Global Environmental Issues (GEI) Assignment: Week 1 Environmental Leadership Challenge ELC Overview In the East-West Centers GEI

2013 Institute, you will strengthen your understanding of environmental issues, different environmental careers, and leadership skills through a series of Environmental Leadership Challenges (ELC). In each ELC, you will learn through the creation process. As part of a team of five participants, you will represent or develop an organization then research and develop a response plan to each challenge. You will repeat this process several times for different challenges. As required by the US State Department, these experiential learning opportunities require you to be very independent, active participants in your learning while constructing your own understanding. We have designed each ELC to create memorable lessons in teamwork, goal setting, environmental career exploration, and leadership while improving your understanding of global environmental issues. Through these challenges you will also develop a deeper understanding of your leadership potential. Week 1 Environmental Leadership Challenge #1: How can the United States prepare for the 21st century based on the forecasted impacts of global environmental issues? Career: United States Federal/State/Municipal Environmental Agency Officer ELC #1 Description In ELC #1, teams of five will be challenged first with learning the current status and future scenarios of environmental issues in America. This will be done using our core text Americas Environmental Report Card, an expert lecture series, and an online learning platform. Due to the limited time of the program, teams with participants from multiple countries will choose to research one issue in depth from food, energy, water, and waste. Although teams will only research one issue in depth, an ecosystem based management approach that recognizes the full array of interactions within an ecosystem (including humans) must be kept in mind. Teams will then develop a response plan on behalf of one of Americas federal agencies. These agencies are responsible for environmental regulation of their chosen topic. On Friday at the end of the ELC, teams will run a participatory workshop. In this workshop, teams will be responsible for obtaining feedback from attendees on their response plan, integrating those responses into a final proposal, then presenting the final comprehensive plan at the conclusion of the event. ELC Assessment In the EWC GEI 2013 Institute, participants will be evaluated based on how well they fulfilled the requirements of their role AND worked as a team. Participants will experience different roles for different challenges. The purpose of having team roles is to ensure a contribution from all team members and ensure accountability for all required outputs for the EWC GEI 2013 Institute. No individual team member can succeed alone or accomplish all the necessary tasks. Therefore, each team member must work collaboratively with his or her team to succeed. Here are the required roles:

For ELC #1, teams are expected to have: A Project Leader (PL) who managed all team affairs and Step #7 A Communications Officer (CO) who designed a participatory workshop for Step #6 A Scenario Planner (SP) who developed alternative scenarios for Step #3 A Research and Development (RDO) officer who managed the important R & D process in Step #5 A Mystery Officer (MO) whose roles and responsibilities are co-developed by the team and EWC faculty based on identified team needs and member skills

ELC #1 Directions This process begins with Step 1) Challenge (Tuesday 11:00 11:15) EWC faculty will present the environmental leadership challenge. In addition to the challenge, some background information and clarification of terms will be provided and questions answered. The second Step 2) Teambuilding (Tuesday 11:15 11:30) teams brainstorm a list of what is known and what needs to be researched about their issue. In Step 3) Scenario Planning (Tuesday 13:30 - 16:30) teams will receive training from EWC specialist Dr. Scott Macleod in how to develop alternative future scenarios. After the training, teams will develop four alternative future scenarios for their issue and corresponding response plans for their agency. Tuesday night (19:00 21:00) participants should read the chapter(s) on their teams issue (food, water, energy, or garbage) in Americas Environmental Report Card and develop 3 questions. These questions must be submitted to team leaders. Project Leaders will choose which questions to ask on behalf of the team to tomorrows experts. Step 4) Information Session (Wednesday 8:30 17:00) Teams will increase their understanding of GEI through an expert lecture series. These specialists will provide background knowledge useful to solving the ELC. In addition, they will answer team questions asked by Project Leaders that were prepared Tuesday night. In Step 5) R & D (Wednesday 19:00 21:00 and Thursday 9:00 21:00) teams conduct the most important part of the ELC: background research using the text Americas Environmental Report Card and the EWC GEI online platform designed specifically for ELC #1. Using the platform, team members test their learning using the online questions and deepen their knowledge of issues related to ELC #1. In Step 6) Pitch (Friday 9:00 11:30 and 13:00 15:00) each team conducts a participatory workshop. In this workshop, the presenting team will be responsible for obtaining feedback from attendees on the ELC response plan they pitch, integrating those responses into a final proposal, then presenting the final comprehensive plan at the conclusion of the event. In Step 7) Reflect (15:00 17:00) participants will reflect on the ELC through silent writing submitted to EWC staff. Once writing is submitted, PLs will record lessons learned from the ELC for public viewing. These lessons should make home country comparisons and help LAP design.

