You will identify, examine, and analyze an environmental sustainability issue in your local area or region. All topics will present an exercise that leads to your completion of this project. These topic exercises will not be marked, but you will be asked to post on the course journal portions of your work twice during the course.
Identify a Project
While working through Topic 3, you will need to identify a project. However, you already may be aware of a good project topic. Your local or regional newspapers and radio and TV news are good sources for other ideas.
When you have selected your topic, please describe it in a journal posting by answering the following questions: Why is this a sustainability issue? How long has this been an issue?
Summarize the main issues (environmental, social, political, economic) of your topic.
Note:
In Topic 7, you are asked to attend a local meeting or to collect data by some other method that requires interaction with stakeholders. You may want to proactively determine if any meetings are occurring in your local area that would be suitable to attend.
Topic 4-Stakeholders
While working through Topic 3, you selected a subject for your major project and identified and summarized the central environmental, social, political, and economic issues.
In Topic 4, delve deeper into your subject to identify who is involved: Who are the stakeholders (individuals and groups)? Why are they interested in this topic? With respect to your chosen topic, describe their views and identify their values.
Topic 5-Systems Diagram
While working through Topic 2, you viewed some examples of systems diagrams and created one of your own.
In this topic, for your Major Project, you will create a systems diagram that illustrates human-natural system interactions. Be sure to include inputs and outputs, as well as feedback mechanisms.
Include your diagram in your final project submission to illustrate the main components of your topic and their relationships.
Topic 7-Meeting or Event Participation
Now that you have learned something about who is involved in your project issues and their interests and values, participate in a local meeting.
Alternatively, if a meeting is not available, you can gather information using other means. Some alternatives to attending a local meeting are:
• Participate in or host a Twitter chat on your chosen subject.
• Interview the main proponents involved in your topic area.
• Post and monitor a Facebook page about your environmental concern.
If you are unsure about your method, contact your Open Learning Faculty Member; the key to success is to interact with others to gather relevant information.
Answer the following questions: Who spoke (posted, interviewed, etc.)? What groups do they represent? Did they raise additional issues or express values other than those you already have encountered? Who do you think made the most effective argument and why?
If a meeting that you would like to attend will be held at another time, you can do the activity for this topic at a later time.
Topic 8-Impacts
To date, your work with your project has involved the following: analyzing a problem; identifying stakeholders and their wants, needs, and values; and demonstrating your comprehension of human-natural systems interaction. In this topic, you will assess the negative and positive impacts (costs and benefits) of your environmental topic as it affects various stakeholders.
• What are the potential impacts (positive and negative) of your chosen environmental issue in the short- and long-term?
• How do you propose to weigh present values against future concerns?
• Do all impacts occur at the local or regional scale, or do you think some of them have a wider geographical influence? If so, which ones?
• Will the impacts affect all people equally? If not, who benefits and who does not, and why?
After you summarize the impacts (both positive and negative), post this information to your online journal. This is the second required post (worth 2.5%) for your Major Project. Take a look at some of the impacts highlighted in other learners' projects. Compare and contrast their similarities and differences, which may be useful as you start to think about the solutions and outcomes relating to your issue.
Topic 9-Decision Making
The major project component of this topic is to identify and evaluate the decision-making structures, formal and informal, that will determine the outcome of your issue. Consider the following questions, which are designed to guide your analysis:
1. Who are the main decision-makers?
2. To whom do the decision-makers consult?
3. Describe the structure in which these decision-makers operate (e.g., local or provincial governments, collaborative decision-making between government and non-government organizations, etc.).
4. Do you see evidence that suggests that power is shared equally amongst the participants involved in the decision-making process?
5. If not, can you suggest some solutions to remedy this situation? What are the barriers to implementing your solutions?
6. Are any "voices" missing from the discussion/debate? If so, who? What might be some of the problems with consulting with additional people? What would be some positive impacts of doing so?
Topic 10-Solutions
In this Topic, you will identify and assess potential solutions and resolutions to your environmental sustainability issue.
The following questions will guide your analysis:
• What solutions are being proposed?
• Do you see any room for resolution amongst the various stakeholders?
• How do these solutions address economic, environmental, political, and social concerns? What are the trade-offs and how are they determined?
• Sometimes, you can learn a lot by looking at similar issues from other jurisdictions. Often, international examples differ enough, in terms of their governing structure and history, to provide some ideas that you can use at home. With this knowledge in mind, consider the following:
? Are there examples from other jurisdictions (nationally or internationally) from which we can learn? What are the limits to using the "lessons learned" from another jurisdiction, and what are the opportunities?
? By contrasting and comparing two similar examples, what can you learn?
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Topic 11-Proposed Outcome
This Topic introduces the final component for your Major Project. You have moved from doing some very basic work on your environmental issue-by describing it and identifying the main stakeholders-to considering the complex issues of interrelated problems and opportunities.
With every issue, a time comes when you-as a citizen and a student of sustainability-must base your decision on available information.