"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." -- Nelson Mandela
Winthrop offers the following degree programs that focus on understanding today's environmental issues and examining topics from diverse viewpoints in anticipation of finding meaningful contributions to their solutions. For more information contact Dr. Scott Werts.
What does sustainability really mean, and how can your everyday choices shape the future? In SUST 102: Introduction to Sustainability, you'll explore some of today’s most important environmental, social, and economic systems while discovering practical solutions that create positive change. The course introduces sustainability as a way of understanding the connections between people, communities, economies, and the natural world.
Designed for first-year students but open to all majors, this course requires no prior sustainability knowledge or experience. Through engaging discussions, hands-on activities, and real-world problem solving, you'll develop valuable skills in critical thinking, communication, leadership, and systems thinking that employers increasingly seek in today's workforce.
Students move beyond the classroom through local tours, field studies, and community service experiences, including opportunities to visit recycling facilities, water treatment plants, farms, community gardens, parks, and local organizations. These experiential learning activities help connect course concepts to real-world challenges and solutions.
Throughout the semester, you'll examine topics such as waste and recycling, food systems, climate change, economic development, environmental justice, water resources, community well-being, and resilience. Most importantly, you'll discover how small individual actions can contribute to meaningful change and how sustainability relates to your future career, personal goals, and the communities where you'll live and work.
Why take SUST 102?
How can businesses remain profitable while protecting the environment, supporting communities, and creating long-term value? In MGMT 330: Sustainable Business Practices, you'll explore how organizations are rethinking traditional business models to address some of today's most pressing environmental, social, and economic challenges. The course examines how businesses can balance profitability with responsible decision-making, innovation, and stakeholder engagement.
Open to students from all majors, MGMT 330 introduces the real-world strategies companies use to improve sustainability performance, manage resources, reduce environmental impacts, strengthen communities, and create lasting value. Students learn how sustainability is shaping modern business and gain tools used by organizations to measure and communicate their sustainability efforts.
Through case studies, documentaries, discussions, and applied research, students investigate topics such as corporate responsibility, climate action, energy systems, sustainable agriculture, ESG reporting, sustainable cities, consumer behavior, green marketing, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Students evaluate how leading companies address these issues and learn to assess sustainability claims using real-world evidence.
A key feature of the course is a semester-long SOURCE Research Poster, where students analyze and compare the sustainability strategies of real companies. Students also complete an experiential learning project through community service or civic engagement and reflect on how their experiences connect to sustainable business practices.
Throughout the course, students develop highly transferable skills employers value, including systems thinking, critical analysis, problem-solving, stakeholder engagement, sustainability reporting, communication, and strategic decision-making. By the end of the semester, you'll better understand how businesses can be a force for positive change and how sustainability can influence your future career, regardless of your field of study.
Why take MGMT 330?
Both of these courses introduce the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which is a call for collaborative international action, " . . . recognizing that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests." These are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Other ways to further develop an understanding of the interconnection of economic, ecological, and social well-being beyond the classroom, contact the Office of Sustainability for information about possible internship opportunities to work on sustainability initiatives and program development on Winthrop's campus.
The student organization, Student Environmental Action Coalition or SEAC, is a student and youth-run national networks of progressive organizations and individuals whose aim is to uproot environmental injustices through action and education. They work to educate our Winthrop community about environmental and sustainability issues. Through awareness, they aim to make positive changes in regards to sustainability on our campus.
Consider using the library as a sustainable alternative to purchasing books individually. Doing so builds and strengthens the community while saving natural resources. Winthrop's Dacus Library has an excellent collection of resources (pdf - 90 KB) that focus on sustainability and the three dimensions of sustainability: social, economic, and environmental.
