Sustainability course by web wins approval

A new online course teaching sustainable practice to participants who do not need to enter a classroom to complete the qualification has been given the thumbs up.

Towards Sustainable Practice is an introductory course geared towards businesses, organisations and individuals committed to sustainability needing to know how sustainability increasingly equals success.

Developed by the Otago Polytechnic's Centre for Sustainable Practice, the course has the approval of Aurecon Group's Sean Barnes, of Queenstown, who was one of the first to trial it.

"There's a huge amount of depth and the course is well connected to the outside world through links to interviews and case studies on the web.

"The online learning platform is efficient and powerful, making great use of multimedia applications.

The course tutors are always available and there is plenty of opportunity to interact with your classmates online," Dr Barnes said.

An in-depth case study was aligned to each part of the course, meaning participants were able to think about and apply the knowledge in a practical way at every step.

"It's also surprisingly accessible. It's not just an engineering thing, or a science thing. It's actually an everyone thing and generically applicable to every company or organisation."

Dr Barnes said the course consolidated his personal and professional interest in sustainable practice and had fulfilled the course aim of training people in how to competently implement sustainable practice in a business and to make that practice contribute to business success.

Centre for Sustainable Practice director Steve Henry said the course and its delivery were designed to help business and other organisations become robust and prepared for when natural resources would be expensive and scarce.

The polytechnic uses Blackboard, a technology platform, giving participants internet access for course material, submitting assignments and receiving tutor feedback.