FCID 4200 – Interdisciplinary Sustainability Seminar (Spring 2021)
The sustainability seminar was extremely valuable because it opened my perspective to new ideas, potential careers in sustainability, and examples of projects that have positively impacted the community. In this course, we started the semester with discussions focused on strategic competency that taught me how to plan and contribute to collective actions that can ultimately further sustainability.
Next, we discussed my favorite topic of the course, collaboration competency. Through this discussion, I learned the power and importance of community and empowering others. I was able to visualize the power of learning from and working with others. I found meaning in understanding and respecting the perspectives and actions of others. During the collaboration competency discussion, I was introduced to Christina Foard and her imagination squared project. I had never considered art to be a catalyst for social change but now understand the power art has to bring people together. We also learned about resilient city plans and community-led conservation for wildlife. As my artifact for this course, I included my notes for the activities and discussions related to the collaboration competency. These topics emphasized that incorporating the lives and knowledge of many people can lead to bigger and better ideas in managing conservation and sustainability efforts.
In addition, we went on to discuss interpersonal, intrapersonal, and integrative problem-solving competencies. All of these competencies are important for someone trying to make a change in the world. I gained such valuable information and inspiration regarding how people and communities around the world are promoting sustainability. I hope to take the value and knowledge I have gained through this seminar to make a lasting impact on my community.