Sustainability:  Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs - from Our Common Future, report by the United Nations.                     

    Take the Natural Step: How You and Your Family Can Help Save the Planet

Every day on TV, through the Internet, or in the newspapers we are bombarded with stories of the gloom and doom of impending environmental catastrophe. Many of us wonder, “What can I do to make a difference?” This class will offer positive and practical alternatives. Together, we will explore how to develop a more sustainable lifestyle one step at a time. The strategies we will investigate are easy to learn, simple and fun to implement, yet can make a big difference in your ability to contribute to a better future. During the course, students will create their own sustainability action plan and put together and begin to use their own sustainability starter kits.

In addition to the scheduled class sessions, students will make two fi eld trips, on their own or with a friend or family member. The first field trip will be to a couple of local stores to purchase the materials for a sustainability starter kit. The second will be to a local farmer’s market.

Session One: We will introduce ourselves to the concept of sustainability and each conduct our own personal sustainability inventory.
Session Two: We will assemble our sustainability starter kits and explore a variety of practices and products we can use to begin to live a more sustainable lifestyle.
Session Three: We will exchange recipes for meals made with local food and produce and develop our own sustainability action plans for the near and long-term future.
Instructors: Mike Keen, Professor of Sociology at IU South Bend, and founding partner of the Eco-Urban Collaborative, LLC, a local sustainable development and consulting firm and Gabrielle Robinson, Professor Emeritus of English and former Director of the IUSB Office of International Programs

1W-0935A:
 

Sorry, this class is no longer available

3 Tuesdays, March 3 - 18, 6:45 - 9:15 p.m.

Room: NS0036  

Designed for architects, real estate professionals, facility managers, engineers, interior designers, landscape architects, construction managers, lenders, government officials