This four-course, online certificate program is ideal for municipal, regional, state, and federal officials; environmental planners and managers; corporate operations and utility managers; and consultants in the sustainability field. Participants will benefit from the expertise and resources of four North American universities that are leaders in the study of climate change. The program is project based and emphasizes practical skills and real-life scenarios. Upon successful completion of all four courses, participants will receive a joint certificate issued by the four sponsoring universities.

The four courses are:

• Climate Literacy: This course covers the basic concepts and terms needed to understand climate change. The class begins with the factors influencing climate including interactions among the atmosphere, oceans, solid earth and biosphere. It continues with the causes of global warming (fossil fuel use, deforestation, agricultural practices, transportation, oxidation of organic carbons in the soil, etc.); greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide); physical carbon flows and their measurement; the carbon cycle; scientific uncertainty; climate modeling; the IPCC and UNFCC; the social impacts of climate change; and resources to understand climate variability. Presented by University of British Columbia
• Strategic Planning for Adaptation to Climate Change: Addresses strategic planning for adapting to and minimizing climate change. Topics include: scenario building and decision-making uncertainty, the adequacy of current policy and planning mechanisms for strategic planning for adaptation, the major issues (political, social, economic, financial, environmental, etc.) significant to such planning, understanding the long-term lifecycle planning process, cost analysis, the financial, environmental and social equity aspects of adaptation, and evaluating the effectiveness of the adaptation response. Presented by University of Washington
• Framework for Strategic Leadership: All sustainable change begins with a strategy and a framework for strategic problem solving. Strategic leadership is central to all business change initiatives designed to create positive impacts on society and the environment. Making an impact in sustainability leadership requires systems thinking and a life cycle approach; at a local, regional and global scale; that can overlay every major business decision. This type of systems thinking bridges vision and knowledge, integrates corporate profitability with responsible actions that produce social value, and requires that goals and objectives of a sustainability initiative reflect the core values of the organization. Gain the skills necessary to identify stakeholders and their interest, measure the effects of social and environmental benefits in order to advance corporate social responsibility goals in your organization. For people involve in business, non-profits, public and private institutions, education and change agents of all kind; integrating sustainability into daily decision-making is imperative, not only in consideration of assessing risks; but also in terms of creating opportunities for social innovation. Presented by the University of California, Irvine
• Policy Responses and Options: The class will look at government policy development and implementation in a variety of countries as well as the economics of climate change. It starts with a description of existing policies such as the Kyoto Accord; the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (ETS); the approaches of less developed nations such as China and India with the Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate; and local approaches in the United States such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) and the Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) in California. The course also deals with market-based and economy-wide options for reducing carbon in the atmosphere including carbon taxes, the carbon price, cap and trade programs, carbon offsets and voluntary carbon markets as well as the use of renewable energy innovations, efficiency standards and green forest practices. Presented by Northwestern University

For more information, visit this website:
UW Certificate Program in Decision Making for Climate Change

* The Canadian Association for University Continuing Education (CAUSE) has chosen the Decision Making for Climate Change certificate as a winner of the 2011 Program Excellence Award.

This four-course, online certificate program is ideal for individuals seeking to move into the biotech industry by learning project management processes for completing and delivering a biotech product within budget and on schedule. Taught by biotech industry professionals who share their on-the-job experience with students, the program is project based and emphasizes practical skills and real-life scenarios. Upon successful completion of all four courses, students receive a UW-UC San Diego joint certificate.

The four courses are:

• Project Planning and Organization: Topics include team rules and communications planning; project lifecycle strategy for biotech and requirements management; risk management processes; WBS, project estimating and tasking; project scheduling; contract and procurement management; costing, budgeting, cash flows and lifecycle planning. Presented by University of Washington Educational Outreach
• Project Execution, Monitoring and Control: Topics Include project staffing and management; change management; progress reporting; monitoring and control; project closeout and transition planning. Presented by University of Washington Educational Outreach
• Project Management within a Scientific Environment: Topics Include timeline and metrics in research; scientific culture, communications and teams; organizational structures to enhance the success of R&D projects; growing knowledge-based assets. Presented by University of California, San Diego Extension
• Applying Project Management Principles to Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Product Development: Topics include biomedical and pharmaceutical product development as a project; regulation as a critical project constraint; quality assurance systems; manufacturing; quality audits and monitoring. Presented by University of California, San Diego Extension

For more information, visit these websites:
UW Certificate Program in Biotech Project Management
UC San Diego Extension

University of California Irvine Extension and University of British Columbia Continuing Studies have combined their resources to offer a new online certificate program in Web Intelligence in partnership with the Web Analytics Association. Web intelligence is a combination of Web analytics, which examines how Web site visitors view and interact with a site's pages and features, and business intelligence, which allows a corporation's management to use data on customer purchasing patterns, demographics and demand trends to make effective strategic decisions. Together, the courses that comprise the Web Intelligence program provide students a powerful set of skills and knowledge that companies need for growth and success in the 21st century.

The program is designed for individuals who wish to enter the field of Web analytics, including those whose job functions include marketing, Web site design, corporate branding and product positioning, or other aspects of database-driven marketing. The focus of the program is on using technology to achieve business objectives.

To earn the Web Intelligence certificate, students must complete four required courses plus two electives.

Required courses

These four courses are offered by University British Columbia Continuing Studies; they also fulfill the Award of Achievement in Web Analytics:

• Introduction to Web Analytics
• Web Analytics for Site Optimization
• Measuring Marketing Campaigns Online
• Creating and Managing the Analytical Business Culture

Elective courses

Students select two courses offered by University of California Irvine Extension from the following list:

• Business Intelligence/Data Warehouse
• Designing Dimensional Models
• Managing Business Process Improvement Projects
• Problem Solving and Decision Making
• Management, Leadership and Team Building in the Project and Program Environment

For more information, visit these websites:
University of British Columbia Web Intelligence program
University of California Irvine Web Intelligence program

The UBC/UW Summer Institute in Sustainability is a week-long professional development program designed for those taking a leadership role in developing policy, creating plans and implementing projects in sustainability. The program is targeted to sustainability practitioners in business, local and provincial governments, and universities and colleges who are working to integrate sustainability as a core value in their organization.

Delivered over five days in Vancouver, BC, the Institute provides an opportunity to explore sustainability from a triple-bottom-line approach, considering social, ecological and economic perspectives. The program offers thought-provoking presentations by leading academics and industry professionals, applied case studies of real-life sustainability projects, experiential field trips to examine sustainability initiatives first hand, and numerous opportunities for strategic and informal networking. Sessions are designed to be interactive allowing participants to engage speakers with questions and comments.

Session topics include:

• Sustainability Literacy
• Accelerating Sustainability through Strategic & Transformative Leadership
• Developing Strategies and Frameworks
• Institutionalizing Change
• Life Cycle Management
• Urbanized Living: Opportunities & Challenges
• Supply Chain Management
• The Business Case for Sustainability
• Urban Energy Systems
• Embedding Sustainability into Organizational Policy
• Engaging Stakeholders
• Indicators, Reporting, and Accountability

For more information, visit this website: cstudies.ubc.ca/sis