“The challenge is to deliver nutritious, safe and affordable food to a global population of over 9 billion in the coming decades, using less land, fewer inputs, with less waste and a lower environmental impact. All this has to be done in ways that are socially and economically sustainable.” -Prof. Sir John Beddington, Government Chief Scientific Adviser Are you aware that your daily choices about the food that you consume frequently affect people and the environment across the globe? As a global society, throughout diverse geographies, the effect of these choices are compounded. The learner will review environmental dimensions of sustainability to encompass health outcomes, social and ecological justice in order to expand their view of sustainable agri-food system and take action toward a more resilient and equitable future of food. A global reality is that one in seven of the population is undernourished and two in seven are overweight in developed and developing countries alike. Given the scale and urgency of the challengeto feed the world from finite resources, and the variety of implications the ‘food problem’ entails, the global society must co-develop alternative future food systems. Learners will consider how the production and consumption of food can be shaped to match the future needs of the global population. The search for innovative solutions calls for multidisciplinary critical inquiry and utopian thinking. Learners will evaluate emerging technologies, social behaviors, scientific breakthroughs, business practices, and global governance. Innovative food futures will be instrumental in ensuring all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food. The private sector, NGOs, researchers, and governments have created potential solutions that seek to address these challenges and to transform agri-food systems towards more socially just, resilient, and sustainable agricultural production, and distribution systems. Learners will critically evaluate these different strategies and proposed solutions for viability utilizing the available evidence to understand the environmental, social, and economic implications.
An excellent online course offered by edX: how it works
edX courses consist of weekly learning sequences. Each learning sequence is composed of short videos interspersed with interactive learning exercises, where students can immediately practise the concepts from the videos. The courses often include tutorial videos that are similar to small on-campus discussion groups, an online textbook, and an online discussion forum where students can post and review questions and comments to each other and teaching assistants. Where applicable, online laboratories are incorporated into the course.
edX offers certificates of successful completion and some courses are credit-eligible. Whether or not a college or university offers credit for an online course is within the sole discretion of the school. edX offers a variety of ways to take courses, including verified courses where students have the option to audit the course (no cost) or to work toward an edX Verified Certificate (fees vary by course). edX also offers XSeries Certificates for completion of a bundled set of two to seven verified courses in a single subject (cost varies depending on the courses).
An edX learning programme under Other Experiences
