Minor in Sustainability

Award Title (in English) : Minor in Sustainability
Programme Code: SUST
Number of Credit Units Required for the Award: 15
Minor Leader: Professor Liang DONG

Subject to the approval of the home academic unit(s), students obtaining 15 credit units including the 3 credit units of the core course, SEE2204 Principles of Sustainability, will be awarded the Minor in Sustainability in addition to their undergraduate major degree.

This minor combines a core course with some electives. Each course (except CHEM4021, CHEM4023, CHEM4034 and CHEM4039) constitutes three credit units.

Aims of Minor

This minor aims to provide students with a basic understanding of the sustainability issues and enhance their ability to address practical issues and to integrate environmental, political, cultural, social, economic and technology aspects into the concept of sustainability.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Minor

Upon successful completion of this Minor, students should be able to:

  1. Identify the ethical aspects of sustainability;
  2. Realize the interdisciplinary nature of sustainability;
  3. Develop processes to integrate different themes of sustainability;
  4. Apply what have learnt about sustainability to the real world.

Career Opportunities for Students Taking the Minor

  • Policy Makers, Government, and Regulatory Agencies
  • Corporate Sustainability/Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Socially Responsible Investing
  • Research and Development
  • Marketing/Media
  • Event Planning
  • Consulting
  • Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
  • Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs)
  • Education
  • Standards Organizations
  • Waste and Recycling
  • Fashion and Apparel
  • Food and Agriculture
  • Start your own business/nonprofit

Requirements for the Award (15 credit units)

  1. The application period will be set by ARRO. No late applications will be processed after the said period.
  2. Students are responsible for planning their own study schedules and fulfilling the course requirements in accordance with the academic structures as set in the Minor programme.
  3. Students must complete all courses required in the Minor programme before graduation by obtaining a minimum of 15 credits including the 3 credits of the core course, SEE2204 Principles of Sustainability, for the award of the Minor.
  4. To earn a Minor, students must attain a GPA of 1.7 or above for the courses in the Minor programme.
  5. The courses prescribed in the Minor programme may not be offered each semester. School of Energy and Environment reserves the right to offer courses in any semester according to available resource and number of enrolment.
  6. School of Energy and Environment reserves the right to approve or not to approve the application for enrolling the Minor programme.

Curriculum

Core Course (3 credit units):

Course Code Course Title Credit Units
SEE2204 Principles of Sustainability 3

 

Electives (12 credit units):

Any four courses from the following electives. Constraints on the choice of the electives are as follows:

  • The student can take at most one GE course.
  • At least one course should come outside their home College or School.
  • The four electives should be from each of the three key themes, i.e. “Economic and Policy”, “Environmental and Technical” and “Social and Cultural”.

Also note that double counting of the credits is not possible: any credit counting for a Major cannot count for the Minor.  Therefore any student following the major in Environmental Science and Engineering will have to replace SEE2204 Principles of Sustainability with another course to be agreed on by the Minor Leader and the Dean of SEE.

Students should also check the list of exclusive courses.  If students have already taken the corresponding exclusive courses, such electives would not be counted for earning the minor award.

Course Code Course Title Credit Units
Key theme: Economic and Policy
GE1205 Green Economics 3
GE2220 Sustainable Business: Doing Good Business While Doing Good 3
EF3040 Economics of Environment 3
LW3956 Environment and Law 3
PIA2224 Environmental Issues and Sustainable Development 3
PIA2400 Introduction to Ethics and Public Policy 3
PIA3206 Environmental Issues, Policy and Ethics 3
SEE3001 * Energy and Environmental Policy 3
Key theme: Environmental and Technical
GE1337 Urban Green City: Pollution and Solution 3
GE2306 Energy and Technology 3
GE2327 Green and Intelligent Buildings 3
GE2329 Green Buildings: Discovery and Innovations 3
CA4174 Sustainability and Building Systems Integration 3
CHEM3055 * Green Chemistry 3
CHEM4021 Environmental Pollution 4
CHEM4021A Environmental Pollution 3
CHEM4023 Biological Treatment of Wastes 4
CHEM4023A Biological Treatment of Wastes 3
CHEM4034 Environmental Control and Waste Treatment 4
CHEM4039 Environmental Conservation and Resources Management 4
CHEM4039A Environmental Conservation and Resources Management 3
MNE4046 * Green Industrial Systems 3
MSE4176 Energy Materials for the Current Century 3
PIA2528 Urban Planning and Sustainable Cities 3
PIA3207 Health Care Policy and Ethics 3
SEE3104 * Sustainable and Renewable Energy 3
SEE3202 Integrated Sustainability 3
SEE3204 *# Urban Sustainability 3
SEE3205 * Urban Sustainability 3
SEE4112 * Sustainable Engineering Systems: Modelling and Analysis 3
SEE4114 * Bioenergy Engineering: Principles and Applications 3
SEE4116 * Energy and Carbon Auditing 3
SEE4117 * Solar Energy Engineering 3
Key theme: Social and Cultural
GE1339 Wireless Connectivity in Modern Society 3
GE2303 Save the Earth: Sustainable Development 3
EE3012 Engineers in Society 3
PIA3034 Environmental Challenges in Asia and the World 3
PIA4071 Globalisation and the Environment 3
PIA4201 International Relations: Conflict and Cooperation on Environment and Resources Problems 3
SM3138 Creative City and Urban Critique 3
SS4585 Social Capital and Sustainable Development 3

* Denotes prerequisites required for this elective
# SEE3204 is a summer semester course (not offered until further notice)