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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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101 - 125 of 1,180 Reviews for The Age of Sustainable Development

By Tereza Z

Sep 22, 2019

The course itself is amazing! However, the tests are outdated - many of the links don't work anymore and the data can't be found, so in many instances it was necessary to guess the answer of the data/graph analysis questions. It would be great if this could be improved.

I would definitely recommend the course to anyone (not just those interested in sustainability) because the course introduces all the main aspects in a very clear and interesting manner. Thank you for creating this!

By Ritu Y

Feb 26, 2017

Having always had a keen interest in issues pertaining to the MDGs and the SDGs, I thought the course would give me greater insight into problems and solutions therein impacting our world today and was not deceived by the content. I particularly appreciate Professor Sachs personal interpretations and opinions on certain issues; Coming from him, issues have become more credible for me.

Highly recommend the topics to not only course takers but anyone interested in the Earth's health.

By Marthe v L

Sep 18, 2015

Jeffrey Sachs is a great professor who talks in a very clear and concise way. The terminology and even the math parts are all really understandable. The exercises are really useful because they introduce you to a range of tools on the web such as World Bank data and the Human Development Index, AND teaches you how to use it. This course helps you to get a really well-rounded, complete picture of what Sustainable Development contains and looks at it from multiple perspectives.

By Omar M

Sep 29, 2020

The course was very informative about historical events. It also puts the spot lite on the main problems we face a species and the burden humanity puts on our ecosystem and the environment. This course highlight the importance of SDGs and the importance for everyone to incorporate them into their lives in order to guaranty a future for us and future generation to come. I have learned so much from this course and I'm very interested in pursuing a career in sustainability.

By Cara E

Sep 5, 2015

This course is wonderfully and engagingly taught by the great Jeffrey Sachs, with a lot of food for thought, excellent visual aids, relevant data and statistics, and supplementary readings which add a lot to the course. The quizzes not only test the knowledge found in the lectures, but ask the students to analyze other data from sources such as the UN and World Bank. Overall, a holistic and information-packed introduction to the field of sustainable development.

By Carlo C

May 15, 2017

Very nice course and very informative. It helped my learn and broaden my view of the changes in the world and what we can do to mitigate, as well as prepare individually and as a country to these changes that are happening.

It informed of the things that I felt oblivious to, such as the Carbon concentrations in the atmosphere, and aquatic dead zones. These are the things that we need to consider with whatever Sustainable Development-related activities we do.

By Heidi C

Mar 27, 2020

I love this course, it is a great overview for all import topics in related to sustainability development and how Professor Sachs was humorous yet clear to the point presentation made the whole course flow into life. I wished that I could able to get a certification of taking this course as it is certainly not easy with unit tests that requires a lot of research on different sites. It took me almost 6 months to complete it, but it is really worth it.

By César A V G

Nov 3, 2015

Excelente curso, es impresionante saber lo crítico de la situación en el mundo y que tan frágiles somos. Entender por qué debemos cambiar nuestros hábitos de producción y consumo para no acabar con nuestros recursos ni con la calidad del aire. Gracias a este curso ahora estoy más comprometido a cambiar y ser agente de cambio para que otros sean conscientes de lo irresponsables que hemos sido en los últimos 100 años de constante contaminación ambiental.

By Dan C

Aug 27, 2021

I really enjoyed this course on Sustainable Development! It was incredibly informative and covers a very broad range of topics. It makes me realize how close we are to accomplishing problems that have plagued humans for decades and the importance of understanding the local context. However, it also puts great focus on the need to change the current status quo if we are to avoid plunging back into a world with significantly more problems than today.

By Muizz O

Aug 28, 2017

This opened up my mind and strengthened my passion and support for good governance and sustainable development like never before. I had access to a lot of information and facts about the issues that interest me and were I want to make impact. To be be honest this is the best online course i have taken very intensive and engaging it was really worth it. Many thanks to Prof Jeff Sachs and all those who contributed to the success of this mooc.

By mahnaz g

Jun 13, 2023

I found this course very thought provoking, Dr.Jeffery Sachs presented the case of sustainable development with brilliant arguments and facts making for a compelling read. Although I couldn't attempt all the questions at the end of the weekly assignments and some of the data is old, material is still relevant. I have been brought up to speed with a lot of data analysis,, graphs and statistics and a lot that needs to explored further.

By Victoria A

Oct 4, 2018

Great course! All of the supplemental materials are awesome as well. The only thing is that some of the links in the assessments are broken or outdated; you need these links to answer some of the questions, as they contain graphical/informational content relevant to the specific question. That should be an easy update anyways, so that aside, I really enjoyed it and found it to be valuable for increasing my knowledge of the subject!

