MS in Resilient and Sustainable Communities
Prescott College
Description
As people across the planet begin the process of adapting to the consequences of climate disruption and growing inequalities in wealth and access to vital resources, the MRSC program is designed to help students understand the interaction between various structural components of communities at all scales, and to work toward developing, advocating, and implementing fundamental changes in how communities evolve in response to such challenges. At the heart of this program is the need to create communities that are resilient enough to adapt to changing conditions, and sustainable enough to reduce their impacts on other species, populations, and future generations.
This program can be completed in one or two years, depending on the student’s chosen pace. Students will synthesize knowledge about land‐use planning, energy production, food systems, resource management, and their local natural history, while developing their skills in stakeholder engagement, leadership, group organization, and civic participation—all leading toward the creation of actionable plans for communities in their bioregion, and societies beyond.
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to synthesize the knowledge necessary to plan sustainable and resilient communities, including land‐ use policy, energy production, food systems, resource management, and their local natural history in preparation for creating actionable plans for communities in their bioregion.
Students will develop a suite of sophisticated skills related to applying theoretical knowledge to problem‐solving in a community.
Students will be able to evaluate the specific challenges that a community faces—environmental, as well as economic, social, and political—in becoming more sustainable and resilient, and to research and develop effective approaches for addressing these challenges.
Students will prepare to help create revitalized, sustainable, and more resilient and socially just communities by developing their skills in stakeholder engagement, leadership, and group organization.