Block1. Getting off the Ground

Well, how do we get our projects off the ground?

It has been a while since I started this unit off with you, and you were then effectively diverted by placements and other units within the intervening period.  It would seem that we need to make sure that we are on target for both the individual essay and the group report…. and possibly to remind ourselves what we were dealing with in the first place!

So today we will:

1. remind ourselves of the definitions of sustainability we had produced and what they mean exactly.

2. reconsider the two assignments in this subject area:

• Individual essay: due 9th Dec 2009
• Group project report and presentation: due 20th Jan 2010

I am particularly concerned about the group project: that you ‘get’ the task, understand it, develop a project plan to deliver it and marshal your resources in order to achieve it in time.  You dare not leave it until the New Year to commence it.

Accordingly this session (18th Nov) will be a case of me dedicating myself to ensuring that you are on the right track with your research such that you are able to hit the target deadline with a credible output and stand a chance of a good mark.

If we have time, we will then go on to discuss the modern origins of sustainability and the case for a response at the personal, political and industrial levels that involves us all.  Viewing Al Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary: ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ will also help set the scene.

Here’s a 10 minute cut of the recent Gore presentation:-