Project Leader (PL) EWC GEI 2013 Criteria Rating: 0= D/Fail 1= C/Unsatisfactory 2= B/Satisfactory 3=A/Comprehensive Lance Chow

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Using the EWC GEI online learning platform, the PL completed the online questions and incorporated knowledge from the Dig Deeper section as well as from Americas Environmental Report Card into the teams response plan The PL supported high performance of team members by setting and enforcing evening curfew, ensuring proper nutrition of teammates, and ensuring ENTIRE TEAM was EARLY to all events The PL successfully led Step #7 Reflect developing a learning reflection lesson strategy approved by EWC faculty and submitting ALL written team member reflections and team lessons learned to EWC faculty The PL independently set team meeting times & places, assigned necessary tasks, established timeline focused on rapid results, & ensured background research was conducted The PL successfully led the team during the participatory workshop

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See reverse for comments Communications Officer (CO) EWC GEI 2013 Criteria Rating: 0= D/Fail 1= C/Unsatisfactory 2= B/Satisfactory 3=A/Comprehensive Lance Chow

Using the EWC GEI online learning platform, the CO completed the online questions and incorporated knowledge from the Dig Deeper section as well as from Americas Environmental Report Card into the teams response plan The workshop of the team is based on independent background research of strategies and best practices of participatory workshops and effectively empowers each team member as resource person and active contributor The CO carefully listened to and incorporated feedback from teammates, EWC GEI 2013 faculty, and others The CO managed Step #6 Pitch and developed a workshop pitch that clearly communicated the science behind the team issue and recommendations

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The CO successfully represented the team during Fridays participatory workshop 5 See reverse for comments

Scenario Planner (SP) EWC GEI 2013 Criteria Rating: 0= D/Fail 1= C/Unsatisfactory 2= B/Satisfactory 3=A/Comprehensive Lance Chow

Using the EWC GEI online learning platform, the SP completed the online questions and incorporated knowledge from the Dig Deeper section as well as from Americas Environmental Report Card into the teams response plan The SP managed Step #3 Scenario Planning and help the team construct original and innovative alternative future scenarios and/or study the scenarios in the online lesson The SP helped the team develop policy response plans based on each scenario and integrated these into Fridays workshop The SP listens to and incorporates feedback from teammates, EWC GEI 2013 faculty, and others

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The SP successfully represented the team during Fridays participatory 5 workshop See reverse for comments Research and Development Officer (RDO) EWC GEI 2013 Criteria: Rating: 0= D/Fail 1= C/Unsatisfactory 2= B/Satisfactory 3=A/Comprehensive Lance Chow

The RDO successfully managed Step #5 and led the team R & D efforts 1 2 Using the EWC GEI online learning platform, the RDO completed the online questions and incorporated knowledge from the Dig Deeper section as well as Americas Environmental Report Card into the teams response plan The RDO ensured research tasks were divided equally among all team members and adequately completed based upon agreed deadlines The RDO listens to and incorporates feedback from teammates, the learning journey, EWC GEI 2013 faculty, and others

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The RDO successfully represented the team during Fridays participatory 5 workshop See reverse for comments

Mystery Officer (MO) EWC GEI 2013 Criteria Rating: 0= D/Fail 1= C/Unsatisfactory 2= B/Satisfactory 3=A/Comprehensive Lance Chow

Using the EWC GEI online learning platform, the MO completed the online questions and incorporated knowledge from the Dig Deeper section as well as from Americas Environmental Report Card into the teams response plan The MO was a troubleshooter and filled in when team or a team member needed help and prevented contradictions and clarified team progress The MO served as a bridge within and outside of the team to obtain resources and materials The MO keep the big picture in mind for the team and incorporates feedback from teammates, the learning journey, EWC GEI 2013 faculty, and others The MO successfully represented the team during Fridays participatory workshop

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See reverse for comments