From the start of your academic career until well after graduation, you will benefit from a range of resources — academic courses, special projects, green-skilling, and career-related opportunities that will empower you and prepare you for a fulfilling life.
Your sustainability journey awaits — let's begin!
JCU students have access to several open educational resources that can boost their green knowledge and skills, so that you can make meaningful contributions to sustainability efforts and address the world’s most pressing environmental and societal challenges.
John Cabot University provides many ways to encourage students to develop their knowledge of and sensitivity to environmental sustainability. One way is through academic courses. These are meant to fully integrate with the wealth of other activities and projects available at JCU: students clubs, community work, faculty-led trips, lectures and workshops, alumni networking and mentoring, the Triggering Change pitch challenge, as well as the Certificate in Sustainability.
True to its liberal arts tradition, JCU takes a multi-disciplinary approach to sustainability, helping to develop a holistic vision that provides a broad approach to understanding and making sense of this complex topic. Courses are being added, and the curriculum is evolving to accommodate greater flexibility and focus.
This collection includes scholarly publications, working papers, and research outputs with a focus on sustainability.
Below is a selection of courses that make meaningful contributions to social and environmental sustainability efforts.
ARCH/NS 310 Environmental Archaeology and Paleoclimatology
BUS 220 Business Communication
BUS 320 Public Relations
BUS/PL 325 NGO Consulting Lab
BUS 498 International Business Seminar
CMS 323 Media and the Environment
CMS 345 Ecocinema: Environmentalism and Film
CMS 375 AI and Critical Art Practices: Ethics, Aesthetics, Labor
CS/MGT 310 Technologies and Strategies for the Sustainable Enterprise
DJRN 380 Writing for Advocacy: Climate Crisis
EC 380 Environmental Economics
ETH/BUS 301 Business Ethics
EXP 1025 Climate Journalism: Combating Disinformation and Driving Change
MGT 345 Social Entrepreneurship
MGT/BUS 375 Entrepreneurship in Creative Industries
MKT 320 Integrated Marketing Communications
NS 202 Global Warming
NS 220 Food and Agriculture
NS 230 Energy and Environment
NS 290 Science and Urban Ecology
PH 325 Ethics of Emerging Technologies
PL 366 International Environmental Politics
PL/GDR 375 The Politics of Gender
PL/LAW 230 Human Rights
PL/LAW 325 Human Trafficking and Contemporary Slavery
PL/LAW 326 Globalization and Crime
PL/LAW 350 Human Rights and Business
PL/LAW 355 International Children's Rights
SOSC/GDR 310 Gender, Culture and Urban Spaces
SOSC/ITS 220 Italian Food Culture
SOSC/LAW 322 Green Criminology
In his Social Entrepreneurship course, Professor Riccardo Maiolini teaches students to think systematically about social and environmental values and develop a socially conscious business mindset.
Professor Jakobsone Bellomi’s NGO Consulting Lab course adopts a holistic approach in its quest to uncover how to mainstream human rights, gender equity, diversity and environmental sustainability in the work of NGOs.
Professor Gazziano seeks to convey to students the importance of using technology to create value and reduce environmental impact. His Technologies and Strategies for the Sustainable Enterprise course introduces students to technical approaches of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to understand how to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).
Through his vocation for ecomedia literacy, Professor Antonio Lopez motivates students to embark on the quest for environmental awareness. Each of his courses presents unique challenges and innovative solutions to the ongoing environmental crisis.
In Professor Chiara Giaccari's Human Rights and Business class, students are challenged to act as advisors, encouraging companies to integrate human rights into every aspect of their operations.
By utilizing international law, international relations, sociology, and history as tools, Professor Scarpa has built a transdisciplinary course, based on discussing and examining specific forms of exploitation in the world, which permeate modern supply chains in the global economy.
Professor Isabella Clough Marinaro seeks to motivate students enrolled in her Green Criminology class to see that advocating for the environment is ultimately about fostering community, peace and social justice.
Professor Rodrigo Salcedo Du Bois teaches Environmental Economics with the belief that no action is small enough when it comes to building a better world.
In his classes, JCU Professor Jens Koehler analyzes how humans have been impacted the environment and the climate since prehistoric times.
The Triggering Change challenge is a two-minute pitch that uses creativity to inspire action on sustainability.
The Sustainability Hub represents the meeting point between John Cabot’s internal community and an external network of individuals and organizations on the theme of sustainability. This endeavor has been driven by the vision and passion of our alumni, many of whom are established scholars and experts in sustainability throughout the world and across different industries and organizations.
The University is committed to being at the forefront in shaping the leaders who will guide the transition to a more sustainable and equitable world. We believe that every member of the JCU community can be a positive force for change and that by harnessing the power of knowledgeable, active, and inspired individuals, both inside and outside of the University, we can make a real difference.
You can contribute to John Cabot’s sustainability mission by joining the JCU Sustainability Hub. Through events, mentorship programs, funding opportunities, informal and formal exchanges, the Hub will strengthen the University’s integration of the United Nations SDGs in its curriculum as well as create a dynamic community of alumni, professors, students, and experts.
As we rapidly approach the landmark year of 2030, the deadline set to achieve the SDGs that enable sustainable growth, we need to step up our efforts.
The John Cabot community is active in promoting and organizing myriad events and activities that rotate around sustainability, both within and outside of the University. Many of these happenings are integrated within the curriculum; others are outside of the academic sphere. In both cases, they reinforce and fuel the dynamic approach that our students, alumni and faculty have towards sustainability.
In November 2024, a delegation of JCU students attended the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in Baku, Azerbaijan, as part of the Sustainability program promoted by John Cabot University.
JCU’s Career Services Center prepares students for successful and rewarding careers. In October 2024, the Center organized a trip to Milan that was focused on sustainability. Students visited Patagonia’s flagship store, where they spent time with Patagonia's CEO for Italy Fabio Zardini, and then visited the headquarters of Zambon, an Italian pharma leader and a B-Corporation.
Forty JCU students attended the flagship event of the World Food Forum at the UN Food and Agriculture (FAO) headquarters in Rome in October 2024. This provided a unique opportunity to learn about sustainable food practices from experts, policymakers, and youth leaders from around the world.
The International Business Capstone final project emphasizes the importance of environmental sustainability and embedding ESG in business practices. Students presented their findings to industry experts from ENEL, the Italian energy company, and EY, a multinational professional services company, as well as the JCU community.
Professor Antonio Lopez - The Colonization of our Attention
Podcast by Antonio Lopez on The Colonization of our Attention. Prof Lopez explores the idea behind the fact that “Data is not like vapor in the air. It’s not invisible. It’s not just floating around. Data is actually physical information that has a weight to it.”
The purpose of the Active Mobility Academy project, founded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, is to build a digital learning and training platform to encourage people, cities, and companies to shift to active mobility. Active mobility is defined as regular physical activity undertaken as a means of transport including travel by foot, bicycle and other vehicles which require physical effort to get moving.
PRIONIA Living is a life cycle design project on the island of Korcula (Croatia) that aims to discourage aggressive construction in coastal areas and advance sustainable practices by building the first circular, energy self-sufficient house on the island. The goal is to show the prototype's environmental and economic sustainability, making it appropriate for other coastal areas, by combining regional craftsmanship, recycled materials, and creative solutions.
The purpose of the Conscientious brands workshop is to introduce the concept of conscientious brands and discuss how it can be beneficial and profitable for business. In an interactive workshop format, we discuss the dilemmas, challenges, and opportunities for businesses in acting conscientiously. In the last part of the workshop, we offer targeted brand consultancy exploring various ways of developing a profitable and successful brand while doing the right thing.
