School of Sustainability Graduate Culminating Experiences
Student capstone and applied projects from ASU's School of Sustainability.
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- Creators: Colbert, Julia
In the end, Conservation International is more specifically seeking to aid in the optimization of the use of nature’s benefits in the region. The scenario development approach that will be used for the workshop is the quadrant method, where values of the region are used to create an axis that will show four different futures in four different quadrants depending on the direction. An example is using the axis of rainfall (increase or decrease) and the prevalence of slash-and-burn farming (increase or decrease). The findings of the workshop will be used to construct new policies based off of the Peruvian National Coffee Plan to encourage new farming techniques for the coffee growers. While the conclusion of the overall workshop will not be determined during the span of the MSUS culminating experience, the conclusion from my work will revolve around having a successful workshop, with success being defined by participation and usable results; the work, such as a literature review and interviews and running the work plan up to the workshop, that allows the workshop to occur.
Nature journaling in school gardens is a unique way to engage students in the natural world, providing time to notice, wonder, and observe through writing and drawing while engaging in environmental and sustainability learning. With the number of school gardens increasing in the United States, educators can benefit from understanding what students experience while participating in garden-based learning activities so they can adapt their teaching to fit the educational needs of their participants. School garden studies typically focus on measuring academic and health outcomes and nature journaling studies typically focus on educator experiences with one classroom. We facilitated a nature journaling study with four elementary classrooms in a public, Title I school in the desert southwest to explore student experiences while nature journaling in their school garden. Our findings show that nature journaling provides opportunities for students to engage in sustainability literacy by helping them to develop a sense of place in their school garden, inspire environmental stewardship, and practice systems thinking right outside their classrooms.