Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.93
Liaison Miriam Keep
Submission Date May 16, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Micah Kenfield
Sustainability Coordinator
Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment
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Does the institution offer at least one immersive, sustainability-focused educational study program that is one week or more in length?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-focused immersive program(s) offered by the institution, including how each program addresses the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainability:
Students from the Sustainable Product and Market Development for Susistence Marketplaces class travel for immersion in the context and to conduct market research during part of the winter break. The field trip has been conducted in Chennai and Bangalore, India. Students observe households in urban and rural subsistence contexts, as well as retail and wholesale outlets. Students interview low-literate, low-income individuals in urban and rural settings regarding product ideas for group projects. Students also visit educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and corporations engaged in the development of innovative programs and technologies for subsistence contexts. The field trip geared to visiting the environment of the urban and rural poor requires considerable planning and rehearsal, and has been a transformative learning experience for the students. Spring semester is spent converting concepts to workable prototypes, and developing manufacturing, marketing and business plans.

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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