Applied Sustainability Principles Digital Badge

Contact Information

The Applied Sustainability Principles digital badge is an achievement microcredential offered through the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Earning this badge demonstrates participation in a series of in-person sustainability workshops offered by the Auraria Sustainable Campus Program (ASCP). Students will learn a breadth of environmental sustainability core concepts as demonstrated through a direct application model (e.g., water and energy consumption, waste management, environmental justice). Students will learn how to employ strategies of systems thinking and critical theory that are applicable to their professional disciplines, as well as evoke efforts to lead sustainability behavior change in their future careers.

Earning Criteria

Participants earning this badge are required to take part in the complete series of in-person sustainability workshops offered by the Auraria Sustainable Campus Program (ASCP), as well as complete experiential demonstrations of learning while attending each workshop.

Competencies Demonstrated

1. Define or describe the following sustainability common concepts: sustainability, climate change, global warming, greenhouse gases, triple bottom line.
2. Describe the various sectors of sustainability work as it applies on a global, national, local, and individual level. 
3. Analyze the major environmental, social, and economic challenges and potential solutions of our time using a systems thinking approach. 
4. Analyze how waste is interwoven into consumerism, consumption, commodity chains, and ecological footprints. 
5. Define and describe the following: compost, recycling, landfill. 
6. Discuss tools for waste reduction and waste management. 
7. Discover how waste is managed on the Auraria Higher Education Campus. 
8. Analyze major global water concerns. 
9. Describe main ways in which water is used and wasted in the US. 
10. Develop strategies for a large commercial customer, like the Auraria Higher Education Campus, to be better water stewards. 
11. Define and describe the following common concepts: climate action plans, lifecycle assessments, Scope I, II, & III emissions, return on investment, UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 
12. Discuss local policy and its influence on the Auraria Higher Education Campus. 
13. Define and describe the following fundamental concepts: conservation and land management, ecosystem services and externalized costs, environmental justice, global poverty, inequity, and relative environmental impacts, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). 
14. Identify and critically assess alternative perspectives and arguments about the relationship between humans and the natural environment.