

The course develops the critical system thinking skills to solve sustainability challenges. It covers quantitative system analysis techniques including environmental impact assessment, life-cycle assessment, cost-benefit analysis and decision analysis.

*This course is available on-campus and online.

  • IDS 6235 - Economics and Finance for Sustainability (3)

The course provides sustainability practitioners an overview of how economics and finance enhance sustainability. The emphasis is on environmental economics and innovative finance; students learn how scarce natural resources can be optimally allocated. 

*This course is available on-campus and online.

 

Elective Courses (6 credit hours)
Choose two:

  • IDS 6398 - Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation (3)

This course will use an interdisciplinary approach to explore climate vulnerability, and pathways of climate mitigation and adaption. Case studies will be reviewed to provide insight on climate change adaption planning and societal resilience. This course is offered both online and on-campus.

*This course is available on-campus and online.

  • IDS 6938 - Sustainable Coastal Planning: Concepts and Principles (3)

The course provides an overview of land use planning, introduces sustainable/smart growth principles and provide specific development concepts for coastal and waterfront communities. The course will define and explain coastal resilience. It will introduce cover a holistic approach to what makes a community resilient, including such factors as social capital and sense of place. The course will also explore the societal context of land use planning and proposes a model for understanding and reconciling the divergent priorities among competing stakeholders; it explains how to build sustainable planning support systems to assess current and future conditions, evaluate policy choices, create visions, and compare scenarios; and it sets forth a methodology for creating plans that will influence future land use change. 

*This course is available on-campus and online.

  • IDS 6938 - Sustainable Coastal Planning: Strategies & Implementation (3)

The course provides has a strong design-oriented approach focusing on how to create Sustainable Coastal Plans and explaining each major step with examples from various localities. It links each step to current planning practice and to new theory in landscape ecology and sustainable development. The course will provide a framework of sustainable land use planning and proposes a model for preparing and implementing plans within a context of divergent priorities among competing stakeholders; it will show how to build sustainable planning support systems to assess current and future conditions, evaluate policy choices, create visions, and compare scenarios; and set forth a methodology for creating plans that will influence future land use change.

*This course is available on-campus and online.

  • OCE 6085 - Ocean Policy (3)

Learn about the community of people involved in marine affairs; the use of the sea and coast; current technology and the major policy issues related to the technology trends, and identify multiple sources of information available to students.

*This course is only available on-campus.

  • OCE 6934 - Marine Aquaculture (3)

Special topics in biological, chemical, geological, and physical oceanography.

*This course is only available online.

  • OCE 6934 - Port Sustainability (3)

The course will address the primary aspects of sustainability, security, and resiliency in port infrastructure and operations, including: port safety and security; water-side and land-side transportation; cyber security; natural hazards (including storm surge); hazardous material spill response and contingency planning; adaptation to climate change; environmental protection, permitting, mitigation, and remediation; community interactions; and economic development.

*This course is only available online.

 

Point of Contact

If you have any general questions relating to PCGS graduate certificate programs,please contact

Toure Rider
813-974-9943
trider@usf.edu