Urban Wasting Systems
Students will research and select a newspaper, magazine, journal or web-based publication on an urban environmental issue or innovation and prepare a report on the article as described below. Articles for this assignment, must be independently researched and selected by the student (not any reading included in the packet of required or supplemental articles in the Module). The objectives of this assignment are (1) to increase student awareness of the array of environmental issues being faced by cities and efforts being made to address those challenges; and (2) to deepen ability to critically think about and question those issues, practices and proposed solutions. Environmental Issue Analysis Assignment Topic is -Urban Wasting Systems Assignment Format and Content Requirements Each report is to follow the format below (note word length is only a guideline and not a limit or minimum): Heading: cite the title, source, date and author (include the URL if taken from a web source) Synopsis: One-paragraph (approx. 200 words) identifying and briefly describing urban/environmental issues or innovations to promote sustainability addressed in the article. It is important to highlight a specific aspect of what is being reported in the article that will be the focus of your analysis. Frequently that can best be done by concluding your synopsis with the question that has been raised in your mind from the article that then becomes the focus for your analysis. Analysis: One-paragraph (approx. 300 words) analyzing the implications of the article by focusing on the urban environmental issue or innovation being reported in the article. Central to your analysis should be the application of one of the four analytic frameworks reviewed in class (see Course Content in D2L for the folder containing the 4 articles pertaining to the analytic frameworks used for this assignment). The analysis should focus on how applying the analytic framework provides a lens or a way of (1) understanding and/or appreciating the implications of the issue(s) being covered in the article; or (2) provides an alternative perspective than the one given in the article; or (3) raises new question(s) about the issue(s). Conclusion: One paragraph (approx. 250 words) highlighting the lessons learned or take-away(s) from the article and your analysis. The conclusion should reflect on how your analysis helps develop your understanding of topics being studied in the section, by citing other readings and material being covered in the module and/or citing other examples of environmental issues urban areas face. IMPORTANT: Students are to specifically cite and apply one of the following 4 analytic frameworks below in presenting the analysis. The Conundrum of Urban Sustainability: This analytic framework provides the perspective of the increased dependency of cities on resources from further and further distances, and with this the consumer in cities is increasingly being disconnected from the realities of the very resources of which they are becoming increasingly dependent. Tragedy of the Commons: This analytic framework provides the perspective of how private overconsumption of common goods like clean air and water, productive soil, etc., can ultimately destroy the very resources essential to the well-being of all — including those that are over-consuming. Reconciling the Green and Brown Agenda: This analytic framework provides the perspective of how to reconcile two sets of environmental challenges that potentially conflict with each other: goals to address the immediate well-being of humans threatened by current environmental conditions vs. goals to address the long-term protection of the essential earths resources. The Three Pillars of Sustainability: This analytic framework provides the perspective that achieving sustainability requires meeting and balancing three essential goals: social equity, environmental protection and economic prosperity.
