University of Vermont
ER-12: Sustainability Immersive Experience

NR 206: Environmental Problem-Solving and Impact Assessment

NR 206 is the capstone course for the Core Curriculum of the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. The Core Curriculum represents a body of knowledge, skills, and values that the faculty believes are central to the study of natural resources and the environment. This body of knowledge, skills and values cuts across all academic programs within the School, integrates the natural and social sciences, and aids in the understanding and resolution of natural resource and environmental issues.

NR 206 is designed to help you integrate your undergraduate experience, your knowledge, skills and values, your passions, your talents, and your lifelong goals and dreams  preparing you for your next chapter while honing tools to help you to succeed in whatever you choose. NR 206 is a hands-on adventure in purposeful thinking and interdisciplinary problem-solving. This course is intended as a stepping-stone from previous structured coursework to the professional world of problem solving and action.

NR 206 is a project-based service-learning course that focuses on the skills and processes of problem solving. Broadly defined, a problem is something that you want to change, and problem solving is a process by which a person or group of people manifest that change. During this course we will study the problem-solving process. We will introduce you to different methods of approaching problems, generating ideas, harnessing group energy, reaching consensus, measuring success, and building alliances. We will consider a variety of case studies and talk with some of Vermonts successful problem-solvers/activists to look for common threads in successful approaches and frameworks.

This course will offer you a diverse array of skills and frameworks that can help you to become more effective at creating change or solving problems. As individuals and as members of interdisciplinary teams, you will work on critical and creative thinking, writing, presenting, leadership, systems thinking, decision-making, group dynamics, inner personal skills, and interpersonal skills  the skills most identified by alumni, practicing professionals, and employers as "critical" to your future success and well-being.

PRT 188: Sustainable Development and Ecotourism in Costa Rica
This course will explore the forces and processes of social change in Costa Rican communities given the rise of nature based travel to this Central American destination. We will consider the processes of how communities involved in service sector enterprises relate to the general concepts of sustainability, including environmental, social and economic impacts. From a conceptual and operational point of view, we will explore the concept of sustainability/sustainable development (development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs), with an emphasis on community-based sustainable development.

http://learn.uvm.edu/study-abroad/study-abroad-programs/costa-rica-ecotourism-in-costa-rica/