Sustainable Development in Belize
CDAE 195: An International Field-Course in
Ecological Economics and Sustainable Development
Spring semester: Course meets Tuesday, 1-2:30 from
January-April
Field Component: Tue or Thurs
The course involves a semester long field component in Belize, working with local partners to solve pressing problems which they have identified. During weekly meetings during the semester, we will go over critical background information about the island, and do preparatory work for our field projects.
Field projects will be developed during the semester with local partners. Ecological economics considers the integration of ecological sustainability, social justice and economic efficiency. Our goal will be to help solve pressing problems identified by our local partners. Previous projects in Dominica and St. Lucia include "buy local campaign", watershed management, energy efficiency, alternative energy, ethnobotany, etc.
Problem solving courses are different from traditional courses for several reasons. While academics in universities study disciplines, people in the real worldstudy problems. That is, problems do not respect the artificial boundaries of disciplines, and complex problems can rarely be understood from within the narrow framework of a single discipline. In addition to the skills of disciplinary analysis, this course will focus on the skills of interdisciplinary synthesis, and the communication of research results to decision makers who can use them.
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Jay Ashman |
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Gary Flomenhoft
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