This is a question we will address over the course of this week.
Here's how:
Create your group and establish a definition of sustainability. The Brundtland Commission defined it as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
Identify an area of need and interest. The Brundtland model suggests three interesting areas of intersection between Environmental, Social and Economic circles, these include:
(Note: the links embedded in each category below are suggestions for where to start your research, but there's certainly much more to be found.)
Sustainable Natural and Built Environment - This can include living design and urban planning, resource management and environmental interaction.
Sustainable Economic Development - This may include creating environmentally consistent products or sharing communities to reduce consumption, reducing packaging, smarter production of food, renewable energy resources for production and manufacturing, recycling, conservation.
Equitable Social Environment - This includes fostering the equitable treatment of people everywhere, including promoting fair trade goods, boycotting polluters and human exploiters, philanthropy, equitable business and commerce.
Using the above three criteria, take a look at a city known for sustainability - Frankfurt, London, Vancouver, Madrid, and Amsterdam and study how they fare environmentally, economically and socially. How does connection and social networking function in their efforts to be sustainable.
Next, select an American city - Los Angeles, Miami, St. Louis, Chicago and Atlanta and determine what issues exist that are problematic to that city's sustainability.
Research, develop and propose a plan of sustainability for your city, based on what you've discovered with your sustainable city, a plan that involves social networking, the internet of things and ideas.
Propose solutions as viable as possible, but don't limit your scope to current technologies and applications - dream a little. This can include the development of new applications, networked communication, and paradigm shifts in how we live.
Integrate your plan with your sources and ideas and propose a sustainable solution that meets any four of the following criteria -
- Reduced or eliminate carbon-based fuel consumption
- High yield, low natural-resource consumption
- Energy efficiency
- Low waste
- Preventable medicine
- Equitable business
So, your group presentation has three parts: An overview of a sustainable urban center, an analysis of sustainability barriers of the American city your group has been assigned, and your prosed solutions that meet at least four of the above criteria for your city.
Your portion of your group's research and plan should be posted to your blog along with embedded sources from your research.
As a group, present your plan to your peers in class.
Your portion of your group's research and plan should be posted to your blog along with embedded sources from your research.
As a group, present your plan to your peers in class.
