The Global Systems and Sustainability course provides students with hands-on exploration of green solutions for future communities.
Being a good steward of the planet means learning how to approach sustainability in a thoughtful, human-centered way. This is at the heart of the Global Systems and Sustainability course, taught by Dr. Louis Celliers, a senior climate researcher at Leuphana University in Germany. In Dr. Celliers class, University Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC) Lüneburg students explore a sustainable future by examining their values and those of their communities.
Dr. Celliers approaches sustainability from a multidisciplinary perspective and begins his class with a storytelling assignment. “Each story is uniquely shaped by the diverse perspectives of the students involved,” he says.
Working together, students understand how different worldviews and backgrounds shape our perception of sustainability. In small groups, students first identify keywords they associate with a sustainable future. Then, they build connections between the concepts and create a short story that reflects their vision, expressed creatively through narrative, visuals, or even video.
Iliana, Lanham, and Lauren, from the 2025 Spring class, identified ideas including renewable energy, clean drinking water, healthy local food, affordable housing, and social equity. With these themes, they developed a short story about a girl growing up in a town that has transitioned to renewable energy.
“They believed,” the group wrote, “that a clean environment was a right, not a privilege, and saw it as morally wrong to damage the functionality of nature.”
In their imagined town, clean energy leads to a cascade of positive change: improved access to clean water, locally grown food, and affordable housing. Residents, supported by these systems, are empowered to engage in civic life, such as voting to make public transit more accessible. The group explored how social and environmental systems support each other by imagining a future community rooted in well-being and collaboration. They identified what social scientists call a “positive feedback loop” — when one good thing results in another.
This story stood out to Celliers for its emotional depth and focus on human values. It’s a reminder that kindness and compassion are just as essential to sustainability as science and policy. Their full story and artwork are featured on Celliers’ LinkedIn page.
Through this assignment, students begin to conceptualize how interrelated varying aspects of the human experience and the natural world are and how they impact one another. They also gain what Celliers describes as “environmental sense” — the ability to recognize how sustainability can be approached from many scientific, cultural, or personal angles. The Global Systems and Sustainability class empowers students to see how everything is connected — people, nature, and the systems we create.
As students study abroad and experience new cultures, this mindset becomes even more meaningful. This is especially true in Lüneburg, a charming town known for its medieval architecture, cobblestone streets, and scenic green spaces, which has strong ties to the sustainability movement. Leuphana is a globally recognized university for its sustainability education and initiatives such as Lüneburg 2030+, which aims to envision how the city can evolve into a fairer, more livable place for all.
Learn more about the USAC Lüneburg program and additional course offerings on the USAC website.
By Pelly Shaw
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