PLACE-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Greenhouse Gas Inventory & Climate Action Planning Workshop for Small Business Leaders

Place-Based Education -Curriculum Design Reflection

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I am not a person I would describe as “saving enough energy to finish strong” either in physical races, my own education, or professional projects. But within the setting of planning a single lesson, full educational program, or candid conversation unpacking a concept to understand better - I have learned to see the value in reflection even though I’ve only managed to intentionally plan and implement lessons ‘successfully’ a few times. The experiences with reflections in this program - especially when we made an entire lesson or day about the importance of reflecting - were the lessons that really stuck with me as healthy reminders each time they would come around. At this point, I feel like the value of reflection and the act of being reflexive are going to be some of the best tools and practices available to me. In my future, whether it’s on my social/emotional side or my professional side, I want to be intentional with moments for really solid reflection time periods before and after project and decision-making processes. Whether it is the symbolic “putting a bow on things” at the end of endeavors, or the introductory ritual to starting a new iteration of project design, in my new career path as a City Planner it is imperative to familiarize yourself with the “life story” of any property, master plan, new project, or community.

This Curriculum Design on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories and Climate Action Planning for Business Professionals is an example of my love of reflection in action because it asks leaders of the local economy to reflect on their greater values and beliefs about the environment and their role in its overall health. This early reflection, or setting of intention, leads into the stage of the process that interrogates the impacts of the business in a way that generally isn’t wondered about in day-to-day operations. That leads to processing the scale of impact identified, and using the sheer reality of climate impact as a motivational tool to reach out to the community to brainstorm mechanisms and set goals for implementing positive, impactful change on a grassroots level.

Now, working on the Community and Economic Development staff at the City of McCall during the biggest growth period in city history, I am leaning into implementing this workshop and development plans in the community by first looking back on all of the initiatives, achievements, and resolutions already made by the city to better inform the process of developing a coordinated Climate Action Planning effort. Seeing as we are living, working, and recreating in this community out of an intrinsic appreciation for the natural world around us to some degree, a critical element and perhaps duty of community members’ to ponder is where we fall as individuals and business leaders in protecting the earth for future generations. By ruminating on our answers to that question on multiple scales, we can begin to coordinate and comprehend the scale of impacts we can make to better our world.