Introduction: Tackling the Environmental Challenges of the 21st Century
Course Content
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Lesson 1: Understanding the Challenges We Face
This introductory content sets the stage for why the problems we face are so urgent, and why it’s not an option to use only the tools and approaches that have been traditionally used in environmental conservation. An overview of the drivers of environmental problems will give you a sense of the different problems and opportunities you might engage in, and set you up to select a topic to work on.
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Lesson 2: Analyzing Complex Environmental Problems
In the face of pressing environmental problems, it is natural to want to jump straight into action and focus on an immediate solution. But in order to design successful, equitable, and lasting interventions, we need to take a step back and get a deep and contextualized understanding of the problem.
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Explore More
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Activity3.1
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Local Garbage in a Global Controversy
This simulation will put you in the shoes of stakeholders in an environmental decision to help you understand power structures and internalize the reality of how these decisions are made. It’ll give you hands-on experience with the role of injustice, history, political systems, and the balance of power in systems analysis.
The activity materials and directions are accessible via the link, and we advise educators to condense the time allotted for speeches into one class period.
Afterwards, discuss: Which parts of the system was your team most focused on? What kind of change were you advocating for, preventing, or ignoring? How can environmental injustice be accounted for in global systems? After hearing all the arguments and proposals, do any additional solutions come to mind? Did the process include all the voices needed to make a just decision?