The final project will be to develop a proposal by identifying a specific sustainability problem and offering a solution addressing real-world concerns. The scope of the proposal will be no larger than an item being addressed at the State Level(Texas). It is well understood that the topic can cross present state/county/city borders, and you should address it (especially with pollution for example), but you should strive to focus on the specific area. The bottom line is you should not be considering this a research paper format, but the opportunity to present a change to a new or ongoing project based on what has been covered in this class. Designing a Sustainability Project
The proposal will present a viable ‘fix’ on an issue after weighing out the research and looking at the pros and cons. The proposal must be logical and include appropriate references cited in APA format, with a minimum of two scientific scholarly journals being cited. Just listing websites will not be acceptable, as you will need to use refutable sources. The final version should be 4-8 pages (1000 – 2000 words) long, follow the structure outlined below, and use either Times New Roman or Arial 12-point font styles.
Student Name/ID:
1. Topic Introduction. The topic introduction should be as complete as possible when submitting the draft. It should be a paragraph that is no more than four to five sentences long and you should be presenting facts and not asking questions. The introduction should peek a reader’s interest and make them to want to read more. A great example of an introduction is the PREFACE in the textbooks. If you review those, you will see that it provides “a high-level overview about the purpose (where the author was taking it and what he hoped to accomplish by presenting the information); as well as be a smooth flowing “highlight” of the areas that he was going to cover.”
With this in mind, examples of items to consider for the remainder of your proposal would be to define boundaries that could include:
a. Primary Items
· Present Population, Demographics, Climate, and Geography
· Present Energy and Resource (Water, Food, Transportation) Needs
· Future sustainability needs and the proactive measures you would implement to meet those needs. For instance,
· Land Availability/Design
· Natural Resources
· Building Development
· Funding Options
b. Secondary Items
· Who are the ‘duty experts’ that can assist you, and how can they help?
· Who are the stakeholders and customers, and how much interaction is required? This is crucial as you think about the social, political, and cultural environments.
2. Discussion Points. This is the substantive part of the proposal and provides the in-depth purpose of the project. Your draft proposal should include a bulleted list of the proposed discussion points as well as a brief description of each discussion point. Discussion points should present factual data and can additionally address such possible areas as
· Goals of the proposal,
· Benefits of the proposal, or
· Possible paradigms that must be changed
3. Rationale (which must include the pro and cons concerning obstacles/barriers). In this section, expound on the benefits of the proposal. Benefits can be social or economic. Likewise, address all the “pros” and “cons” that affect the proposal. The draft proposal should include a bulleted list of the benefits ‘discovered’ to date, as well as all of the potential pros and cons.
4. Methodology. This section describes the details concerning how the proposal would be implemented.
5. Conclusion. The conclusion will provide a summary of the performance measures identified and how they ‘weighed out’ in addressing the specific sustainability problem. Based on the analysis, identify how the proposal will, or will not, be a ‘success’ based on the material provided. As a FYI, it is expected that some ‘ventures’ will not succeed in the Science and Technology world so it is okay to identify that situation if barriers are too prevalent at this time.
6. References . The References section should be as complete as possible when submitting the draft. Follow APA style for formatting all in-text citations and the final reference list, ensuring that an alphabetized list is provided with a minimum of two scientific journals as well as a hanging indent.