School of Sustainability Graduate Culminating Experiences
Student capstone and applied projects from ASU's School of Sustainability.
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- All Subjects: Place-Based Learning
- All Subjects: Wicked Problems
Description
Energy insecurity has become increasingly common in Maricopa County, Arizona. Households are not able to meet energy demands, resulting in vulnerability and the sacrifice of basic needs. Various root causes and pathway dependencies have exacerbated this issue, creating detrimental health, societal and environmental outcomes.
The project, Energy Insecurity and Public Health: Going Further through Cross-Sector Collaboration, aims to improve the health of communities by promoting projects that are community-engaged, action-oriented, and equity-focused (Interdisciplinary Research Leaders, 2020). Eventually, the final deliverable of this project will be an energy insecurity toolkit that can be leveraged by stakeholders to make a change in their local communities. To achieve this deliverable, a stakeholder workgroup was created to assess all aspects of energy insecurity in Maricopa County. To avoid typical pitfalls of stakeholder workgroups, the Learning and Action Alliance (LAA) Framework was chosen to be applied to the workgroup. The LAA Framework leverages social learning and promotes knowledge sharing between stakeholders (O’Donnell et al, 2018). The framework is implemented in five phases and can be customized to fit any wicked problem. The accompanying guidebook, "Applying the Learning and Action Alliance Framework: Energy Insecurity in Maricopa County’, was created to simplify the framework’s implementation phases and provide ‘real-world’ examples of how the framework was implemented into the energy insecurity stakeholder workgroup. The guidebook will be used by the Maricopa County Department of Public Health to facilitate other sustainability workgroups. Thus far, the Maricopa County Department of Public Health has approved the guidebook and is looking forward to integrating the guidebook into workgroup standard practices.
The project, Energy Insecurity and Public Health: Going Further through Cross-Sector Collaboration, aims to improve the health of communities by promoting projects that are community-engaged, action-oriented, and equity-focused (Interdisciplinary Research Leaders, 2020). Eventually, the final deliverable of this project will be an energy insecurity toolkit that can be leveraged by stakeholders to make a change in their local communities. To achieve this deliverable, a stakeholder workgroup was created to assess all aspects of energy insecurity in Maricopa County. To avoid typical pitfalls of stakeholder workgroups, the Learning and Action Alliance (LAA) Framework was chosen to be applied to the workgroup. The LAA Framework leverages social learning and promotes knowledge sharing between stakeholders (O’Donnell et al, 2018). The framework is implemented in five phases and can be customized to fit any wicked problem. The accompanying guidebook, "Applying the Learning and Action Alliance Framework: Energy Insecurity in Maricopa County’, was created to simplify the framework’s implementation phases and provide ‘real-world’ examples of how the framework was implemented into the energy insecurity stakeholder workgroup. The guidebook will be used by the Maricopa County Department of Public Health to facilitate other sustainability workgroups. Thus far, the Maricopa County Department of Public Health has approved the guidebook and is looking forward to integrating the guidebook into workgroup standard practices.
Created2021-04-28
Description
Human behavior is driving many sustainability problems, which means that resolving these issues will require far more people to participate in solutions and act in sustainable ways. However, there is a recognized gap between knowledge and action that remains a significant barrier in achieving transformative sustainability solutions. One way to overcome the knowledge-action gap is to engage more people in place-based experiential learning centered around sustainability. In partnership with Hawai‘i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden (HTBG), we set out to learn about utilizing place-based experiential learning to engage a wider audience to actively participate in sustainability solutions. We researched place-based learning, experiential learning, sustainability education, and behavior change theory. We also conducted several informational interviews with experts in environmental education, STEM, and sustainability science to better understand what is needed for designing meaningful educational experiences that inspire action. We used this research to develop an easily understandable and scalable place-based experiential learning framework that can teach learners about any sustainability challenge or solution. Overall, we found that when grounded in behavior change theory and sustainability principles, place-based experiential learning has the potential to mobilize large groups of people to actively participate in sustainability solutions.
Created2021-04-28