Topic outline

  • MARSHMELLOW CHALLENGE

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    Marshmellow challenge

    Introduction

    Source: www.marshmallowchallenge.com

    The Marshmallow Challenge is a fun and educational design exercise that encourages teams to experience simple yet profound lessons in collaboration, innovation and creativity.

    1. Divide the group into teams of 3 – 4 people.
    2. Give each team an equal package of materials from the materials list.
    3. Teams are given eighteen minutes to use the materials to build the tallest freestanding structure, with the marshmallow having to reach the top.
    4. Afterwards, watch this TED talk together https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower_build_a_team

    Putting the whole group in a creative state of mind. That will help to think about what it takes to innovate, design with purpose, learn to value time and materials, and weigh options.

    You can learn a lot from how different teams have tackled the Marshmallolw Challenge. Which team did the least? Why was that? Which team made the tallest tower? Why did that work out so well? What makes you get better results and why does it sometimes go wrong?

    Per team: 20 spaghetti sticks, one meter of painter’s tape, one meter of rope and one marshmallow.

    Ask students what they have learned about using materials and designing structures? What can they do with this in the world around them? What did they think was most important in this activity? What did they miss?

     

  • SUSTAINABILITY METER

    Sustainability meter

    Introduction

    Creating “green cities” is a challenge for all countries of the world. These types of cities contribute to a better environment for people and animals, economic vitality, social wealth and spiritual fulfillment.

    1. Divide the class into teams of 4 students.
    2. Pair each group with a global city that is a leader in environmental, social and/or economic sustainability. Interesting examples are Curitiba, Reykjavik, Vancouver, Barcelona, Malmö, Sydney, Dubai and Freiburg. The sustainability meter is and useful tool to investigate the sustainability of Dutch municipality: http//www.duurzaamheidsmeter.nl/index.php?topic=2013-2014&style_id=0
    3. Teams examine one or more of the following categories of “their” city: air quality, water, land use, transportation, energy, food and agriculture, green buildings, waste management, and public health.
    4. If possible, invite a local municipal official to talk about the sustainability plan for the town or village where the school is located.
    5. Each team presents its findings to the whole class.
    6. Using criteria they set themselves, students vote on which town or village they think is most progressive in terms of sustainability.

    Explore with students the wide range of characteristics of “green cities. What are leaders in urban sustainability and what does that look like?

    Gain insight into the many characteristics of green, healthy, safe, attractive, social and climate resilient cities and towns and be able to provide examples of them.

    Flipchart, computers and notepads.

    What did the students observe and how did they feel during this assignment. What did they discover about the different sustainability efforts of different cities? Which local sustainability efforts made the most impact?

     

  • GO FOR A GREEN CITY

    Go for a green city

    Introduction

    Students who live in cities often feel the need to join groups that are working to combat neglect, income inequality, loneliness, environmental degradation, poverty, and/or racism, among other things, through activism, education, or by being an example to others.

    A good example is the so-called Ecobarrios projects in Latin America, which contribute to a sustainable green city by, for example, maintaining an urban garden, social projects in slums or collecting litter.

    Students from low-income families fight for better schools and fair jobs, while others help strengthen the connection between schools and businesses. The Ecobarrios training program is for all ages, but it certainly has a big impact on young people. It empowers them in ways that traditional school systems do not.

    1. Divide the group into teams of 4 – 6 people.
    2. Each team should have at least one person who can translate from English to your own language.
    3. Each group will research three youth organizations from the list and write something about the vision, mission and activities of each organization.
    4. Each team then chooses a project from one of the organizations studied, which could potentially take place in their own town or village.
    5. Each team describes the vision, mission and plan of action for the project for their own city (or village).
    6. Teams present their project to the whole group.

    Investigate how groups of young people can get involved in a positive and active way to improve their city.

    A horizontal perspective on urban issues and student participation. Learning what it means to respect the other and to learn from and with the other.

    Internet access and/or contact with active youth groups in a city.

    Using self-determined criteria, students review each other’s presentations and provide feedback.

    • Active Element Foundation
    • Communitybuilders Teenagers
    • Harlem Live!
    • Wiretap
    • Youth Channel
    • The Center for Teen Empowerment
    • The Mirror Project
    • Listen, Inc.
    • Youth Empowerment Centre
    • Project Seattle Young Peoples

     

  • ECOCITY

    Ecocity

    Introduction

    This activity is designed to be able to apply the theory of integral system design in a practical situation, thereby integrating knowledge and skills into what has been learned so far. Students develop a vision of their model of a green city using integrated systems thinking. Without a good understanding of the whole system of a green city and of interconnections in a green city, there is a chance that students may easily fail to see the consequences of how one affects the other, so that a solution in one area may often cause problems in another. This is a nice  way into thinking about an integrated system without requiring too deep a technical background..

