Sustainability Studies

   Open Textbooks and Concordia Courses

   Description and Access

Environmental Biology

Includes: In-chapter exercises

May suit: BIOL 205 / LOYC 205 Introduction to Sustainability 

Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation

With Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation, first and second-year college students are introduced to this expanding new field, comprehensively exploring the essential concepts from every branch of knowledge – including engineering and the applied arts, natural and social sciences, and the humanities. As sustainability is a multi-disciplinary area of study, the text is the product of multiple authors drawn from the diverse faculty of the University of Illinois: each chapter is written by a recognized expert in the field.

Includes: In-chapter exercises

May suit: BIOL 205 / LOYC 205 Introduction to Sustainability, LOYC 240 Global Environmental Issues and Ecological Justice 

Introduction to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The purpose of these resources is to introduce students to and provide them with, a foundational understanding of the key concepts of sustainable development and sustainability. This course will introduce the 2030 Agenda and the sustainable development goals (SDGs), their history, development, purpose, and implementation.

Includes: In-chapter exercises

May suit: BIOL 205 / LOYC 205 Introduction to Sustainability 

Environmental Science 

This textbook is intended to provide the core elements of a curriculum for teaching environmental science at the introductory level in Canadian colleges and universities. This book is suitable for students beginning a program in environmental science, environmental studies, or sustainability. It is also appropriate for arts students who require a science elective, and for science students who require a non-major elective.

Includes: In-chapter exercises

May suit: LOYC 240 Global Environmental Issues and Ecological Justice 

Environment Biology

Environmental Biology enables students to develop a nuanced understanding of today’s most pressing environmental issues. This text helps students grasp the scientific foundation of these issues so that they can better understand the world around them and their impact upon it. This open textbook covers the most salient environmental issues, from a biological perspective. The text is designed for an introductory-level college science course. Topics include the fundamentals of ecology, biodiversity, pollution, climate change, food production, and human population growth.

Includes: In-chapter exercises

May suit: LOYC 320 Biodiversity on Earth

The Sustainable Business Case Book 

The Sustainable Business Case Book by Gittell, Magnusson and Merenda is one of the first of its kind. It combines the the theory of sustainability with key concepts, analytical information and contextual information with a collection of cases which provide insights, perspective and practical guidance on how sustainable businesses operate from different business functional area perspectives.

Includes: In-chapter exercises

May suit: MANA 369 Business and Sustainability 

Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability: Canada 

This textbook, Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability: Canada, is a collection of information gathered from a diverse range of academic disciplines, including psychology, social psychology, business, and entrepreneurship. The aim is to connect social and environmental issues to current business practices to create more awareness of innovating, developing, and funding to create sustainable solutions to cultural, social, and environmental issues. When reading the chapters in this book, keep in mind, how the topic relates to social entrepreneurship and social/environmental responsibility.

Includes: In-chapter exercises

May suit: MANA 369 Business and Sustainability 

Sustainability, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship 

This book is suited for the Entrepreneurship or Innovation course with an emphasis on Sustainability or for a course devoted entirely to Sustainability. This book offers students and instructors the opportunity to analyze businesses whose products and strategies are designed to offer innovative solutions to some of the twenty-first century’s most difficult societal challenges.

Includes: In-chapter exercises

May suit: MANA 374 Sustainable Management