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18:10

Consumption and Diets

This chapter discusses the current state of our diets and the dietary trends around the world. There are four things that are happening globally: people are consuming too many calories, those calories are of poor quality, diets are not very affordable, and they’re not sustainable. People are consuming more than they need to on average, but what they consumer is of poor quality, or “junk food.” Sugar consumption is on the rise, particularly with processed foods. Our diets cost…

11:09

Disasters and Public Health

Disasters of various kinds, including hurricanes, monsoons, earthquakes, and landslides, poses a public health emergency. In this video, Professor K. Srinath Reddy addresses how these disasters affect health and how global public health can prepare for these emergencies, especially with the impending increase of natural disasters with the rise of climate change. This video is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA license.

14:26

Growth on a Finite Planet: Is it Inherently Impossible?

This chapter discusses two important questions: is it feasible to have economic growth from this point forward and does economic growth even make sense on a finite planet? This video is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA license.

10:48

Existing Structures of Global Governance

This chapter is about global governance and structures to deal with complex global environmental problems. Governance is a set of complex interactions between state and non-state actors at the global level.There are several key trends to look at in global environmental governance, including the increase in international environmental agreements and the involvement of more actors. These have led to fragmentation, segmentation, and decoupled decision making, as well as increasing inter-linkages…

06:17

Growth and Inequality

This chapter focuses on growth and inequality, and more specifically, the Kuznets Curve, in order to show the relationship between income per capita and inequality. Kuznets suggested that the relationship has an inverted U-shape. In the final stages of a country’s development, he argued, inequality would increase; after a certain point, however, inequality would decrease. This curve, and the points in question, are different for each country. The rise of inequality has had political…

15:37

Aggregate Demand with Flexible Exchange Rate

In this chapter, Professor Sachs discusses international trade and how it is affected by the exchange rate, which is in turn affected by financial flows and the differences of interest rates at home and abroad. There are two ways to manage the exchange rates of a country, namely by supply and demand, or by the central bank setting the price. This is explained using the case of exchange rate of Renminbi to the US dollar, as managed by the People’s Bank of China. Countries have the right…

15:37

What Makes a City Sustainable?

This lecture explores sustainable cities as both green cities and resilient cities. This video is not available under a Creative Commons license and should not be considered open content. However, the video is freely available for viewing or sharing with individuals or groups for educational purposes, such as in a classroom, workshop, or training. Please give attribution to the SDG Academy. Content may not be used for commercial purposes.

07:33

The Challenge of Urban Politics, Planning and Governance, Part II

Urban politics comes down to making decisions with short, medium, and long-term impacts in a context of scarce resources between competing priorities, making planning very important. Types of planning include spatial planning, strategic planning or growth management planning, spatial literacy planning, precinct-level planning, and other intersectional types of planning. This is considered through the case study of the City of Johannesburg, South Africa. Watch Part I This video is licensed…

05:52

What is equitable education?

This video explores key concepts such as equity, inclusion and marginalization to answer the focus question: What is equitable education? It also discusses why Equity is at the heart of SDG 4. Enroll in Equity and Inclusion in Education. This video is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA license. Please give attribution to UNESCO and the SDG Academy.