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MITx: Cities and Climate Change: Mitigation and Adaptation

Investigate the relationship between international cities and the effects of climate change through the expertise of urban leaders, practitioners, and academics and through peer-based discussion, applying knowledge to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies for resilient, case study cities.

Cities and Climate Change: Mitigation and Adaptation
12 weeks
4–6 hours per week
Instructor-paced
Instructor-led on a course schedule
This course is archived

About this course

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Cities - home to 55% of the global population, or 4.2 billion people - are responsible for up to 70% of human-caused fossil fuel emissions and therefore have a crucial role in addressing climate change across sectors. 11.270x Cities and Climate Change: Mitigation and Adaptation explores all of these areas with critical examination of the strategies cities have already deployed, enabling course participants to investigate urban climate change actions and develop policy recommendations for adaptation and mitigation response.

This instructor-paced course is equal parts information assimilation and hands-on application. Learners will gain a deeper understanding of fundamental theories of urban social and economic governance and evaluate these from the standpoint of climate resilience. Learners will improve their understanding of the operation of actors and systems involved in structuring policy and climate action. Through the perspectives of leading academics and practitioners, students will gain fundamental knowledge on core topics in urban climate mitigation and adaptation, including urban climate science, global warming, energy and transportation systems, environmental justice and equity, governance and policy, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), land use planning, urban design, disaster risk management, among others.

Building on and working with the Urban Climate Change Research Network’s (UCCRN’s) scientific community, learners will hear from climate change experts in different disciplines to understand how challenges and opportunities are experienced across the world. They will apply insights gleaned in class to explore city-specific research on climate resilience strategies. This course offers a foundation of knowledge on cities and climate change, with the opportunity to apply what is learned through city case study research for climate policy and action.

Course created with support from

Urban Climate Change Research Network

At a glance

  • Language: English
  • Video Transcript: English

What you'll learn

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  1. Gain a deeper understanding of fundamental theories of governance and planning impacting urban climate mitigation and adaptation.
  2. Comprehend the relationships between multi-level governance and multi-level climate risk assessment.
  3. Improve understanding of the operation of actors and systems involved in structuring policy and urban planning in response to climate change.
  4. Articulate and advocate for the best practices in climate mitigation and adaptation planning in local urban contexts.

Course Schedule

Module 1:

  • Week 1 - Cities and Climate Change
  • Week 2 - Urban Climate Change Impacts
  • Week 3 - Urban Energy and Transportation
  • Week 4 - Housing, Maladaptation and Social Dimensions of Climate Change

Module 2:

  • Week 5 - Climate Action
  • Week 6 - Nature, Environmental Protection and Climate Change
  • Week 7 - Urban Inhabitants and Health
  • Week 8 - Urban Case Studies

Module 3:

  • Week 9 - The Climate Action Plan (CAP)
  • Week 10 - Components of a Climate Action Plan
  • Week 11 - Drafting a Climate Action Plan
  • Week 12 - Bringing together a Climate Action Plan Prospectus

Who can take this course?

Unfortunately, learners residing in one or more of the following countries or regions will not be able to register for this course: Iran, Cuba and the Crimea region of Ukraine. While edX has sought licenses from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to offer our courses to learners in these countries and regions, the licenses we have received are not broad enough to allow us to offer this course in all locations. edX truly regrets that U.S. sanctions prevent us from offering all of our courses to everyone, no matter where they live.

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