Sustainable Cities and Communities, offered by Lund University through Coursera, is a beginner-level specialization designed to help learners drive change in cities and communities toward more sustainable, climate-friendly, just, healthy, and prosperous futures. The program brings together a series of courses on cities, communities, sustainability, governance and innovation. It is offered by the IIIEE at Lund University in collaboration with the City Futures Academy. It builds on the success of Greening the Economy: Sustainable Cities, which the page notes was ranked by Class Central among the Best Online Courses of All Time.

Core Content

The specialization consists of three courses: Greening the Economy: Sustainable Cities, Urban Nature: Connecting Cities, Sustainability and Innovation, and Cities and Consumption: Urban Sustainability and the Sharing Economy. Across these courses, learners explore urbanization, decarbonisation, nature-based solutions, governance, consumption, and the sharing economy. A key approach embedded throughout the specialization is experimentation in urban transformations, with urban living labs highlighted as a way to catalyze change and support systematic learning across cities and communities.

Key Skills

Participants will develop a stronger understanding of sustainable cities and communities, the relationship between urbanization, decarbonisation, and sustainability, and the opportunities and challenges involved in urban transformation. Coursera lists skills such as governance, innovation, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, community development, sustainable business, sustainable design, systems thinking, stakeholder engagement, and social impact among the learning outcomes. The specialization is designed to help learners think more critically and work more confidently with urban sustainability challenges.

Target Learners

This specialization is designed for learners who want to understand and contribute to sustainable urban transformation. Because Coursera lists it as beginner level with no prior experience required, it is suitable for students, early-career professionals, urban practitioners, and general learners interested in cities, sustainability, governance, and innovation. It is particularly relevant for those seeking a structured introduction to how cities and communities can respond to climate, social, and environmental challenges in more integrated ways.

Learning Format

Hosted on Coursera, the specialization is delivered in a flexible online format as a three-course series. Coursera estimates a total completion time of four weeks at around ten hours per week, and notes that learners can study at their own pace. The program offers a shareable certificate, is taught in English with 27 language options, and is included with Coursera Plus. The three individual courses are listed at 10 hours, 14 hours, and 14 hours, respectively.

Additional Benefits

The specialization offers practical value for learners seeking a broader and more current understanding of sustainable urban change. Its collaboration with the City Futures Academy adds a wider urban transformation learning context, while the focus on urban living labs gives the program a more applied and experimentation-oriented perspective. The combination of three connected courses also makes it useful for learners who want a more coherent pathway rather than a single introductory course on sustainable cities.

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