Environmental Resource Management Case Study: Planning Sustainable Solutions

Overview of Environmental Resource Management Project

Overview: For this project you will focus on a case study of an environmental resource management concernaffecting a local community here in British Columbia.1You need to identify a case study that relates to one of the followingcourse topics:freshwater, ocean systems,air pollution, energy or waste.  Make sure you choose a case study topic that interests youand that there aresufficient resources available to study your case. You project will explore the geographiccontextfor your case studyandthe stakeholders involved inthe issue. You will also undertake a critical evaluation of existingapproaches to managing thisenvironmental problem and develop your own sustainable management plan and policy recommendations. Learning outcomes: In completing this assignment students will:•Developtheir understanding of alocal environmental management concern•Evaluate the diverseviews and rolesof stakeholdersinvolved inthis issue•Critically assess current approachesto resolving a localenvironmentalconcern•Apply knowledge of sustainable management approaches toa localresource problemDetailed InstructionsThe project will be completed in sixsteps, as follows:1.Case studyoverview(~1 page):In the introduction to your project, describe your case study topic and locationand make it clear how thiscaserelates to a core course theme.Outline the key challenges in managing this issue and how the local environment or community is negatively impacted. Note that this should be a conciseoverview outlining the key aspects of your case studyand indicatinghow you willaddress this issue.2.Case study context(~1.5pages): Provide a more detailed description of the geographic area for your case study, including relevant informationabout the biophysical environment and human characteristicsof the area.  Discuss how the resource management issue has emerged in this community over time and if this is a relatively recent or a long-standing problem. Give a sense of the spatial scale of the problem in relation to the area impacted and how this problem manifestsin the environment. For example, is this a problem of diffuse, non-point source pollution that affects a wide area and is hard to containoris it an issue that is more concentratedin a specific location within a community?Think also about the population exposed to the problem;is this an issue for all those that live in an area, or is it focused on a specific social group or neighbourhood?Temporal scalemay also be relevantto consider, for example is this a periodic or seasonal issue,or a more permanentproblem?Use maps or other imagesto help showkey geographicalfeatures of the area relevant to your resource issue. Rememberthat geographyrelates to both physical and human elementsas they manifest in a specific spaceso address both of theseelements. It may also be relevant toconsiderimpacts on local cultureor the aestheticsof a place. 1If you are living elsewhereyou may focus onacommunity in that area.
3.Stakeholder details: Stakeholder analysisis a way to identify key stakeholders, assesstheir interests and roles, and clarify how they are impacted by resource management issues. In this step you need to identify the key stakeholders that are involvedin your own case study.  Carefully consider their roles in relation to the problemyou have highlighted.For example, are they contributing to the problem, impacted by the problem or managing the problem?Each different issue will have a unique set of stakeholders,but relevant groups may bepolicy makers, resource managers, researchers, community planners, local citizens, environmental NGOs, Indigenous groups, businesses, industriesor many others. As well as describing the roles of these stakeholders in your written report it is beneficial to include a relational diagram or stakeholder map that shows each of the key stakeholdersinvolved, summarizes their mainroles and relation to each otherin the resource management process.2You should also highlight any important conflicts or differences of opinion between these groups that might act as a barrier to initiatingmore sustainable management approaches. In this summary you might wish to include some quotes that represent different views.  4.Analysis of management approache: Review previous approaches to tackling this resource management issue and offer a critique of theeffectiveness of thesestrategies. This might include an assessment of what has worked in the past and what has been less successful.  Consider how the existing approaches reflect a specific logic of resource management and discuss the limitations of this. For example, water scarcitymight be managed by improving the supply infrastructureor by introducing conservation measures for citizens, while waste problems can improve provisions for disposal or try and reduce waste flows at source. 5.Sustainable resource management plan: Having reflected on your selected resource management issue you need to identify and summarize the key challenges that remain in tackling this issue. You should thendevelop your own sustainable resource management plan, including key policy recommendations and specific strategies that you would introduce to tacklethe issue.You should outline your plan in detail in your typed report, including information on how the plan would beoperationalised, which stakeholders would be involved and a proposed timeline for enacting yourplan, including short, medium and longer-term steps that might be taken to achieve your sustainable resourcemanagement goals.  Think about any obstacles or stakeholder conflicts that you might encounter in introducing your planand discuss how you would overcome these. 6.Visual Infographic in additionto main text):The final taskis to summarize the key steps ofyour sustainable resourceplanvisuallyin a poster or infographic.3This should be concise, creative and visually effective in illustrating your ideas for a sustainable action plan. You canchoose to draw your poster or design it in aninfographicpackage (e.g. Canva, Piktochart) or another application of your choice. You can embed the poster in yourdocument or includeit as a separatefilewith your submission. 2If you are not sure how to organize this