In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competencies:
Throughout this course, you have explored how sustainability can be considered in various contexts and within the three pillars of business, social justice, and environmental quality. In previous modules, you have explored these pillars, drafted parts that will be included in this project, and received feedback on that work. For your project, you will incorporate the knowledge gained and the feedback given on your drafts for one of the following scenarios and its related profile. You will also look at actionable steps that others have taken that could be looked at for your chosen group.
You were recently hired as Director of Sustainability at McBurrow Mining, a local mining company. In this role, you will be working to guide the Board of Directors to understand how policies, vision, and manufacturing processes relate to sustainability and environmental issues. Once they gain that understanding, they will want to see how this has worked in other companies facing similar issues. By reading the McBurrow Mining profile linked in the Supporting Materials section, you will learn about an example that highlights sustainability in action. In the template, you will describe some actionable steps the board could take for each pillar of sustainability.
You live in a neighborhood with an active community organization. You and your neighbors are very concerned about inequity, as the city is spending money on improving road conditions in some areas, but not others. One of your neighbors asked you to join them in attending a Community Action Meeting to address these observations in the form of an informational campaign. By reading the Flint, Michigan city profile linked in the Supporting Materials section, you will learn about an example that highlights sustainability in action. In the template, you will describe some actionable steps the community group could take for each pillar of sustainability.
You are a member of your college’s Environmental Science Quality Club. The group has decided they’d like to move forward with a campaign to help inform and educate the campus community on what environmental quality is, how it should look on campus, and what actionable steps the campus community could take to encourage environmental quality practices. By reading the Environmental Science Quality Club profile linked in the Supporting Materials section, you will learn about an example that highlights sustainability in action. In the template, you will describe some actionable steps the club could take for each pillar of sustainability.
Based on your chosen scenario, respond to each part below by completing the Project Template. Each scenario will require you to demonstrate your understanding of sustainable practices, the potential impacts and influences on decisions made in sustainability, and the actionable steps you could take to address sustainable issues for your chosen group. You will use the Scenario Profiles linked in the Supporting Materials section to support your work on the project. This document contains descriptions of the related group for each scenario, as well as a relevant case study that relates to the sustainability issue.
Specifically, you must address the following:
In this section, you will look at the interconnectedness of environmental issues and human behavior as it relates to your chosen scenario. To do this, you will look at both how the environmental systems in use impact the community as well as how the community use impacts the environmental systems in place. You will also look at the group’s overall bias in addressing sustainability in your community.
In this section, you will use a provided profile related to your chosen group to consider how organizations or groups mentioned in the profile have improved (or not improved) their sustainability practices.
In this section, you will focus on describing actionable steps related to sustainability for your chosen group. To do this, you will highlight the current state of your chosen group’s sustainability practice and then describe actionable steps for each pillar of sustainability.
To complete this project, you must submit the following:
Submit your completed Project Template for grading. No sources are required. However, if you choose to use sources, they should be cited according to APA style.
The following material supports your work on the project:
Scenario Profiles
This resource contains profiles for each scenario of the project.
| Criteria | Exemplary (100%) | Proficient (85%) | Needs Improvement (55%) | Not Evident (0%) | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sustainable Practices: Environmental Systems | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Describes how environmental systems in use in the chosen scenario impact human behavior | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include a more detailed description of the environmental systems or clearer description of the impact on human behavior | Does not attempt criterion | 7.5 |
| Sustainable Practices: Impact | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Describes the impact of the current resource use on the environment | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include a more detailed description of the impact on the environment or more details on the current resource use of the chosen group | Does not attempt criterion | 7.5 |
| Sustainable Practices: Behavior | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Describes how human ideology impacts behavior regarding the environmental systems in place at the chosen group | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include a clearer or more thorough description of the impact or more information about human ideology or environmental systems | Does not attempt criterion | 7.5 |
| Sustainable Practices: Role of Cultural Bias | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Explains the role of cultural bias in the chosen group’s sustainable global environmental use | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include a clearer or more thorough explanation of the role of cultural bias or clearer description of its relation to the chosen group’s sustainable global environmental use | Does not attempt criterion | 7.5 |
| Profile: Value of Sustainability Practices | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Describes the value of sustainability practices in human and environmental systems | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include a more detailed description of the value of sustainability practices or how these practices support efforts towards a more sustainable future | Does not attempt criterion | 7.5 |
| Profile: Relationship | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Explains the relationship between sustainable systems and human equity in the context of the related profile | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include a clearer or more thorough explanation of the relationship between sustainable systems and human equity | Does not attempt criterion | 7.5 |
| Profile: Conflict Resolution | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Describes how conflict resolution is used in the profile to support sustainability | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include a more detailed description of how conflicts were resolved to support sustainability | Does not attempt criterion | 7.5 |
| Profile: Cultural Systems | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Explains how cultural systems relate to sustainability within the profile | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include a clearer or more thorough explanation of how cultural systems relate to sustainability within the case study | Does not attempt criterion | 7.5 |
| Actionable Steps: Sustainability Improvement | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Explains why sustainability improvement is needed in the chosen group | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include a clearer or more thorough explanation of the areas of sustainability improvement needed | Does not attempt criterion | 7.5 |
| Actionable Steps: Context | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Describes how the perspectives of the various stakeholders of the chosen group provide a context to improve sustainability practices related to the concerns of the group | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include a more detailed description of how the policies and vision of the chosen group relate to the recommendations | Does not attempt criterion | 7.5 |
| Actionable Steps: Cultural Diversity | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Explains how cultural diversity in the chosen group can be of value in addressing sustainability issues | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include a clearer or more thorough explanation for how cultural diversity can add value in sustainability practices | Does not attempt criterion | 7.5 |
| Actionable Steps: Recommendations | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner | Recommends actionable steps the chosen group could take for each pillar of sustainability | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include a more detailed description of the sustainability recommendations for each pillar | Does not attempt criterion | 7.5 |
| Clear Communication | Exceeds proficiency with an intentional use of language that promotes a thorough understanding | Consistently and effectively communicates in an organized way to a specific audience | Shows progress towards proficiency, but communication is inconsistent or ineffective in a way that negatively impacts understanding | Shows no evidence of consistent, effective, or organized communication | 10 |
| Total: | 100% | ||||