What is "Environmental Action: Shifting from saying to doing" about? |  |
| Do you ever ask yourself… How do human-induced changes to the environment affect the health and prosperity of modern society? How can social movements make a difference? How can I make a difference? | |
Sign up for the Office of Sustainability's first for-credit course! | |
This Experimental college class is designed for students who want a refreshing way to examine the truths behind the environmental concerns in the news. Through the lens of psychology, social marketing and critical thinking, we will examine the current environmental issues impacting our world. As students become environmentally literate they will also be given tools to examine their and their peers’ personal behavior and learn how to create behavior change. This course aims to empower students to find their voice as they become leaders in environmental action; learning practical skills in communication, social marketing campaigns, and event planning. Activities during the semester will include: critical thinking research examining current environmental issues, personal challenges, campus social marketing group projects, and the opportunity to prepare for and host a symposium on peer-to-peer sustainability education with Boston-area colleges and universities. By the end of the semester students will leave this class with a new perspective on themselves, society and the environment.
Time commitment:
Class for 2.5 hours every week in the evening, extra-curricular activities, homework and a weekend-day symposium. Fall 2009 classes will be held on Monday evenings from 6:00 - 8:30 PM.
If you would like to learn more about this course please contact tina.woolston@tufts.edu or dallase.scott@tufts.edu. You can sign up via the Ex-college when Fall 2009 courses open for enrollment (September 8th).
Environmental Action is a variation of ECO-Reps, in that it involves engaging students in peer-to-peer learning. What was the Eco-Reps Program?
The Eco-Reps program was first designed and run by Anja Kollmus in 2001 and has been replicated by colleges and universities across the country as an effective peer-to-peer education and action program. At Tufts it was supported by the Tufts Climate Initiative (now part of the Office of Sustainability), with financial support from the Tufts Institute of the Environment. In 2007 we decided to focus our energies on staff education, as they play a key role in creating and maintaining a school culture. The Eco-Ambassador program was rolled out in the Fall of 2008.Envisioning a need for additional education for students, we decided to broaden our reach by creating a class that students could take for credit. The larger Tufts community can now learn about sustainability theory and action through the Experimental College (aka the Ex-college) in the course entitled Environmental Action: Shifting from Saying to Doing. This new class will meet each week and engage students in both environmental literacy and the social science component of sustainable living.
For more information about the Eco-Rep program in its original form as peer-to-peer education in on-campus dormitories, go to this page.
Environmental Action Sample Program Activities
During each class, students are given the opportunity to discuss current environmental issues and explore what behavioral changes need to occur to minimize environmental degradation. A typical class schedule is:
| Time | Activity | Description |
| 20 min | Group Activity / Multi Media Viewing | Environmental/social psychology group activity or a short video related to the class topic. |
| 30 min | Critical Thinking Round Table Discussion | Students will present prepared remarks on pro and con arguments related to controversial sustainability topics. |
| 30 min | Presentation | This will be an opportunity to go more in depth about the topics discussed during the round table discussion and expand on the topic of the week. |
| 10 min | BREAK | |
| 30 min | Behavior Change Discussion | This time will be spent reflecting on each student’s personal behavior and societal behavior for the topic and discuss what could create behavior change. |
| 30 min | Group and Individual Activity Prep Work Time | During the last portion of class students will be given an opportunity to work on group projects. (e.g. social marketing activities, symposium prep., individual projects) |
| TOTAL TIME 2 hr 30 min |
Environmental Action: Fall Semester Schedule (updated 9/8/09)
| Date | Topic | ACTIVITY DUE: |
| 9/14/09 | Introduction | -- |
| 9/21/09 | Changing Behavior 1st Behavior Challenge |
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| 9/28/09 | Trash and Recycling |
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| 10/5/09 | Social Marketing & the Environment 1st Group Project – Social Marketing |
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| 10/12/09 | Water |
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| 10/19/09 | Connecting with other Universities |
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| 10/26/09 | Climate Change |
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| 11/2/09 | Peer-to-peer Sustainability Symposium 2nd Group Project - Symposium |
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| 11/9/09 | Finding your voice |
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| 11/16/09 | Population – Consumerism 2nd Behavior Challenge – Zero Waste |
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| 11/24/09 | Food *Eco Feast* |
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| 11/30/09 | Green Fatigue 3rd Behavior Challenge – Clothing Conscience |
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| 12/7/09 | Green Jobs 3rd Group Project- Social Marketing |
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| 12/14/09 | Final conclusions. Survey |
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Reading Material
The course readings will mainly consist of recommended and self-directed online reading for critical thinking research assignments.
Peer to peer sustainability Symposium:
The Symposium will bring together students and Eco-Representatives from campuses region wide to share best practices in peer to peer education around sustainability issues.
Social Marketing Group Activities:
Students enrolled in Environmental Action will work together to create two different campus wide social marketing campaigns to influence their peers' environmentally related behaviors.Individual Behavior Change Challenges:
Students enrolled in Environmental Action will be given three different behavior challenges that will encourage you to change your own personal behaviors to more sustainable ones. You will be encouraged to involve your friends and dormmates/classmates in participating in these challenges with you.Example Challenge:
Zero Waste – Each student will be responsible for carrying around any waste they create for a week. If it is not recyclable or compostable the trash will go in a bag on the outside of their backpacks to be carried around to class and other on and off campus activities. This activity is designed to make students aware of just how much waste they are responsible for so that in the future they will think twice about purchasing an item with a lot of packaging or a non-recyclable or non-compostable item.About the Instructors
 | Dallase (pronounced "Dallas") Scott is a Graduate Student at Tufts in the Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning program. She spent two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer on the island of St. Lucia teaching environmental education classes with a focus on behavioral changes. While on St. Lucia, Dallase worked with Caribbean SEA to develop a week-long training camp for kids to learn about St. Lucia's watersheds. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from California State University, Chico, where her honors research project looked at correlations between lifestyle behaviors and environmental attitudes. |
 | Tina Woolston joined the Office of Sustainability in September of 2007 and holds a B.S. and M.S. in Animal Science and Ruminant Nutrition from Cornell University. At Tufts she has worked on greening initiatives with the purchasing, publications and dining departments as well as initiatives with students such as Focus the Nation, the renewable energy program Get Clean and the Environmental Leadership Roundtable. In addition, during Fall 2008, she started the Eco-Ambassador program for staff. Tina also has worked as the Program Manager for Sustainability at Earthwatch Institute, conducting emissions audits and office greening initiatives; and teaching 7-21 day sea kayaking and mountaineering expeditions for Outward Bound in Colorado, Alaska and Baja, Mexico. |
| Both instructors bring a strong background in experiential education, environmental literacy and sustainable living knowledge to the course. | |
How do I start an Eco-Rep program or sustainability course at my school?
With lots of time and patience! There are a lot of great resources out there for starting an Eco-Rep program - you can look at what other schools are doing or design your own program from scratch. For information about the original Eco-Rep program at Tufts - go here.
At Tufts we are lucky to have The Experimental College which serves as an incubator for new ideas about teaching, learning, and curriculum. This allowed us to try out a course without having to go through the rigors of creating a new course within an existing department and curriculum. Other colleges have courses taught by professors through their Environmental Studies program or other departments. AASHE lists some of them on their website.