University of Colorado Boulder
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary program, and utilizes existing courses given in various Arts and Sciences departments. The program is designed to provide a broad, but rigorous education in environmental issues and real world problem solving, as opposed to a traditional, discipline-based training. The Environmental Studies major draws from curricula in the earth and natural sciences as well as the social sciences and humanities.

The purpose of this major is to train students in the cause, scale, and remediation strategies of the major environmental problems in the United States and the world. Students will acquire an awareness of the complexity of factors relating to human interaction with the environment. They will become acutely aware of the fact that environmental problems have both human and biophysical components, and gain knowledge of the general principles of human-environmental interaction, global habitability, environmental change, and sustainable human societies.

The Program in Environmental Design orients engagement to the creation of healthy and sustainable communities with attention to social justice and economic vitality. Environmental design is inherently place-based. It supports innovation of and intervention in places.

Efficacy and ethics demand that environmental design engages with the users of these places. We do so in ways that are both collaborative and interdisciplinary, as well as integrate engaged scholarship, evidence-based practice and experiential learning to serve community needs.

Environmental engineers play a vital role in maintaining the quality of both human environmental systems and the natural environment. Environmental engineering encompasses the scientific assessment and development of engineering solutions to environmental problems impacting the biosphere, land, water and air quality. Environmental issues affect almost all commercial and industrial sectors, and are a central concern for the public, for all levels of government, and in international relations. These issues include safe drinking water, wastewater processing, solid and hazardous waste disposal, outdoor air pollution, indoor air pollution and transfer of infectious diseases, human health and ecological risk management, and prevention of pollution through product or process design.

To address these challenges, environmental engineers work in a multidisciplinary arena. Solutions to many environmental problems require contributions from engineers, scientists, lawyers, business people and the public. Good communication skills, as well as technical proficiency, are essential for success in this arena. In addition, technology designed to address environmental problems is marketed globally, opening up increasing opportunities for international work in the environmental engineering field.

Environmental planning facilitates decision making to carry out urban planning, urban design, land development, and natural resource conservation with consideration given to environmental, social, political, and economic factors. The field applies the natural and social sciences to promote environmentally sound growth, effective management of natural resources, and solutions to urban development to offer the frameworks necessary for achieving sustainable outcomes. In this sense, environmental planners might employ the traditional skills of landscape architects and urban planners, such as physical planning and site design, to inspire more creative and ecologically informed plans and help mitigate the detrimental effects of development.

The environmental planning minor provides non-ENVD students experience with the process, technical skills and professional practice of environmental planning. To this end, students are required to take courses offering training in software (primarily Geographic Information Systems/GIS), theoretical and conceptual materials, and studio work. The program is directed towards students interested in either obtaining a graduate degree in planning, urban design or landscape architecture and those wishing to work interdisciplinarily across their major using the tools of planning and landscape architecture.

The Social Responsibility and Sustainability Track focuses on values-based practices at the of organizations. This track identifies how business professionals can promote responsible corporate governance practices to create lasting positive social impact. The track will introduce students to values-based decision making and business practices. Students will learn about SRS practices across different functions of a business organization and have the opportunity to apply their knowledge though projects, case studies, competitions, and examination of current business practices. Course work in leadership and governance will provide students with skills and knowledge to create positive social impact in an organization. Students will be prepared to provide practical solutions for the social and environmental complexities of modern business.