Geog 209 Intro to Environmental Mgmt.
Lab Assignment #2: Envisioning a Sustainable Future (Creative Project)
Due at the beginning of your lab session during Week #5 (Oct 4-8).
To the extent environmental managers are often detained by technical science, modelling, planning, policy and project details, they often lose track of the bigger picture – the why of it all – the bold vision for a better world. In this assignment you are afforded a rare opportunity to dream big and depict your boldest vision for a sustainable future.
As background, read Donella Meadows (1994) “Envisioning a Sustainable World” (available on BrightSpace) and the section on “Vision” in Chapter 6 of Dearden et. al.’s (2020) text.
Meadows was a pioneering American environmental scientist, teacher and author, whose Limits to Growth (1972) was a seminal work in the field of environmental management. She was noted for her extensive work developing models to understand things like carrying capacity and resource unsustainability. It is important to keep in mind that Meadows was a rigourous scientist immersed in technical, quantitative research. Yet, in this article (one of her most widely cited), she outlines the crucial importance of imagination and creativity.
She tells a fascinating story about a series of workshops she helped run which brought the top nutritionists, agronomists, economists, demographers, ecologists and development field workers from around the world together to address the global issue of hunger. Her plan was to begin this workshop asking the question: “What would the world be like if there was no hunger?”
What do you think happened when she asked those gathered to describe not the world they thought they could achieve nor the world they were willing to settle for, but the world they truly wanted?
Well, she was greeted by anger and derision:
“What a stupid question”.
“Visions are dangerous fantasies.”
As a reminder, she was a rigourous scientist and certainly recognized the importance of careful, scientific inquiry and practical planning and policy-making… yet she was absolutely adamant that vision and imagination were central to bringing about a sustainable world.
She noted that “children, before they are squashed by cynicism, are natural visionaries. They can tell you clearly and firmly what the world should be like. There should be no war, no pollution, no cruelty, no starving children. There should be music, fun, beauty, and lots and lots of nature. People should be trustworthy and grownups should not work so hard. However, as they grow up, children learn that these visions are “childish” and stop saying them out loud.”
“Still,” she contended “inside all of us, if we haven’t been too badly bruised by the world, there are glorious visions.”
This assignment invites you to share your most “glorious, childish vision for a sustainable future” – not what you think we can realistically achieve; not what you would settle for, but what you truly want.
Share your vision in a creative format: visual art, map, poetry or song, a photo collage / essay, diorama/model or something else.
For inspiration the art piece (below) was developed out of just such a visioning exercise in Havana, Cuba. Artists Juan Martinez and Beth Ferguson captured the communities’ aspiration for a “greener tomorrow” in the Cuban capital. Your own vision (and medium) may look nothing like it, but I have shared it to inspire you to think outside the box.
What to do:
You will work on your own for this assignment.
Produce a creative work ( e.g. visual art, map, poetry or song, a photo collage) that explores your vision of a sustainable future. The exercise is intended to provide you space to be creative and unconstrained. Your mark will be directed towards the thought and effort you invest and your clear understanding of the purpose of the assignment (per Meadows article). There are clearly no right or wrong answers, and you are not being judged on the technical merits of your artistry. Even if you don’t fashion yourself as an artist, have some fun.
You may choose to focus on a general vision or a specific element of a sustainable future – e.g. a vision of a sustainable food-secure world. Your vision might be radical or political; think of how your vision of the future furthers collective aims.
Along with your creative piece (e.g. artwork, poetry, photo essay), write a short (400 words or less) explanation that reflects on your work as a creative vision.
Note: Your work will need to be submitted electronically through Brightspace. If you create something materially (e.g. painting, sculpture, diorama), please take a photo and submit that. If you create a song or spoken word poetry, please record, upload somewhere online (e.g. YouTube, Soundcloud) and submit a link. Etc. create one file (.pdf) that has your reflection/explanation and the creative piece.
You will have a chance to share your work in a later lab session (in Week 9).
Assessment:
Your assignment will be marked out of 25, based on the following criteria:
1. demonstrated understanding of the purpose of the assignment
2. evidence of thought and effort invested in your creative work
3. quality – clarity and insight – of your reflective piece
4. writing mechanics – grammar, sentence / paragraph structure, organization of reflective piece
