Why you should take Business and Environmental Sustainability II

So, Sprott has four new sustainability-centred courses commencing this year (see the full list and links in our last blog post). Each one is super exciting, but one is particularly cool and different. 

How is this course different?

The course Business and Environmental Sustainability II has been designed a bit differently than previous courses. Thanks to the Students as Partners Program, and the Sprott Summer Undergraduate Summer Research Internship program, this course is shaped by students’ opinions. We’re using what we’ve learned through ‘An inquiry into business students’ attitudes and perspectives of environmental sustainability’ survey to design this course, and that makes this course very special. 

In the survey, students asked to learn about environmental assessment, evaluation and decision making, because these skills are tools for creating real impactful solutions.

To match the wants and needs of students, the course has been designed to focus on application of knowledge through discussion and projects. Aiming to help students learn what businesses are currently doing as solutions, how to assess these activities critically, and how to go about creating new and improved solutions. The findings from our survey have significantly impacted how we designed this course.

To learn more about what we found in our research, keep an eye out for our next blog post. In the meantime, we’ll tell you a bit more about how the course Business and Sustainability II (BUSI 4901) is coming together.

What do you mean by application-based?

Check out the course syllabus for Business and Environmental Sustainability II (BUSI 4901) and you will see no exam and lots of group work.  Each week students will learn about the various challenges related to environmental sustainability (things like emissions or waste management) facing a particular industry or sector.

The professors and guest speaker(s) will share their experience managing these challenges. Those discussions will introduce students to some of the conflicting perspectives surrounding these issues. Through speaker presentations and weekly assignments, students will come to understand the complexity and intersectionality of these issues; helping students understand what key factors need to be considered when addressing issues surrounding the environment. The learning is not unidirectional. This is a chance for students to share their ideas with the speaker(s) many of whom are in influential positions in their organizations.

The assignments

As we mentioned before, there isn’t an exam in this course. Instead, students will be graded on individual weekly assignments, class participation, and one or two larger group assignments.

For the larger assignment(s), students will use what they’ve learned in the lectures and their own ideas and knowledge to act as environmental consultants. Students will work in groups to conduct research, draft a plan, and a recommendation while considering all stakeholders and perspectives discussed in class.

The smaller weekly assignments will be research and readings to prepare for the coming weeks’ guest speaker presentation and larger assignment(s). The research and reading assignments will help students make more informed and realistic recommendations during the larger project(s). 

Finally, in this online course, students will be graded for participation. Students will be expected to be present, listening and engaging with the speakers and each other, just as we hope they would engage stakeholders in any decision-making process.

Each grade point is designed to provide students with experience that is relevant to the workplace such as critical thinking, solving problems, and managing information.

Weekly Guest Speakers

Since students want to learn how to take action and make meaningful impacts, we’re doing our best to bring in some guest speakers who have done exactly that.

There can be a lot of appeal in a course that features new guest speakers every week. In addition to these other employable skills, students gain a broader perspective. And like Rory Sutherland says, “Perspective is everything. Time permitting, there will be Q&A session with the speakers where students can ask questions and chat with these special guests.

This format will also make the weekly lectures a little more enjoyable for students. Instead of attending a weekly lecture, it will feel like joining the crowd of a talk show. Like the Oprah Winfrey Show, but hosted by Dr. Gary Martin and Dr. Ruth McKay, and the giveaway is education! And just like the Oprah Winfrey show, our class will feature inspiring guests, because they have all done interesting work around Business and Sustainability! The course will be more than just work – it will be fun!  

Quality guest speakers

When we say the guest speakers are inspiring, we really mean it. We are hand-picking fascinating individuals from Canadian organizations that are making an impact on the environment and in the community here in Canada.

Don’t believe us? We’ll give you an example.

We are so thankful and extremely proud to announce Canadian Senator Rosa Galvez as one of the first fabulous guest speakers that we will be welcomed into the course.

Who is Senator Rosa Galvez?

Appointed to the senate in 2016, Senator Rosa Galvez stands for gender and social equality, responses to climate change, ethics and accountability, cross-sector cooperation, and evidence-based decision making. She’s dedicated to all sorts of initiatives that our team supports, such as climate action, circular economy, equality and a clean and just recovery from COVID-19.

Most recently, she is a sponsor of the Senate of Bill C-12 ‘An Act respecting transparency and accountability in Canada’s efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050’. She led the second and third reading on this bill in the Senate.

Senator Galvez has a doctorate in engineering and is a professor of Civil and Water Engineering at Laval University, Quebec, Canada. Her most recent research explores water contamination, waste management and environmental impact assessments. 

Between her research and her parliamentary experience, Senator Rosa Galvez has extensive knowledge of many environmental issues and the debates surrounding them in government and industry. 

We think she is the coolest, but you can check out her website and judge for yourself.

If you’re as impressed by Senator Galvez as we are, register for BUSI 4901 to join us in learning from her and a many more fascinating individuals!