Population 10 Billion: Researching Global Issues (FutureLearn)

Population 10 Billion: Researching Global Issues (FutureLearn)

Learn how university researchers from different disciplines work together to solve some of the world's biggest problems. Explore the importance of university research in a global context.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see FutureLearn's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

By the end of this century, it’s expected that the world’s population will reach 10 billion. What will it be like to live in a world with 10bn people? Global issues like climate change, migration, food security, and ageing will continue to cause problems for a growing population.

On this course, you will discuss solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues. You will learn how university researchers from different subject disciplines work together to address these issues. You will understand the importance of collaborative research and developing a broad range of knowledge.

What topics will you cover?

  • Could robots help us to live independently for longer?
  • What story is the media telling us about migration and how can we challenge this representation?
  • How can we overcome yield plateaus in food production?
  • What impact can universities (and their students) have on real-world problems?
  • Who will shape our energy future?

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

  • Discuss possible solutions to a range of global issues.
  • Describe the concept of wicked problems.
  • Engage with university-level research.
  • Explain why interdisciplinary networks are critical for effective research.
Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Community Based Research: Getting Started (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University College London

Community Based Research: Getting Started (FutureLearn)

Learn the skills you need to carry out research in your own community using the 'citizen science' approach of UCL's RELIEF Centre. Community based research means involving a community in all stages of a research process - this kind of research can give people the power to transform their lives. On this course you will learn the basics of community based research by examining the citizen science methodology used by the RELIEF Centre in Lebanon.

Oct 10th 2022
3 Weeks
Farm to Fork: Sustainable Food Production in a Changing Environment (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Queen’s University Belfast,EIT Food,EIT,University of Turin

Farm to Fork: Sustainable Food Production in a Changing Environment (FutureLearn)

Understand how food goes from farm to fork: explore food security, supply chains, food production and agriculture. Discover food supply chains from farm to fork. How does food reach our plates? How is the food industry changing? What threats are there to food supply chains? How can we build a sustainable food industry? Get answers to these questions and more with this course that explores food and agriculture in the modern world.

Jan 2nd 2023
4 Weeks
Innovation in Arable Farming: Technologies for Sustainable Farming Systems (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Reading,EIT Food,EIT

Innovation in Arable Farming: Technologies for Sustainable Farming Systems (FutureLearn)

Explore how innovative, digital technologies can help achieve sustainable intensification of arable farming systems. Consider ways arable farmers in the EU can use agri-tech to benefit business. On this course, you’ll explore evidence-based information that outlines the benefits and challenges of adopting new technologies within the EU, and have the chance to read case study examples of some of these applications.

Jan 2nd 2023
3 Weeks
What is Health Research? (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Leeds,National Institute for Health Research - NIHR

What is Health Research? (FutureLearn)

Explore the world of health research and the role volunteers play in transforming treatments and improving health care. Learn about health research and explore opportunities to get involved. Have you ever wondered how doctors and nurses know what treatment or care to give? It’s only through health research that healthcare professionals find new and better ways of preventing, diagnosing and treating disease. Today’s research is tomorrow’s treatment.

Apr 8th 2024
3 Weeks
Planet Earth: Understanding and Protecting our Environment (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Leeds

Planet Earth: Understanding and Protecting our Environment (FutureLearn)

Learn about the physical geography of Earth and discover how to use this knowledge to protect our natural environment. Discover the Earth’s natural systems and how human activity affects them. On this two-week course from the University of Leeds, you will discover the processes of the hydrosphere, the geosphere, and the biosphere and explore the impact of human activity and climate change on our planet.

Feb 16th 2026
2 Weeks
Taking on the Climate Crisis with Social Change (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Stockholm University

Taking on the Climate Crisis with Social Change (FutureLearn)

Explore the reasons and solutions for the climate crisis, equipping you to create a better today and tomorrow. Discover how social transformation can help us tackle the climate crisis The harsh realities of global warming and climate change often make people feel helpless, but there is a lot that can be done. This three-week course will open your eyes to the actions you can take.

Feb 13th 2023
3 Weeks
Learning for a Sustainable Future (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Edinburgh,British Council,Learning for a Sustainable Scotland

Learning for a Sustainable Future (FutureLearn)

Join a personal and professional global learning journey towards a sustainable future. What on Earth could be more important? Grow your knowledge of sustainability. Climate change, gender equality, health, social equity, and inclusion are issues that affect us all, impacting human well-being and economic stability. How to live a sustainable life affects – and connects - us all.

Mar 13th 2023
5-12 Weeks
The Great Sustainability Transition: Global Challenges, Local Actions (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Leiden University

The Great Sustainability Transition: Global Challenges, Local Actions (FutureLearn)

Discover how global environmental crises are connected, their impacts, and how to take action in your local community. Learn from experts in environmental science at Leiden University. We are living in an era of unprecedented environmental change. As a result, we are experiencing biodiversity loss, climate change, and overuse of freshwater resources, to name just a few. All of these affect fundamental ecosystem processes, causing change on a local and global scale. On this four-week course from Leiden University, you’ll learn how these huge environmental crises are interconnected and how they impact our planet.

Jan 16th 2023
4 Weeks
Using Systems Thinking to Tackle the Climate and Biodiversity Crisis (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Reading

Using Systems Thinking to Tackle the Climate and Biodiversity Crisis (FutureLearn)

Discover how switching to a systems mindset could help overcome the global environmental challenges we face today. Take a big picture approach to the climate and biodiversity crisis. With crises as vast, complex, and interconnected as climate change and biodiversity loss, focusing on one aspect of the problem will never be enough. Systems thinking offers a new way of seeing and understanding environmental issues, which could radically change how we go about tackling them. On this two-week course from the University of Reading, you’ll learn what systems thinking is and how it could transform your approach to the climate and biodiversity crisis.

Feb 27th 2023
2 Weeks
Discovering Science: Global Challenges (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Leeds

Discovering Science: Global Challenges (FutureLearn)

Can chemistry help to feed a growing population, or overcome increasing bacterial resistance? Find out how the Penicillin class of antibiotics has been a major breakthrough in the treatment of patients. However, with bacteria developing efficient ways of resisting antibiotic treatment, discover how scientists are treating patients with infections resulting from resistant bacteria.

Sep 23rd 2024
2 Weeks