Explain how human and environmental systems are interconnected
Overview
In this competency, you will explore how to consider sustainability in various business contexts. For your project, you will use the knowledge gained in this competency to consider how human and environmental systems interconnect for one of the following scenarios.
Scenario 2: Social Justice
You live in Elm Glen, a neighborhood with an active community organization. You and your neighbors are very concerned about inequity, as the city is spending money on improving road conditions in some areas but not others. One of your neighbors asked you to join them in attending a community action meeting to address these observations in the form of an informational campaign. By reading the Scenario 2: Social Justice section of the Scenario Profiles document linked in the Supporting Materials section, you will learn about an example that highlights sustainability in action. In the Project Template (in the What to Submit section), you will describe some actionable steps the community group could take for each pillar of sustainability.
Scenario 2: Social Justice
Scenario From Project Instructions
You live in Elm Glen, a neighborhood with an active community organization. You and your neighbors
are very concerned about inequity, as the city is spending money on improving road conditions in some
areas but not others. One of your neighbors asked you to join them in attending a community action
meeting to address these observations in the form of an informational campaign. By reading the city
profile of Flint, Michigan, you will learn about an example that highlights sustainability in action. In the
Project Template, you will describe some actionable steps the organization could take for each pillar of
sustainability.
Organization Profile
Elm Glen is a primarily residential neighborhood in a mid-sized city. It is a densely urban area with a
diverse population. About a quarter of the people in the community speak a language other than English
as their primary language. The median family income is average compared to the rest of the city. The
neighborhood is served by public transportation and is home to a commercial strip along Academy
Boulevard. The neighborhood has a community organization called the Elm Glen Community
Association, which is made up of a small group of residents of the neighborhood who work to make sure
the area is safe and well-maintained by the city. The neighborhood has a mix of streets, with some
generally more well-maintained than others. Members of the community association have observed
that the city has prioritized spending money on repairing broken sidewalks, clearing sewer drains, and
beautifying medians in some areas while neglecting other areas. In looking at their environmental
concerns for the neighborhood, the association has decided to look at the specifics of the Flint,
Michigan, water crisis to see what issues, missteps, and obstacles the city encountered in addressing
that crisis. They will then use that information to help determine the steps they should recommend the
city take to prevent inequity in addressing the concerns of the neighborhood.
Case Study Summary
The water crisis in Flint, Michigan, is a case of governmental negligence and environmental injustice. As
a sustainability pillar, environmental justice relates to the human impact on environmental quality and
its unfairly distributed impacts. Flint’s mishandling of the water supply in 2014 adversely affected the
drinking water supply of 100,000 people. The impacts disproportionately fell on those with little
resources to effectively provide themselves with safe drinking water. The city’s governmental leaders
failed to provide the basic necessity of water to its residents, resulting in tragic lead poisoning, which is
especially dangerous to children. As you will read in detail, the Flint water crisis is about much more
than lead water pipes. It is about intentional environmental injustice. In the aftermath of the tragedy,
there have been many lessons about promoting environmental justice in sustainability decision making.
Directions
Select one of the given scenarios for your project. You will use information from the Scenario Profiles document, linked in the Supporting Materials section, to support your work on the project. This document contains descriptions of the related group for each scenario and a relevant case study related to the sustainability issue. Based on your chosen scenario, respond to each of the items below by completing the Project Template. Your chosen scenario will require you to demonstrate your understanding of sustainable practices.
You will look at the interconnectedness of environmental issues and human behavior as it relates to your chosen scenario. To do this, you will look at how the environmental systems in use impact the community and how the community use impacts the environmental systems in place. You will also look at the group’s overall bias in addressing sustainability in your community. Specifically, you must address the following criteria:
Describe how environmental systems in your chosen scenario impact human behavior.
Consider ecosystems, cultural systems, and organizational systems in your response.
Describe the impact of the current resource use on the environment.
What resources does the group in your scenario use?
What is the impact on the environment?
Describe how human ideology impacts behavior regarding environmental systems.
What policies or vision impact the environmental systems in use within your chosen group?
Think about your chosen group; what behaviors do they practice regarding the environmental systems?
Explain the role of cultural bias in your chosen group’s approach to global sustainability.
What are some of the biases within the group that impact the use of the resources discussed in the scenario?
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/flintcitymichigan
What to Submit
Every project has a deliverable or deliverables, which are the files that must be submitted before your project can be assessed. For this project, you must submit the following:
Human and Environmental Systems Report
Submit your report as a 500- to 1,000-word Microsoft Word document using the Project Template. Include appropriate citations as needed.
