CNS World Studies Hybrid 2014-15

5/15 - Environmental Geography

Environmental Geography
Sustainable Development
Much of the worlds news coverage focuses on the future of the global environment
due to climate change and fossil fuel resource use. But sustainable development is
about much more than that.
1. To learn about Sustainable Development, read the Harvard report entitled What
is Sustainable Development? Notice that sustainable development does not only
apply to physical resources & raw materials, but also human systems and
progress. Make a list of examples of items that are to be sustained, items to be
developed and state how long are these to be sustained? Put the list on your
website.
Sustain:
Nature: Earth, Biodiversity, and Ecosystems Forever
Life Support: Ecosystem services, resources, environment now and in the future
Community: Cultures, groups, places now and in the future
Develop:
People: child survival, life expectancy, education, equity, equal opportunity
Economy: Wealth, Consumption, production
Society: Institutions, Social Capital, States, Regions

2. Choose an NGO operating in a foreign country. Explain the actions or programs

that the NGO is implementing there and how it is contributing to the sustainable
development of the community it is working in. Prepare a brief report for the
donors to the NGO that explains how their money is being spent wisely and
accomplishing the goals the NGO set out to achieve. Put the report on your
website.
More than two-thirds of the population of the Middle East and North Africa are below the
age of 25. I(t is youth that have emerged as the drivers of the so-called Arab Spring. At
25, Esraa Al Shafei, the Bahraini founder of Mideast Youth, fits squarely within this
narrative. Since 2006, her fledgling organization has sought to use digital media as a
platform to amplify diverse and progressive voices advocating for change across the
region.
Available in Arab, Farsi and English, Mideast Youth through its various projects offers a
diverse public access to uncensored information with the aim of strengthening citizen
voices and fostering a culture of transparency. Though initially launched as a simple
group-blogging initiative, the organization has grown rapidly and spun off innovative
projects like CrowdVoice.org a user-powered service tracking global voices of protest

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5/15 - Environmental Geography
by crowd-sourcing information. According to El Shafei, CrowdVoice had an immediate
impact with thousands of users when the revolutionary protests began in Tunisia and
Egypt.
Other recent projects include Ahwaa.org a bilingual tool for LGBT youth that
leverages game mechanics to facilitate high-quality interactions and MidEast Tunes,
which spotlights emerging artists using music as a tool for political expression and social
change.

3. Because the Earths physical environment plays such a key role in sustaining
human life on planet Earth, all good citizens must pay attention to their ecological
footprint. Take the ecological footprint quiz from the Earth Day Network, and see
how many planets would be required if everyone lived like you. Screenshot your
results and put them on your website.

4. Since many of the current and future citizens of our planet desire a modern and
high standard of living, the strain on resources is only likely to get worse. Special
attention is paid to fossil fuels since they finite and provide for most of the

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5/15 - Environmental Geography
worlds current energy needs. But how realistic is it to move to renewable energy
sources and maintain our current standard of living? Watch physicist David
Mackays TED talk Reality Check on Renewables. Which 2 renewable energy
sources provide the most efficient and realistic production possibilities in the
future? Write an email message to a US legislator expressing your fact-based
opinion on one renewable technology. Copy my email address when you send it.