School of Sustainability Graduate Culminating Experiences
Student capstone and applied projects from ASU's School of Sustainability.
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- All Subjects: Watershed restoration
Description
Borderlands Restoration Network (BRN) is a nonprofit organization based out of Patagonia, Arizona, that partners with borderland communities to grow a restorative economy by rebuilding healthy ecosystems, restoring habitat for wildlife, and reconnecting border communities to the land through shared learning. Borderland communities encompass the southern United States and northern Mexico border, and BRN is centered within the Madrean Archipelago, one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in the world. A core program that BRN offers is the Borderlands Earth Care Youth (BECY). This paid internship-style program focuses on educating and training youth between fifteen and twenty to address the growing environmental and sustainability challenges associated with climate change, habitat fragmentation, aridification, and socio-economic injustices. Through the BECY program, BRN provides a critical opportunity for the Arizona communities of Douglas, Patagonia, Nogales, and Rio Rico. The purpose of this program is critical for borderland communities, given the historical marginalization of these communities. This can be seen with the demographics of these communities as the communities of Douglas, Nogales, and Rio Rico are all over 80% Hispanic/Latino identifying, according to the U.S. Census Bureau information from 2020-2022. With the majority of these communities being Hispanic/Latino, the implementation of an environmental education program that accounts for and supports cultural backgrounds and resources is one that is critical.
The advancement of quality education and networking opportunities in these communities helps to create a diverse conservation sector that will further support the restoration economy in borderland communities. In 2018, BRN completed a survey research project and found that ninety-two percent of overall respondents claimed they were inspired by the BECY program to make sustainable changes in their lives. Respondents reported that the program helped them
“To look at the environment differently, [and] the impact humans can have (positive and negative) on other species’ habitats,” and to recognize the benefits of “...the social aspect of community building, as well as the fundamentals of ecosystem and watershed restoration” on their environment (Anonymous Participants, 2018, BRN Program Evaluation).
These statements showcase the importance of BECY in shaping participants’ views of the environment and the role that they each play as stewards.
Over the course of nine months, the JKLM Sustainability Consulting team completed a project for BRN by using sustainability analysis tools and the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) guidelines to provide foundational information and guidance regarding environmental education curriculum development, program evaluation, and program expansion to assist BRN in achieving its youth education program expansion goals. The deliverable of the consultation project was an updated and enhanced BECY curriculum and related activities guide to be used in Summer 2023.
ContributorsSene, Jordan (Author) / Napper, Kayla (Author) / Meeker, Laney (Author) / Fabara, Marshall Morgan (Author)
Created2023-04-26
Description
Abstract
A Case for Co-Ops (AC4CO) is a digital media outreach project that is intended to explore methods for increasing the impact of sustainability solutions, by helping to translate research implications into practical approaches for sustainable business design. The goal for this project is to increase public awareness regarding latent sustainability benefits offered by the proliferation of worker-owned social enterprises. In effort to achieve this goal, AC4CO pulls together a collection of information and resources regarding the design of worker-owned business models that implement social and environmental safeguards. This collated outreach material is hosted on a dedicated website, which decentralizes solutions by making educational material accessible to a diverse audience. Notably, AC4CO features edits from exclusive one-on-one interviews with leading academic scholars from the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability at ASU, who share their expert understanding of various sustainable business practices. Each expert offers insight into an integral piece within the constellation of considerations that are involved in the design of sustainable social enterprise models – from procurement policies to waste reduction strategies. Parallel to these interviews, AC4CO also showcases the design process for an emerging, sustainable worker cooperative, by highlighting the incubation of a local beverage business called Together We Brew. This incubation process was directed by fellow sustainability solutions graduate student, Nick Shivka, in collaboration with his ASU project partners, on behalf of their incubator program’s pilot cohort of worker-owner recruits. Weaving these aspects, AC4CO’s video components synthesize fundamental research-based knowledge of solution strategies into plainly spoken dialogue and augments the discussion with tangibility that is delivered through a visual narrative. This narrative lends plausibility to the task of designing business solution strategies, by providing viewers a look into the process as peers work together to figure out how to structure a cooperative business model that can present viable economic opportunity, while also promoting social equity and environmental protection. By stripping away scientific research jargon and simultaneously presenting a visual rendering of a theory of change, AC4CO’s approach frames the content of the video components in a way that enables an inclusive vision to be shared with a broad working-class audience. This method is intended to foster popular appeal, by distilling complex and varying issues into concise key points, while following a clear and coherent storytelling strategy for sustainability solutions. Functioning as a call to action, these video components serve a critical role in the overall digital media outreach project by piquing the curiosity of viewers and inspiring them to engage with the website to learn more. In doing so, the video components support the website’s central mission of providing a consolidated anthology of educational and resource tools, as a strategy for encouraging workers to join the movement by creating new sustainable and worker-owned social enterprises around the United States.
A Case for Co-Ops (AC4CO) is a digital media outreach project that is intended to explore methods for increasing the impact of sustainability solutions, by helping to translate research implications into practical approaches for sustainable business design. The goal for this project is to increase public awareness regarding latent sustainability benefits offered by the proliferation of worker-owned social enterprises. In effort to achieve this goal, AC4CO pulls together a collection of information and resources regarding the design of worker-owned business models that implement social and environmental safeguards. This collated outreach material is hosted on a dedicated website, which decentralizes solutions by making educational material accessible to a diverse audience. Notably, AC4CO features edits from exclusive one-on-one interviews with leading academic scholars from the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability at ASU, who share their expert understanding of various sustainable business practices. Each expert offers insight into an integral piece within the constellation of considerations that are involved in the design of sustainable social enterprise models – from procurement policies to waste reduction strategies. Parallel to these interviews, AC4CO also showcases the design process for an emerging, sustainable worker cooperative, by highlighting the incubation of a local beverage business called Together We Brew. This incubation process was directed by fellow sustainability solutions graduate student, Nick Shivka, in collaboration with his ASU project partners, on behalf of their incubator program’s pilot cohort of worker-owner recruits. Weaving these aspects, AC4CO’s video components synthesize fundamental research-based knowledge of solution strategies into plainly spoken dialogue and augments the discussion with tangibility that is delivered through a visual narrative. This narrative lends plausibility to the task of designing business solution strategies, by providing viewers a look into the process as peers work together to figure out how to structure a cooperative business model that can present viable economic opportunity, while also promoting social equity and environmental protection. By stripping away scientific research jargon and simultaneously presenting a visual rendering of a theory of change, AC4CO’s approach frames the content of the video components in a way that enables an inclusive vision to be shared with a broad working-class audience. This method is intended to foster popular appeal, by distilling complex and varying issues into concise key points, while following a clear and coherent storytelling strategy for sustainability solutions. Functioning as a call to action, these video components serve a critical role in the overall digital media outreach project by piquing the curiosity of viewers and inspiring them to engage with the website to learn more. In doing so, the video components support the website’s central mission of providing a consolidated anthology of educational and resource tools, as a strategy for encouraging workers to join the movement by creating new sustainable and worker-owned social enterprises around the United States.
ContributorsDarr, Charles (Writer of accompanying material)
Created2020-05-13