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Learner Reviews & Feedback for The Age of Sustainable Development by Columbia University

4.7
stars
3,520 ratings

About the Course

The Age of Sustainable Development" gives students an understanding of the key challenges and pathways to sustainable development - that is, economic development that is also socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable....

Top reviews

LG

May 18, 2017

This course was perfect for those wanting to explore the world of development, broad enough to include all interlinked themes, with sufficient reading materials to spark one's specializing interests.

AA

Jun 1, 2020

Very informative and detailed. Prof. Sachs covers all aspects of sustainable development in detail. Though the course was designed in 2013 hence does not cover the latest development to SDGs to date.

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26 - 50 of 1,179 Reviews for The Age of Sustainable Development

By Joshua W

Jan 28, 2019

Not quite what i expected but still fascinating and thought provoking content.

By Sasha R

Feb 21, 2016

Excellent course content but very poorly designed quizzes. More clarity is needed in formulating questions, since different pages have different values for the same data sets (even on the same website such as the World Bank indicator datasets) and it will be difficult for students to get the right answers.

By Thomas B D M

Jul 22, 2019

Great speaker and great introductory course to sustainable development thematics, but content is becoming more and more outdated (2014) and quizzes refer to broken links, making it difficult to answer. I would not advise this course before it gets a significant refresh.

By Matthew J

May 15, 2020

THIS IS OUT DATED!!!!!

Questions in the quiz's are not kept to to date, therefor making it impossible to find answers from the links that YOU supplied.

I strongly suggest taking this down or updating the course, before you get even more comaplaints.

By Ben P

May 26, 2020

out of date

By Aedrian A

Jun 25, 2022

I have never expected to describe a completed online course, let alone an audit-only one, as “pivotal,” but here we are. Is it really possible to make a digestible overview of a complex, yet indispensable, perspective that is Sustainable Development, and to do so without trimming excessive content? This offering, helmed by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, PhD, proves that it is. While the audio-visuals are not extraordinary, but expected from outputs of topnotch institutions and leaders of the field, the content and the story crafted from it definitely are. The last time I felt a similar level of awe while taking and after completing a MOOC was when I took “Mountains 101” by the University of Alberta. Interestingly, “Mountains 101” also has officially at least 12 weeks’ worth of content. Perhaps, both the course length and the apparent dedication & expertise by the makers are essential ingredients to make an online course unforgettable. Sustainable development, by itself, is interdisciplinary and comprehensive. True to these characteristics of the topic, the course demonstrates the same. Professor Sachs is perhaps one of the few, if not the only one, who have the sufficient amount of experience and expertise to effortlessly make the individual subtopics and their connections clear to casual audiences. Most importantly, for me, this course provides, in detail, the reasons to be disappointed of the current state of affairs and, simultaneously, the reasons to keep our heads up in striving for change that benefits the greatest number of people – the currently-living and the generations of yet-to-be-born. Furthermore, the quizzes are excellently made and generally utilize authoritative resources. Regardless of your current standing in life, you will be encouraged to “get dirty” and examine unforgiving research/statistical data that form the basis of sensible policies and forecasts. The only flaw I can think of regarding the course is that it is outdated. Since the course’s release circa 2015, much have changed in the planet and, as a species, we have been experiencing several pinpoint-able events that can make or break (or are already making or breaking) the global community and its constituents. In connection with this, some of the internet links leading to resources needed to answer some questions are already dead (with a little bit of taking advantage of context clues, though, the same or similar resources can be located). A possible update of this course will likely include an adjustment of the optimism/pessimism (on our collective capacity to bring about timely sustainable development) demonstrated in the material. At the end of the course, I feel “well-rounded” in the understanding of the world around me in terms of matters beyond my field of training (healthcare). Overall, I believe that this course, or any resource on understanding sustainable development, should be watched and/or read by everyone. Little by little, accompanied by on-going events that are causing hardship to numerous people worldwide, we realize that our action, or inaction, on sustainable development is a pressing concern on both existential and moral grounds.

By Vierah H

May 13, 2021

Comprehensive and informative. Professor Sachs presents historical and current trends in sustainable development in cohesively, going to great lengths to simplify complex concepts. I am ending this course feeling more insightful of the trajectory of development as well as the MDGs and SDGs.

By Sopahpen G

Aug 4, 2022

Absolutely inspiring. The only. problem I had was that some. of the links to maps in the test were outdated and did not open properly so I had no reference when answering questions. All in all, a very rewarding experience.

By Rahadityo M B

Oct 8, 2021

Very insightful. It proves that sustainability is a complex issue and requires a deep understanding about culture, geography, social justice, just to name a few. Thank you so much, Professor Sachs and Columbia University

By Anoop M

Jun 26, 2022

Terrific content albeit from 2012-2015 timeline but the framework is relevent nevertheless. Thank you to Prof Sachs for this labor of love.

By ANDREAS G

May 8, 2021

That course describes the challenges of society, economy and environment face and provides solutions through the sustainable development .

By Michael H

Apr 13, 2021

Amazing course and an amazing professor. I have learned a lot and I wanted to continue To a degree field.

By Shayda M

Mar 26, 2019

A broad and informative course. A great introduction to the topic.

By Julian R

Dec 30, 2018

Thorough. Deep. Brilliant!

By Paul d S

Dec 19, 2018

Learnt so much!

By Jaime S

Jan 2, 2019

Muy bueno !

By Ghee K K

Feb 1, 2020

Wonderful course conducted by Professor Sachs! The problems and potential solutions are well elaborated, yet put simply across for students new to politics or economics. I do firmly believe knowledge in the area of sustainable development is very crucial to understanding today's major crises and priorities, and am grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from this course. However, some updating is required as many links within the quizzes are no longer relevant, or the webpages are non-existent.

By Viktoria V

Oct 27, 2017

Excellent content - I already had a good basis knowledge about sustainable development, but I must say I have learnt a lot. However, there are a few little improvements if I may suggest: (1) make the videos a little more interesting, with more images, graphs, etc. (2) update the course, especially the links (in the quizzes) - a lot has happened in the last few years, including the Paris agreement, the SDGs coming to life, etc so it would be great to get a perspective on these too.

By Ulf S

May 5, 2021

So much old material and such imortant areas such as UN SDG not covered more than a pln while the old MDG were in focus. Broken links. During 7 years and with 101' students starting this course there should be incentive and time to update.

By Faisal A S

Apr 13, 2021

I am not sure if i will be given certificate for completion. Also needs a review based on new data, and also few of the times links are not working. Overall the course is very addictive and useful for those who really want to practice.

By Emily G

Aug 31, 2022

This was a good course. It was very interesting overall. However, there are many broken links within the course that need to be updated. This is especially important within the quizzes at the end of each chapter.

By Enyi E

Aug 6, 2022

I love the pace of the professor and the information in this course. However many of the links lead to nonexistent pages and need to updated. It makes completing the quizzes and exams much harder.

By OLIVIER L

May 16, 2021

An open window on the world + cool content + a wonderful teacher = It was a very cool and learning experience even if some updates (we are in 2020) would be useful during the weekly tests

By Fernando Z F

May 16, 2021

Ótimo curso que nos permite ter uma ótima introdução ao desenvolvimento sustentável. Porém, o conteúdo e diversos links nos exames estão desatualizados.

By Rafael M M

Jul 29, 2022

The course is interesting and insightful, however it is too outdated with old data and even questions with either old links or inexistent.