Making UW a more sustainable campus
In this course, we
will put the concepts of sustainability into action. This is an exciting and
unique opportunity to help make UW a more sustainable campus. Students will develop sustainability projects
in areas such as green buildings, climate change and energy, dining services, and
toxics reduction. The UW Environmental
Stewardship Advisory Committee (ESAC) has generously agreed to work with
students and help guide the projects.
Your campus sustainability project will be a main product of
this course. Your role will be similar
to that of a professional consultant; you will take charge of both the project
and the learning process. Specifically, you will work directly with
decision-makers and stakeholders to identify opportunities for becoming more
sustainable, develop and analyze sustainability indicators, and create a plan
for implementing your project. For the
sustainability indicators, we will use, as a starting point, the framework
developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher
Education (AASHE).
An additional product of this
course will be your "lessons learned" on how to implement sustainability. Throughout the quarter, you will write up and
discuss your learning experiences. While
each student may work on different aspects of campus sustainability, the class
discussion periods will be an opportunity to synthesize the learning issues,
discuss barriers and successes, bring in helpful resources, learn from each
other, and improve the project development and implementation process.
Your grade will be based on your sustainability project, including
your final report and oral presentations (50%), lessons learned, including your
weekly and final report (20%), and classroom assignments and discussion (30%). The value of this course depends on
everyone's informed participation, so please come to class prepared. If you must miss a class, please email the TA,
and arrange to get lecture notes and class handouts from another student.
(1) A professional quality report that summarizes your analysis and your recommendations. Your report should be approximately six pages in length, not including tables, figures, and references. In your report, be sure to emphasize your key findings and unique work. (Individuals working in groups need only turn in one report for the entire group.) You will make oral presentations of your work throughout the course, and a formal presentation on the last day of class (May 30). The final report is due on the last day of class, May 30. There is no final exam. For more detail on the project report, see the "General Format for Sustainability Project Reports" in the project description.
(2) A report on "lessons learned" for implementing sustainability. I would like each of you, individually, even if you are in a group, to keep a journal and document what you are learning as you go through the course. At the beginning of each Wednesday class, from Week 3 (April 11) through Week 8 (May 16), please hand in your journal entry--a typed 1-2 page synopsis of your week's activities, including discoveries, surprises, successes, and lessons learned. Then, as a final product, summarize your journal entries and submit a report, six pages or less in length. This report is also due on the last day of class, May 30. For more detail on the "lessons learned" report, see the "Guidelines for Lessons Learned in Implementing Sustainability Reports" in the project description.
Last modified: 4/17/2007 11:11 PM