The Eco Lumen online course is designed for VET learners and educators who want to understand light pollution and develop practical skills to address it. Across five self-paced modules, you will move from foundational knowledge to real-world action: diagnosing lighting problems in your community, assessing their environmental and health impacts, designing technical solutions, and building the communication and advocacy skills needed to drive change. Each module takes approximately 45 minutes to complete and ends with a short knowledge check. You can work through the modules in order or return to individual ones as needed.
This module introduces light as both a natural phenomenon and a human-made technology, tracing the evolution of artificial lighting from fire to LEDs. Learners explore the main forms of light pollution and the foundational principles of sustainable lighting that guide the rest of the course.
Learners develop the skills to observe, document and measure light pollution using structured methods, physical instruments and digital tools. The module closes with a practical exercise in preparing a diagnosis sheet for a real or selected location
This module examines the consequences of artificial light at night for ecosystems, biodiversity and human health, with a focus on circadian rhythms and the biological need for darkness. Learners apply a basic impact assessment framework to connect a specific light pollution problem to its effects on identified receptors.
Learners explore how urban lighting is planned and managed, from Urban Lighting Plans and Light Urbanism principles to the main typologies of urban lighting and concrete technical solutions for reducing light pollution. The module guides learners toward designing a small-scale intervention for a real or selected location.
This final module focuses on the collective dimension of light pollution mitigation: mapping stakeholders, understanding governance roles, designing communication campaigns, and structuring a proposal. Learners close the course by developing a persuasive pitch using the Public Narrative framework.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International.