Modeling Natural Systems with International Futures (Course 5)

This course builds on the IFs skills and concepts introduced in Courses 1 and 2 to examine the natural and physical systems that shape long-term development. 

You will begin with food and agriculture, exploring how rising incomes can change both how much people eat and what they eat, and what those shifts may mean for agricultural production, land use, water demand, and food loss and waste. 

The course then turns to energy, where you will examine fossil-fuel resources and reserves, renewable energy adoption, and the structural factors that cause energy transitions to unfold over decades. You will next study infrastructure, including water and sanitation, electricity, transportation, and digital connectivity, and how these systems can affect productivity, health, access, and development outcomes. 

The course concludes with the environment, including carbon emissions, the carbon cycle, climate and development interactions, and the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways. You will consider how economic growth, resource use, energy systems, and environmental pressures interact under different assumptions. 

In the final capstone, you will draw on concepts and scenario levers from across the five-course sequence to build an integrated scenario connecting human development, governance, energy, infrastructure, and carbon emissions. You will assess the tradeoffs and conditions associated with advancing human development while limiting environmental pressures. 

By the end of the course, you will be able to analyze food, energy, infrastructure, and environmental trends; build and compare integrated scenarios; trace effects across human, social, and natural systems; and communicate the implications for long-term planning and strategy. 

This course is fully asynchronous and self-paced. Completion of Courses 1 and 2 is recommended before beginning. 

Estimated learning hours: 15-20 hours