Do you want to make a difference in the world? Social entrepreneurship bridges passion and action, where business principles meet social impact to address today’s most urgent challenges. Can economic growth align with sustainability? How can social entrepreneurs find solutions to climate resilience or help communities in need? In this course, you will dive into these questions, exploring the dynamic balance between fiscal responsibility and social equity in an ever-changing global landscape.

Through a hands-on journey into social entrepreneurship, you will explore key frameworks for turning challenges into opportunities, learning how to design solutions that benefit shareholders and stakeholders to deliver a “triple bottom line”—people, planet, and profit. Through collaborative projects, lively debates, and case studies, you’ll analyze real-world issues and develop strategic approaches that make a lasting impact. 

Environmental challenges are perhaps the greatest challenges that society faces today. Building societies that manage our natural resources in ways that do not diminish the ability to provide for future generations includes exciting new approaches from many disciplines including science, engineering, economics, sociology and political science. 

In this course, students will use a systems-approach to problem formulation and solving as they investigate ecosystems, food systems, energy systems, and architecture. Students will learn using material from interactive lectures, laboratory work, engineering design projects and field experiences.  Lectures on ecological restoration, regenerative agriculture, energy efficient building and transportation design will provide background for field trips to the Hudson River, Billion Oyster Project, Vertical Farms, and examples of Green architecture. Hands-on activities will include water quality testing, air quality testing, building solar cars and water wheels. Students will then select, develop and evaluate case studies on different aspects of building a sustainable future!

How has the US–China trade war affected the growth of world economies? Why has Latin America, a region rich in natural resources, not been able to attain economic growth levels similar to those in Asia? What implications does a potential global water crisis pose to how nations interact with one another? How has the mix of traditional and renewable energy sources made an impact on the United States? Is it unethical to apply economic principles to natural resources?

This course examines these type of questions as it dives into the fundamentals of natural resources, their pivotal role in the development of OECD (Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development) and non-OECD economies, and the monetization impact from Wall Street to the end consumer on Main Street.

Through case study analyses of current events, students develop an understanding of global reserves and yields of natural resources, identify world consumers and producers – i.e. export (supply/origin) and import (demand/destination) hubs – along with transportation channels, and conduct deep dive analyses in group settings on the financial life of these resources and their contribution to the pace of global growth.

Complementary to these topics, participants debate the basis for responsible business procurement of natural resources – including those that are sustainable – and their effect in the global landscape.

Students gain an understanding of – and think critically about – various natural resources (agricultural, energy, mineral, and livestock) and the key challenges of international trade in an interconnected world. They also learn about the social impact of exploration and production of these raw materials. Topics explored include the relevance of geopolitical analysis, how shipping markets and freight rates/chartering are crucial to world trade, and the growing presence of private capital in shoring up global imbalances.