Climate change is reshaping the world as we know it. How will this dynamic force affect life support systems? What unforeseen risks are emerging, and what strategies for social-ecological resilience will succeed? How can we accelerate awareness – especially among decision-makers – that natural and human systems are inextricably intertwined?

Exploring these questions is the purview of “Environmental Risk and Resilience,” an exciting new course offered by Worldview Stanford in partnership with the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and the School of Earth Sciences. Worldview Stanford is an innovative initiative at Stanford University that creates interdisciplinary learning experiences about the forces shaping the future.

Specifically designed for busy decision-makers across all sectors, Environmental Risk and Resilience starts online (Oct. 27, 2014), with original and curated multimedia content. Participants (limited to 40), then come to Stanford Dec. 8-10 to connect with Stanford experts and each other, discover pioneering research, and meet local innovators at the forefront of new strategies, tools and technologies.

More than a dozen Stanford Woods Institute faculty are involved in the course, which begins by examining “The Anthropocene” – the current era of major human impact on ecosystems. This part of the course considers how human and natural systems – including climate change, population growth, economic and infrastructure development, and species extinction – are intertwoven and interacting.

Next, course participants will explore sources of environmental risk – from system complexity and institutional inflexibility to gaps in information and understanding – as well as multiple strategies for resilience through mitigation, adaptation and preparation.

For more information/registration, visit http://worldview.stanford.edu/course/environmental-risk-and-resilience