What you will learn
- Understand that food security depends on food availability, food access, food utilization and stability
- How we can produce enough food for everyone
- How sustainable different food production systems are
- How to assure access to sufficient, nutritious and safe food for everyone
- About actors and activities to achieve food security at international, national, local, household, and individual level
Program Overview
Get involved: let’s find a way to feed 9 billion people in 2050
What are the biggest environmental issues we face? Pollution? Climate change? True. But among these environmental topics, feeding the growing population, 9 billion in 2050, is one of the most pressing issues we have to find a solution for.
To solve this problem, we need people to gain knowledge, do research, and explore the options. You can be a piece of the puzzle, help find a solution, and start now by gaining knowledge about food production systems, food security, sustainable development in agriculture and livestock, and systems thinking.
XSeries sustainable food security
How is it possible that the world currently produces enough food for everyone, but still people suffer from hunger and nutrient deficiencies? How can we produce sufficient food in an environmentally sustainable way to feed the increased world population in the future?
This Environmental Studies XSeries, developed by Wageningen University, consists of 3 courses:
The value of systems thinking
Learn about systems thinking and its application to improve the environmental sustainability of food production systems. The main topics are:
- Complexity and diversity of food production systems
- Principles of system analysis
- Evaluation methods for the environmental impact of food production systems
- Strong and weak points of different food production systems
Crop production
Learn the basics of crop production to feed the world and preserve our planet’s resources. The main topics are:
- Basic concept of plant production
- Issues related to global food production and consumption
- Influences of water (scarcity and availability) and other measures on crop production
- Processes that cause major problems for the environment
- Measures to solve and prevent those problems
Food Access
Learn about the basics of food access decision-making from a multilevel perspective. The main topics are:
- The basic principles of food access
- Choices influencing food access
- Dilemmas at household, local, national and international levels
About Wageningen University & Research
At Wageningen University and Research, we are dedicated to exploring the potential of nature to improve the quality of life. Studies and courses train (future) professionals from all over the world in sustainable food systems and help consumers make informed choices about what they eat, how it is produced and the impact of their decisions on the environment and society.
Course structures and certificates
The duration of each course (or MOOC: Massive Open Online Course) is flexible: study any time and place you want. You decide how to spend your time during a course. Gain the knowledge offered in each course free of charge through dynamic modules filled with video, syllabus, and assignments for practice and grading. Obtain your verified certificate for $ 49,- each. After successful completion of all 3 courses, you can obtain an overall certificate.
About course dates
EdX keeps courses available, even if the recent course date has expired. Enroll nonetheless, and allow yourself to explore content and continue learning. However, not all features and materials may be available. Check back often to see when new start dates are announced.
Scroll down to find more information about each separate course and join the Wageningen University XSeries about sustainable food security.
Courses in this program
1Sustainable Food Security: Crop Production
Course Details
2Sustainable Food Security: The value of systems thinking
Course Details
3Sustainable Food Security: Food Access
Course Details
Meet your instructors

Eddie Bokkers

Martin van Ittersum

Ken Giller

Harrie Lovenstein

Gerrie van de Ven

Marrit van den Berg

Hilde Bras

Jeroen Candel

Jessica Duncan

Ewout Frankema

Peter Oosterveer

Maja Slingerland

Sietze Vellema

I.J.M. de Boer

Carolien Kroeze
About this course
Tourism isalready one of the world’s largest industriesand it’s still experiencing incredible growth.Industriesof major importance worldwide,Traveland Tourismdirectly contribute$1.4 trillion (U.S.)to the global economy.One intenof the world’s total jobs are in travelandtourism and that number is growing.
Join this course if youwantto learn where this growth is coming from and whatthe effectswill be on the social and natural environment. You’ll be challengedwith more critical reflections of an industrysteeped in comfort and enjoyment.
You’llalso discoverthat tourism is more than just a powerful economic force. Tourist activities affect the environment of travel destinations and influencecultures worldwide. Tourism is very sensitive to global transformations such as changing consumer behaviour, economic developments, climate change, epidemics, or acts of terrorism. Tourism is in fact a complex phenomenon.
Toexplorethe development of the tourism phenomenonand begin to build your own reflections on the industry, you’ll be exposed to a variety of weekly insights throughout the course. These include historical backgrounds,a variety of social science approaches, common theoretical constructs, related systemic observations, andexposure toenvironmental, social and economic implications of tourism.
Basedonweekly writing exercises,you’ll be challenged to form your own argumentfora specific tourism development of your choice. You’llalso help others in providing and receiving meaningful feedback on their critical reflections of tourism phenomena.
What you’ll learn
- How to view tourism as a complex social and environmental phenomenon
- An overview of global tourism development in its historical context
- Ways to distinguish differences in the social study of tourism
- How to conceive of the sheer size and systemic development of tourism
- To analyse mutual relationships between tourism and its environment
Prerequisites
- None
Meet Your Instructors

Arjaan Pellis
