Hi All:
I'm new to the area of Sustainability and the Natural Environment and I'm in the process of developing an assignment (most likely a research paper) on this topic for an undergrad Business & Society course. We watched the "Story of Stuff" and it gave me some (half-baked) ideas for the project. I used the impact diagram exercise from "Buy, Use, Toss" in class last week. I haven't used the system redesign exercise but I have read it and want to build the assignment on concepts from both exercises.
I want the assignment to focus on hidden negative impacts of the materials economy and points of intervention. I have two models in mind:
1. Model 1 = Have them select a product, identify hidden (and apparent) negative impacts of the product, and then identify businesses that have provided solutions to deal with hidden impacts. The biggest question I have is this – Is there an easy way for students to search for such businesses? Are there specific web-sites that could help them find such businesses? I'm hoping there's a better search strategy than just having them use a search engine with combinations of words like "hidden impact," "intervention," and "businesses."
2. Model 2 = Have them select an environmental issue (e.g. desertification, climate change, energy issues, water issues) and impacts of the issue, identify the types of products/services that contribute to the environmental issue and other factors that contribute to the issue, and then identify organizations/companies that have provided solutions to deal with the environmental issue. Same question as above about web-sites and search strategies for students.
Any and all advice is appreciated. If you have an assignment that is in the "ball park" and are willing to share it, that would also be helpful.
Take care, Lynn
Lynn Bowes-Sperry, Ph.D.
Professor of Management
College of Business
Western New England University
1215 Wilbraham Road
Springfield MA 01110
Email: Lynn.Bowes-Sperry@wne.edu
Fax: (413) 796-2068
Office: (413)782-1254
Cell: (860) 460-1644
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