Students offered climate emergency study program

Students will be offered an undergraduate certificate or course specialisation specifically designed to combat the environment and climate emergency as part of a Planet Positive program launched by Curtin University.

The program included options for an entry-point and standalone qualification, a supplementary qualification or complimentary coursework as part of a student’s degree.

Launching this month, the program will be open to all Curtin undergraduate students, across the Health Sciences, Science and Engineering, Business and Law and Humanities faculties.

Professor Josh Byrne, Curtin’s Faculty of Humanities Dean of Sustainable Futures, said the program would position students to be better qualified to help address the challenges of climate change, waste generation, pollution and biodiversity loss.

“This program responds to a call from the generation who will need to deal with climate change and other critical environmental challenges. They need to be equipped to tackle this and while we can mentor and support them, it is ultimately the students’ desire to learn and take ownership of the problems and solutions that will make a difference,” Byrne said.

Three Curtin students have been selected to support the program, including Fine Arts student Chase Hayes, Commerce student Krishna Karthikeyan and Interior Architecture student Zoe Thomas.

Hayes said their desire to be active in combating climate change was cemented during the catastrophic events of Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

“Being involved in Planet Positive is an opportunity for me to apply my passion towards enacting real-world change, and with each person investing their time and efforts to such a critical cause, I become more and more hopeful that the people I care about will not have suffered in vain,” Hayes said.

The program includes an undergraduate certificate, course specialisation, access to a wider learning community that offers networking and work experience opportunities, as well as scholarships.

Curtin will also launch its Sustainable Development Strategy: Towards 2030, which offers a roadmap for how the university will continue addressing the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals.