Joint UNU–CU Boulder Graduate Program in Global Engineering & Resilience

1 Introduction

The University of Colorado Boulder, through the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering and Resilience, and the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) propose a joint graduate program in Global Engineering and Resilience with a focus on monitoring, accountability, and outcomes-based finance for water, environment, and health.

The joint program offers students the option of earning their University of Colorado Boulder graduate degree as part of their regular curriculum while simultaneously earning a UNU diploma. Both institutes share the same three-domain mandate — water, environment, and health — and the program is offered as part of the Education, Training, and Capacity-Building pillar of a proposed UNU Hub on accountable water, environment, and health. In line with the missions of the Mortenson Center and UNU, the program aims to expand educational opportunities for graduate students while strengthening their skills and collaboration networks in environmental sensing, monitoring, outcomes-based and climate finance, and the policy processes they inform, by:

• Delivering an interdisciplinary education program that connects engineering measurement to real-world accountability and finance;
• Empowering students to apply in-situ sensing, data science, and digital measurement-reporting-verification (dMRV) across water, environment, and health;
• Offering students the opportunity to interact with UN and UNU experts, fostering a sense of global connection and community;
• Augmenting career prospects by providing students with international credentials from both CU Boulder and UNU.

2 Program Requirements

The joint program maintains the foundational structure of the student's existing CU Boulder degree — the Professional MS in Global Resilience & Sustainability Engineering or the Professional MS in Environmental Engineering (PhD tracks in Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering and in Aerospace are also eligible) — while integrating a small set of joint additions. The Mortenson Center already runs the building blocks: a Graduate Certificate in Global Engineering (12 credits, of which 9 transfer into the MS) and a field Practicum across 80+ partner programs. The UNU layer therefore adds global credentialing, not a parallel degree. The following table describes the existing CU Boulder requirements and the proposed joint additions.

2.1 · Course-level mapping (illustrative — drawn from the CU Boulder and UNU-INWEH catalogs)

Following the UNU-CCNY model, the joint additions resolve to specific courses. The Mortenson courses below form a pre-approved shortlist; five-week modules carry 1 credit and stack toward the 12-credit Graduate Certificate (CVEN 5919 + 9 credits of approved modules, 9 of which transfer into the MS). The components slot into the Professional MS in Environmental Engineering as electives, and into the Professional MS in Global Resilience & Sustainability Engineering via its measurement, policy, elective, and capstone slots.

Course codes and credits per the CU Boulder and UNU-INWEH catalogs (June 2026); the UNU Online Learning Centre is free and self-paced. UN Staff College, FAO, UNEP, and UNDRR e-learning may substitute for Component F where relevant.

3 Implementation Plan and Timeline

The joint program can be implemented through the existing CU Boulder graduate framework, following the timeline below:

• Fall 2026: Finalize the program structure, faculty collaborations, the UNU diploma definition, and the necessary UNU approvals.
• Spring 2027: Program promotion, recruitment and outreach, and student selection and admission into the inaugural cohort.
• Fall 2027: Official launch of the joint program with the inaugural cohort.

4 Impact and Benefits for Students

• Joint credential advantage: earn a CU Boulder graduate degree and a UNU-certified diploma in Monitoring, Accountability & Outcomes-Based Finance for Water, Environment & Health, enhancing career and academic prospects.
• Global exposure and networking: participate in the UNU seminar series with leading international experts and access UNU's global research network.
• Specialized, interdisciplinary learning: gain expertise in environmental sensing, dMRV, and outcomes-based and climate finance across water, environment, and health.
• Hands-on research and practical training: conduct a UNU-aligned thesis or project, co-supervised by Mortenson and UNU scientists, with real-world applications.
• Expanded career opportunities: increase employability in international organizations, UN agencies, research institutions, and outcomes-based-finance ventures.
• Minimal additional coursework: the program builds on existing degree requirements, allowing students to earn the UNU diploma with little added load.

5 Within a Broader Partnership

This joint education program is the first of three parts of a jointly developed partnership between the Mortenson Center and UNU-INWEH; it is designed to be reinforced by, and to reinforce, the other two:

• Research partnership. Co-hosting the global microbial water-quality dataset (10M+ E. coli observations across ~180,000 sites) as a UN-aligned open-data product and a co-branded annual flagship report, plus joint authorship on the evidence base for sensor-verified outcomes-based finance across water, environment, and health.
• Practice partnership. A live operational base — the Mortenson Center's "Clean Water for Millions" flagship of seven carbon-financed programs across sub-Saharan Africa, targeting 5 million people and 3 million carbon credits by 2030 — anchored in a decade-plus peer-reviewed cluster-randomized-trial record spanning water, environment, and health, with executive education and capacity-building for member states.

Students in the joint program draw their applied components, internships, and theses from this research and practice base.

6 Pathway to a Joint UNU Hub

The three parts of the partnership are deliberately sequenced toward a shared destination: formalizing a joint UNU Hub on accountable water, environment, and health, differentiated from the existing UNU-INWEH Hubs by methodological focus — measurement-to-finance — rather than geography.

7 Conclusion and Request for Approval

The joint program is a strategic initiative that enhances the academic offerings of the Mortenson Center while strengthening the collaboration between the University of Colorado Boulder and the United Nations University. It aligns research and training with global sustainability, resilience, and accountability goals, provides mutual benefits including knowledge exchange and expanded research opportunities, and establishes the educational foundation for a joint UNU Hub. The partners submit this draft for review and approval and welcome refinement of its specific configuration to best leverage the expertise of each institute.