Complexity and Courage: Ethics for Community Engagement

Catalog description

Engaging in environmental professions requires us to confront and work with complexity, whether it be in acknowledging scientific uncertainty, adjusting to shifting policy landscapes, or engaging multi-faceted communities. Students will identify and explore complexity with reflective exercises, to observe complexity through attending public and community meetings, and to manage complexity by developing the skills to facilitate conversations and meetings. To build a community for civil and constructive dialogue and to bridge our differences, we will use a series of restorative justice practices, modeling complex conversations and relationship-building we may encounter in our careers.