In this section we recommend existing courses that help you deepen your knowledge about sustainable food systems (SFS). Some course availability may change over time. We have provided the main page link as well so you can browse topics.

Short Tutorials and Courses (~hours to days)

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→ FAO e-learning Academy

• Nutrition and Food Systems: Pathways to Sustainable and Healthy Diets (free) – This is a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) that was delivered in two editions between September 2021 and June 2022 in English and French. The overall objective of this course was to apply a systems-thinking approach to issues of food security and nutrition, thus contributing to a transformation of food systems towards more sustainable, equitable and healthy diets. This MOOC is made available in order to share the content and associated resources that were specifically developed for it by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Agreenium (Institut Agro Montpellier et Cirad), and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Université Virtuelle Environnement et Développement Durable (UVED).

• Sustainable Food Systems: There are 22 other courses available on the FAO e-learning Academy under the theme of Sustainable Food Systems:
  • Tropical Agriculture Platform
  • Course 3: Gender-Responsive budgeting for agriculture and climate policies
  • Course 2: Building equitable and inclusive agrifood systems
  • Course 1: Addressing gender equality in climate change adaptation and mitigation in agriculture
  • Introduction: Achieving gender equality in climate change and agrifood systems
  • Social analysis for inclusive agrifood investments – Field experts
  • Social analysis for inclusive agrifood investments – Managers
  • Social analysis for inclusive agrifood investments – Introduction
  • Social analysis for inclusive agrifood investments – Practitioners
  • Agrifood system pathways to healthy diets: A stepwise approach
  • Transforming dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral systems
  • Sustainable food systems: Concept and framework
  • Sustainable food systems: Operationalizing the approach
  • Sustainable food systems: An introduction
  • Creating an enabling environment for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems – Reform
  • Creating an enabling environment for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems – Analysis
  • Developing gender-sensitive value chains
  • Sustainable Food Value Chains for Nutrition
  • SDG Indicator 2.4.1 – Sustainable Agriculture
  • SDG Indicators 2.3.1 and 2.3.2 – Labour productivity and income of small-scale food producersntals
  • Creating an enabling environment for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems – Fundamentals
  • Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems
  • Building a common vision for sustainable food and agriculture

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→ Sustainable Diets: Fundamentals for Human and Planetary Health (paid)

Sustainable Diets: Fundamentals for Human and Planetary Health is a short course by MyNutriWeb that addresses healthy food and nutrition for all while averting dangerous climate change and restoring the balance of the natural world. The course brings together leading experts across every aspect of sustainable diets, integrating planetary and nutrition science, together with behaviour change tactics and specific considerations such as low-income groups, athletes, children and the older population. This course can help professionals to develop the confidence and knowledge necessary to incorporate sustainability into their practice.

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→ Healthy Plate, Healthy Planet (free)

Learn to achieve a HEALTHY PLATE and a HEALTHY PLANET and help your clients to do the same. Created by Gaples Institute & Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Nutrition. This 10-minute interactive learning experience will guide you toward simple dietary shifts that benefit people and the planet. It reflects the work of 37 leading health and climate scientists from 16 countries, using the best available evidence for optimal health.

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→ United Nations Climate Change E-Learn (mixed free & paid)

Browse the United Nations Climate Change e-learn courses: these are a valuable resource for those looking to deepen their knowledge around specific climate change, sustainability and nutrition topics. These web-based short courses and tutorials are free of charge and range in length from 30 minutes to 12 hours. They are self paced, some with multiple language options, and systematically cover topics such as Sustainable Diet, Human Health and Climate Change, Water, Gender and Environment, and Introduction to Sustainable Finance. We suggest the following as good places to start:

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→ Healthy people, healthy planet: a flexitarian approach to sustainable healthy diets (self-study course)

This self-study continuing education course was developed by Christine McCullum-Gomez, PhD, RDN, LD with Today’s Dietitian and made complimentary through January 31, 2023 with support from Danone North America. It was approved by the Commission on Dietetic Registration to offer 2 Continuing Professional Education Units.

The course is condensed into a 7-page overview of the EAT-Lancet Commission’s 2019 planetary health diet, which is a largely plant-based flexitarian diet, and includes research on benefits and barriers to achieving the diet. The course discusses the principles of a flexitarian diet, describes the nutritional advantages of a flexitarian diet, examines the health and environmental benefits of a flexitarian diet; and provides strategies Dietitian-Nutritionists (D-Ns) can use when counselling their clients on implementing a flexitarian diet. There is a short quiz and evaluation to receive the certificate.

Editor’s note: This course focuses on the consumption portion of sustainable diets through balancing plant and animal foods. The systems that our plants and animals come from are equally as important as the balance in our diets. As D-Ns we can also support sustainable production, packaging, and systems that are equitable for people. Refer to the Learning Modules (LMs) in this ICDA SFS Toolkit, especially LM3: How to Contribute to Sustainable Food Systems and Diets in Your Practice.

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Longer Courses (~weeks)

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→→Class Central (Course fees for Certificate)

Browse Class Central for more in depth distance courses offered as MOOCS (massive open online courses) from various universities around the world. This is a database of free online courses run by a small company with a mission to make education accessible. The listing contains 100+ courses relating to the UN SDGs, several of which are of direct relevance to health and sustainability. Details vary by course but most run for 4-8 weeks and have instructors who provide feedback. Some are not accessible from all geographic regions, and while auditing is generally free, payment is required to receive an official certification. We suggest the following as good places to start.

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Credit Courses

The following distance-education courses are offer credit. We will add courses and update links as we learn about more high quality learning opportunities.

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Feedback? Questions? Ideas? Contact the ICDA SFS Coordinator:  ICDAsfs.coordinator@acadiau.ca