By Daniel F M

Nov 6, 2016

This course should be taught in all schools in order to develop an awareness and a common goal around sustainable development. I really enjoyed the talks and Prof. Sachs is an incredible lecturer, engaging and knowledgeable. It would be good if it was a bit more updated and keeping the tabs on recent developments but overall i learned a huge amount and wouldn't doubt recommending this course to every individual in this world we share.

By Rajiv k S

Jun 12, 2020

A Marvelous Course for a technocrat like me. This course has inspired me to explore more on Development Economics. I thanks Prof for such a enlightening course and make us understand things like sustainable development in a world when each of us are only interested in their own development. This course should be made compulsory for all bureaucrats planned and politician in third world country. Thanks prof from my core of the heart.

By Carlotta C

Aug 25, 2015

I liked this course very much, especially because it was clear and well explained. During the lessons I could see how much efforts and passion Professor Sachs puts on this topic, which helped a lot in following the videos.

There are just a couple of things I'd change: I'd give some material to read, mostly with graphs (it took some time to make the screenshot of each graph!). Moreover, I'd give a State of accomplishment at the end.

By T.J. E

Jun 16, 2020

Awesome, expert instructor, with a really thoughtful and well organized approach to explaining a huge topic from a birds-eye-view. Hits on and synthesizes so many big ideas and big topics, such as energy, geography, geopolitics, technology, food and agriculture, supply chains, planetary boundaries, and so much more, stoking my interest throughout. Now, I just need to take a follow-up course on each one of these fascinating topics!

By 佐藤聡

Dec 10, 2015

Great course, you must take it for your own sake. It is hard to put your foot into one's shoes, it's hard to imagine what poverty is and social issues related to that if you never been to low income countries. But as a citizen of earth society we have to imagine future including rest of us. Because Sustainable Development will not continue when our economy and society are not sustainable. Everybody is responsible for future now.

By Lauren P

Feb 18, 2024

Great course and Prof Sachs is very easy to learn from. Informative, comprehensive, interesting. Many of the links for the tests are broken or no longer hosted, and so you need to look up the information or guess it for the test question. It was also depressing to hear Prof Sachs' hopefulness from the 20teens knowing now in the 2020s how things have failed to progress or even regressed since he recorded those lectures.

By Irene D

May 2, 2020

This course has been tremendously interesting and eye-opening. Thanks to Professor Sachs evidence-based and straight forward explanations, I have gained a deeper understanding of the challenges we face when addressing the issues of our time. For me, this course has been life-changing and I highly recommend anyone with a minimum of interest in creating a better world to take it: you will be undoubtedly glad you did.

By Filipe F

Jun 29, 2020

5 stars for Professor Sachs. 0 for Coursera. The exams are full of broken links, which makes it more difficult to get the correct answers (you must lose time looking for them on google), and you won't get a certificate by the end. Great course tho, learned a lot and the passion of the Professor for the several subjects is captivating. If you want to take the course and get certified, so I suggest you do it on edX

By José B S C

Sep 22, 2015

I am a doctoral student in economics and political science. I had read Professors Sachs book, The End of Poverty, when I was in high school. I decided to take a basic course out of curiosity. While I belief the course is very basic and somewhat long, it does a wonderful job at introducing The Age of Sustainable Development. A light course, but provides a solid foundation for those who are interested in the topic!

By David C

Nov 6, 2016

If you are looking for a MOOC please INVEST in this course, no matter who you are it will change your mind on the role the people have on Earth. It has been quite a pleasure to be part of the selected group of inhabitants from developing countries that realized not only problems of BAU path, but the alternative solutions to undertake sustainable development actions NOW! Thanks Professor Sachs and teaching team!

By Phil e

Dec 28, 2023

A subject with so many aspects to cover!

I am in the 'business' already, but I really enjoyed the broad overview of ideas that I don't cover in my job. I now have access to data and statistics that I didn't have before, which will help me in my job.

A few of the hyperlinks were no longer correct, but there is sufficient detail to find where the information has been moved to.

I highly recommend this course!

By Karla R R

Dec 21, 2020

¡Excelente curso!

Gracias a lo aprendido aquí, decidí especializarme en Desarrollo Sostenible y Medio Ambiente. Actualmente he culminado mi maestría y me encuentro terminando mi trabajo de investigación.

Lo único que sí me gustaría es poder acceder a un certificado; cuando hice el curso no lo hice y me gustaría contar con la certificación de esta gran calidad.

Nuevamente gracias por todo.

Karla Rivadeneira R.

By Shanti K

Sep 17, 2018

I enjoyed the course thoroughly and it helped me to start developing different world view. It gave me a very good perspective on the other aspects of Sustainable Growth and Sustainability. It allowed to gauze into the inter-disciplinary linkages and also the theoretical elements to help me, more of a practitioner on the go, to understand the whole concept of sustainable growth and sustainability better.