Arizona State University
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Arizona State University has offerred a number of sustainability-focused immersive experiences over the past three years. Just over the past year, the following immersive experiences offerred through the Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives Global Sustainability Studies Program (see website below) have provided students the pportunity to witness and learn in-depth about sustainability challenges and solutions: 1. United Kingdom and Denmark - Building Resilience Through Sustainability Planning in the United Kingdom and Denmark (June 1 - July 13, 2016) A project exploring how multiscale (individual, neighborhood and city) resilience and happiness are affected by urban agriculture programs. By partnering with local organizations, researchers and universities, students and local residents were engaged and empowered to co-develop local solutions to urban sustainability challenges. 2. Hong Kong - Urban Planning in Hong Kong (June 3 - 18, 2016) Cities are increasingly taking the initiative to address the big-picture sustainability challenges. This program used Hong Kong as the setting to provide students with lectures, field trips, direct interactions with Hong Kong’s leaders and an opportunity to actually develop and publicly present solutions-focused policies for one of the world’s most complex and densely-populated cities. Students worked in small teams with Chinese students enrolled in City University of Hong Kong to learn how cities formulate and apply public policy to help solve their challenges of local sustainability. 3. Morocco - Sustainable Development across Morocco (May 14 - June 7, 2016) Students experienced and witnessed an extremely wide range of human development throughout the program, by staying and working with Moroccans from a myriad of socioeconomic sectors in the regions of Marrakech, the Sahara, and the Atlas Mountains. The overall goal of the program was to provide a comprehensive introduction to the cultural, political, socioeconomic and historical context for sustainable development policies, discourse and projects in Morocco, in order to develop skills in assessing current issues and solutions in local and comparative contexts. 4. England and France - London and Paris: Sustainability in Museums (May 15 - June 6, 2016) Students visited London, Paris, and Washington D.C. to gain a cross-cultural perspective of how museums and similar public venues engage public audiences in sustainability. They compared and contrasted goals and interpretive methods at diverse institutions in all three cities to identify general themes and effective strategies for communicating sustainability to broad public audiences. 5. Nepal - Risk and Resiliency in Earthquake affected Urban and Rural Nepal (May 16 - June 4, 2016) Students observed and interacted on urban challenges of earthquake affected infrastructure development, school buildings, and farming systems in the valley of Kathmandu and beyond. They also experienced buffer zones in the Chitwan National Park, home of the rare Bengal tiger and one-horned rhino, to understand how wildlife and humans exist in a densely populated regions. With student peers and experts from Nepal’s universities and organizations, students deliberated on the challenges and complexities of ensuring the sustainability of these systems. 6. South Africa - Sustainability Challenges of the Wildlife Economy in South Africa (June 8 - June 21, 2016) This unique program immersed students in the social/cultural, environmental, and economic challenges facing South Africa with its legacies of colonialism and Apartheid, and with the 1994 ratification of one of the world’s most progressive constitutions. Students focused on the social/cultural, environmental, and economic conflicts, and opportunities, in and around Kruger National Park associated with the government’s Wildlife Economy policies. There are also additional sustainability-related study abroad programs offered to ASU students that can be found through the ASU Study Abroad Office (https://mystudyabroad.asu.edu/). Additional immersive experiences offered over the past three years include: The Global Resolve Program (https://engineering.asu.edu/global-resolve/) A social entrepreneurship program designed to enhance the educational experience for interested and qualified ASU students by involving them in semester-long projects through courses that directly improve the lives of underprivileged people, and/or those in under-developed nations throughout the world. The School of Sustainability Internship Program (https://schoolofsustainability.asu.edu/student-experience/finding-internship) Students majoring in sustainability have access to a full-time Internship Coordinator and a list of internship opportunities in sustainability. The internship program allows students to take the knowledge and skills learned in the classroom and apply them in a work setting. Internships offer students the opportunity to learn from professionals and explore potential career options. At the School of Sustainability, internships for credit are combined with academic coursework that encourages critical reflection on the internship experience. Sustainability Science for Sustainable Schools (https://sustainability.asu.edu/sustainableschools/) A GK-12 program which immerses graduate students in a GK-12 setting to further sustainability curriculum and campus projects.

ASU's Website and Unit Contacts Lisa Murphy