Need to do some upskilling?
I write an ongoing series on sustainability skills training for Trellis (formerly GreenBiz) that has featured several hundred learning opportunities (including many free ones) that can help you to develop specific sustainability skills in:
- Understanding the sustainability reporting & disclosure landscape
- Reporting & disclosure standard-specific training for GRI, CSRD/ESRS, IFRS & CDP
- ESG & sustainable finance
- Supply chain and procurement sustainability
- Corporate sustainability strategy
- Climate literacy
- Scaling corporate climate literacy
- Renewable energy transitions, technology and financing
- Measuring and managing GHG emissions,
- Climate and net-zero strategy
- Regenerative agriculture
- Circular economy
Certifications
I wrote an in-depth article covering 46 professional sustainability certifications which quickly became one of my top articles of all time, so that article has replaced the list of certifications that used to live on this page. I’ll continue to update the article as I learn about new certifications. Check out the article on Trellis here.
Unlimited on-demand job-specific training for climate and sustainably roles
Voiz Academy offers an unlimited sustainability upskilling platform which includes on-demand certification tracks designed to prepare you for success in roles including Decarbonization Analyst, Climate Consultant, ESG Fund Analyst, Sustainability Analyst and, coming soon, Renewables Analyst.
These programs provide project-based hands-on experience with the tools and frameworks that sustainability professionals use every day. You can even upgrade your self-paced training to participate in the Design Your Climate Career program, a live job search coaching experience.
Online learning centers
Project Drawdown Climate Solutions 101
Project Drawdown has produced a series of educational resources around climate problems AND the available solutions. They say it’s mainly intended for early-stage professionals in climate work, but I think it’s a great refresher for anyone interested in a comprehensive, numbers-based overview of the solutions available and the potential scale for each solution.
The SDG Academy has curated a wonderful collection of free educational resources focused on sustainable development and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
USGBC Training & Educational Resources
The USGBC is so much more than just LEED! Their website has an incredible education page with access to sustainability practitioner training on a wide variety of topics, training for LEED certification, and K-12 resources.
Circular Economy training from the Ellen Macarthur Foundation
The Ellen Macarthur Foundation’s website hosts several courses, including The Circular Economy: An Introduction. The course is self-paced and free, but it does take over twenty-one hours to complete over seven weeks.
While most of the resources available from Ceres are more tools, reports, and videos instead of specifically training, they offer a lot of great (free) content that addresses a lot of ESG concerns from the investor perspective.
Conservation Training from the Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy offers a wide variety of free conservation-focused training on areas from deforestation to coastal resilience to building capacity in fisheries. There is a great looking course on the Fundamentals of GIS for Conservation, which several of our guests have said they use in their daily work.
The Acumen Fund is a leading global nonprofit changing the way the world tackles poverty by investing in sustainable businesses, leaders, and ideas. They have developed so much expertise in training leaders to be effective social change agents that they decided to create +Acumen to make these skills accessible to everyone. +Acumen’s mission is to provide anyone, anywhere with the skills and community to drive social change.
Graduate Schools
Below is a list of schools that I know of that have graduate programs that focus on sustainability, energy, or corporate social responsibility. This list goes beyond just business schools and includes any graduate program that I’ve heard about from fellow sustainability practitioners.
Sustainability education is very popular right now, so this is a very long list. Have I missed your school? Send me a message through the Contact Us page and I’ll add it. Thanks!
American University, Kogod School of Business, Master of Science in Sustainability Management
Arizona State University, Master of Sustainability Leadership
Babson College, Master of Business Administration, Business and Social Innovation Intensity Track
Bard College, Bard Master of Business Administration in Sustainability
Boston University, Applied Sustainability Graduate Certificate
Brandeis University, Master of Arts in Sustainable International Development
Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business Master of Business Administration Sustainability Concentration and Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation
Case Western Reserve University, sustainability offerings integrated throughout the curriculum
University of Colorado Boulder Leeds School of Business Master of Business Administration, Sustainability Curriculum and Clean Energy Pathway
Colorado State University, Impact Master of Business Administration
Columbia University, Master of Science in Sustainability Management
Cornell University, Master of Business Administration, Sustainable Global Enterprise Immersion
George Washington University, Master of Arts in Environmental Resource Policy
Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business, Global Social Enterprise Initiative
Harvard University, Harvard Extension School, Master’s Degree in Sustainability
Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, Master of Public Policy
University of Miami, Herbert Business School, Master of Science in Sustainable Business
University of Pittsburgh, Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, Katz Sustainability Certificate and Center for Sustainable Business
Presidio Graduate School, Master of Business Administration in Sustainable Management
Purdue University, College of Liberal Arts, Environmental and Sustainability Studies Certificate
Rice University, Master of Science in Environmental Analysis and Decision Making
University of Rochester, Master of Science in Sustainability
Stanford University, Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies (EIET) Program
Texas A&M University, Texas A&M Energy Institute, Master of Science in Energy
University of Vermont, Grossman School of Business, Sustainable Innovation MBA
Virginia Tech, Executive Master of Natural Resources in Global Sustainability and Climate Leadership
Virginia Tech, Online Master of Natural Resources in Global Sustainability
Net Impact & Positive Impact Rating for Business Schools
Net Impact used to conduct a detailed annual assessment of the business schools that offer coursework in social and environmental impact. In 2020 they began collaborating with the Positive Impact Rating for Business Schools and started producing the Positive Impact Rating Report instead. The new format doesn’t provide as much detail on each individual program or list as many programs, but it could be a good place to start if you’re trying to decide which school or program is right for you.