    1. Familiarize students with integral system design and relate the content to the twenty themes of this website.
    2. Students will create a list of criteria based on a self-created vision, mission and goal.
    3. They then create an integrated system design for their green city. The vision, mission and objective should be reflected in the details of the design.
    4. When the preliminary design is complete (drawing may take several lessons or a two-day period), students present it to their classmates. They incorporate the feedback they receive into their final draft.
    5. Present the green cities during an event to parents and stakeholders


    Some of the challenges to consider and address include:

    1. Anthropogenic climate change
    2. Peak oil and energy security
    3. Water degradation and water security
    4. Material wealth inequalities and conflicts
    5. Abuse of geopolitical power and resource wars
    6. Degradation of agriculture and food security
    7. Psychological stress and toxic environment
    8. Community erosion and undermining of education
    9. Globalization and trade distortion
    10. Infrastructure and habitat vulnerability
    11. Biosphere erosion and mass extinctions

    Begin to apply course content in integrated systems design for ecological communities and sustainable cities. Provide an activating field for interdisciplinary collaboration and cooperation at various levels. And to learn to design integrated systems that incorporate cultural, social, environmental, and economic principles of sustainability.

    Learning to develop a collective vision for a model green city and learning to apply design principles to sustainable settlements of various sizes.

    Flipchart and marker pens. Copy paper (translucent), colored pencils, Google maps, notebook, measuring tools, checklists.

    Debriefing of this assignment is best done in small groups first and then discussed with the whole group.

    Students Ask students what they observed. How they felt during this exercise. What concepts from the sustainability compass did they use in their design? How do they plan to use the knowledge and experience they have gained in their own lives? What was most important in what they experienced during the group processes in designing and during the presentation? What connections did they not make?

    Facilitators What did you notice about this exercise? How well were students able to complete the assignment? What did students use from the prompts? Did anything happen during the execution of the assignment that drew your attention to risks or unforeseen results? What would you do differently next time? Use the checklist below for follow-up discussion with students.

    Checklists

    • Integrated design considerations
    1. What is our framework (basis) for the design process (vision, values, ethics, limits of the design, what is necessary for the design and what is nice if it can be included in the design, but not really necessary)
    2. What criteria are used to make decisions?
    3. Selecting the site; drawing up a checklist of criteria and motivation for the choice
    • Layout considerations
    1. How will we shape our design ideas into communicable media?
    • Objectives of the design of the design and technical aspects of the area plan.
    1. Roads and access infrastructures (bridges, drainage)
    2. Communications (new and retrofit phone, email infrastructures)
    3. Energy (transportation issues, electricity, heating/cooling, ethics)
    4. Water (placement of dams, tanks, wells, ponds)
    5. Wastewater (presence/absence of flush toilet, laws and regulations on wastewater treatment
    6. Waste and recycling
    7. Common trenching
    8. Soft Engineering
    • Social aspects of the design process.
    1. Designing a traffic plan: a map for roads and parking lots, walking paths for pedestrians, bike paths and storage for bikes, place for roller skating, equestrian paths and pasture and storage for trails, etc.
    2. Creating the opportunities for spontaneous social engagement: social hubs
    3. Designs for placement of community facilities: community center, child care center, bathhouse / sauna, accommodation for visitors, performance hall, cafe, educational facilities, medical / health center, meditation shrines, recreation, etc.
    4. Allowing for balance and delineation between public, semi-public and private spaces.
    5. Integration of seniors, plus mobility and developmental issues.
    • Economics of the design process.
    1. Business Center: office space, technology, communication
    2. Production facilities: workshops, light industry, certified kitchen
    3. Agricultural infrastructure: processing harvest, storage, animal housing, irrigation
    • Cultural aspects of the design process.
    1. Landscape temples
    2. Feng Shui, Sacred Geometry
    3. Dowsing and probing for ley lines or energy centers
    4. Become familiar with the socio-cultural history of the place
    • Ecological aspects of the design process.
    1. Design of food production system: vegetables, rotation of fields, layout for animals and their feed, berries and fruit trees, nut trees
    2. Shaded, sunny and sheltered areas
    3. Ditches, verges and hedges
    4. Zone and sector analysis
    5. Accommodation for wild places and wildlife corridors
    6. Widening and protection of riparian zones
    7. Remediation of degraded soils and re-vegetation
    8. Forestry, coppice systems and renewable harvesting
    9. Edible landscape
    • Project management. Specialized skills for the implementation phase.
    1. What is the system?
    2. Uncharted waters – from idea to reality
    3. The construction phase
    4. The crew
    5. Project variables (the goalposts have been moved).
    6. Project Closure
    • Prepare a draft plan: Including legal aspects.
    1. Creating team glue/community building
    2. Dealing with governance / authority
    3. Prepare a document that “sells” the project
    4. Presentation of your proposal
    5. Environmental Impact Studies
    6. Establishment of the area
    7. Development Applications