Final Questions

1. What did you learn in each session? (One page each)
2. How did the class impact your professional development?
3. How did the class impact your personal development?

Homework Questions for each reading

1. Who wrote this article and what was their training?
2. How does the article focus on sustainable development?
3. What geographic and/or social context/space does the article focus on?
4. What are the five (5) main points of the article?
5. What methods did the authors use to collect information discussed in the article?
6. What did you learn from reading the article?

Session 1-A Homework Questions

1. What approaches do we want to use in this class to encourage and support as many students as possible to participate in class discussions?
   • Use emojis or type comments in the chat box
   • Raise hands on camera
   • Or just speak
   • calling on people
   • doing a speaking stack in the chat
   • using the reading questions as prompts
   • Cameras on at all times
   • Just turn off mute and talk
   • Don’t be afraid to talk
   • Breakout rooms
   • Using Chat
   • Emojis
   • Keeping track in you interrupt someone
   • Stack
   • Survey by calling folks by number – polling feature in zoom
2. What guidelines do we want to follow to create a safe and brave classroom space?
   • speak from i
   • one speaker at a time
   • be respectful
     • no put-downs
   • ask for examples from students
   • allow enough time for people to make their whole point
   • step up step back
   • come in with an open mind
   • personal truth
3. What approaches do we want to use to ensure that students are keeping up with assigned reading?
   • Discussing the readings both as a class and as small groups
     • breakroom room discussions
   • Checking in with students and these questions
4. What approaches do we want to use to maximize our individual and collective well being during the semester we are spending together as a group in this class?
   • I usually create a private WhatsApp group chat for students in the class. This establishes a cohort effect where students are able to interact outside of class and rely on one another for support and feedback.
   • I usually triage less valuable assignments to devote limited executive function where its most valuable.
5. What strategies are we using to support our mental and physical health during these challenging times?
   • Use scheduling and task management tools to block out time for all assignments at least a week ahead.
   • Use automated tools to insert any assignments into task and schedule management tools when the assignments are published.
   • Stretch your boddy
   • Do hobbies
   • Reading

Session Notes

• Discussed different definitions of sustainable development.
  • The professor let us know that none of us understand what sustainable development is.
• Discussed what other students are thinking or hoping to get out of the class.
• Professor pointed out that sustainable development is not just about the environment.

Second Day

Session 1-B Homework Questions

Without looking at any notes, sources, or references of any kind – write down your answers to the 7 questions below and be prepared to discuss them in class:

1. What challenges top the to-do list of cities around the world?
   • traffic/ freeways
   • housing
   • capital investments
   • access to food
   • new sources for energy
   • degrowth/ reducing consumption
   • the urban heat island effect
   • displacement/ gentrification
   • inequality
   • waste management
   • population
   • public safety
   • public health
   • making space for nature
   • new technology
   • local/regional planning conflicts
2. What factors affect the way in which cities experience these challenges differently?
   • Race
   • Class
   • Gender
   • Sexual orientation
   • Ability
   • Religion
   • Ethnicity
   • City budgets
   • NGOs
   • Geography
     • Natural Resources
   • Climate
   • Topography
   • Education
   • Sharing ideas – having a network, hub to share what worked and what didn’t. — curitiba/ ippuc
3. What are some of the underlying causes of these challenges?
   • Failure of leaderships
   • Generational wealth
   • Generational poverty
   • Systemic injustice and oppression
   • Social constructionism
   • Panopticism
   • Access to information
   • Access to education
   • Historical legacies of nation state
     • Colonialism and slavery
       • Exploitation of people and natural resources
     • Urbanization/ Industrialization
       • Resource extraction
         • Fossil fuels in particular
           • Deforestation
           • Over-consumption
           • Sprawl
   • Unchecked Growth
   • Social inequality
4. What do you think of or how do you define the concept “development”?
   • I define development as the investment of resources in improving other resources.
   • Having a more efficient distribution of resources
   • It needs to have a racial perspective
5. What are the main goals of “development”?
   • To increase the value or utility of limited resources
   • Specifically it should help marginalized communities
   • Inclusive
   • Adjusts with time to changing conditions
   • Recognizing limits
   • Increase efficiency
6. What people or institutions do you think are responsible for promoting “development”?
   • Cities, States, Nations
   • Financial institutions
   • Private developers
   • Giving equity and voice to people who have been left out
7. How would you define the concept of “sustainable development”? If you do not have an idea about the concept of sustainable development you can say that the concept is new to you and you will learn about it in class this semester. 
   • Sustainable development considers the externalities of the development process and tries to internalize them or minimize them.
   • Ideally, development would be regenerative rather than just sustainable; actually improving the surrounding conditions rather than dumping less externalities on them.