MOOCs 2nd Generation

After a successful round of 7 first generation SMUS MOOCs*, we are pleased to present 3 second generation SMUS MOOCs** below. A third generation of SMUS MOOCs is currently in production (2023-2024).

Each MOOC team is again led by a SMUS partner who is collaborating with partners from academia and practice. Please click on the individual MOOC tiles below for more info on their foci and teams. The open access links on their hosting platforms will be posted as soon as they are available.

* MOOCs, Massive Open Online Courses, are a model for delivering learning content online to anyone who wants to take a course, with no limit on the number of participants and no fees. MOOCs allow us to learn from our peers around the world.

** The SMUS MOOCs bring research and practice on urban sustainability into a global digital auditorium and respond to the need for the production, teaching and exchange of contextualised spatial practice and knowledge from different parts of the world. The MOOC themes are linked to the targets of the Sustainable Development Goal #11 and are driven by the context of the location, picking up on other pressing local urban development issues.


This MOOC addresses the gap in sharing existing experiences and practices on Built Environment Education (BEE) for children and youth on a global scale. By visiting several examples from practice from various parts of the world, participants of this MOOC will get an insight in the multifaceted nature of existing approaches, methodologies, and fields of implementation. This MOOC also serves as a networking step between the scattered BEE educators and intends to bring BEE into the curricula of future teachers, architects, and planners.

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This MOOC addresses ‘urban ecological heritagescapes’ as a theoretical traction to foster sustainable urbanization. Participants of this MOOC will engage with theories on natural-cultural heritage, grasp interdisciplinary methodological frameworks such as environmental history and political ecology, and learn about the recent initiatives of international and national agencies in this direction. Snippets from the field and voices of multiple actors from the wetlands of Kolkata and lakes of Bengaluru will empirically inform theoretical insights.

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This MOOC addresses the lack of integration of natural and cultural diversity in the instruments of territorial planning in Colombia. By zooming in on a successful pilot case in Quibdó, participants of this MOOC will gain a better understanding of what a socio-environmental and intercultural methodological design for influencing public policies for land use planning could look like in practice. Through voices from multiple actors from the field, they will also learn first-hand about the challenges and possibilities of such multilevel, inter-institutional and community processes.

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