Delta State University
SOC/COD 521 Sustainable Development
Fall Semester 2006
Group Project
Integrating Conservation & Community Development
Over the course of this semester,
you will work on a comprehensive community development project with the other
graduate students in the course. The purpose of this project is to develop
an action research strategy that links Dahomey National Wildlife Refuge and four
surrounding communities, focusing particularly on the educational institutions
in these communities. The project will be coordinated using GIS to
organize the data, and to develop a set of maps that present the information in
a useful way. The final product will be a strategy document, akin to a
research proposal, which identifies key areas that need to be addressed for
further research and action.
In order to carry out this project, each student will be a member of two groups.
First, you will join with three other students and focus on one community in
Bolivar County, near the refuge. The communities are: Benoit, Boyle,
Rosedale and Pace. Second, each group member will specialize in one topic,
and will work with the members of other groups with the same specialties.
The specialties are: community, education, environment, and GIS.
The Community Coordinator is responsible for collecting information from
the community, using participatory strategies such as a needs assessment.
Working together, the Community Coordinators will develop a sustainable
development strategy, considering questions such as:
• How do local residents conceive of sustainable development?
What would it
take to ensure a more sustainable future for
community members?
• What are the most pressing social, environmental and
economic issues in this
community?
• What capacity and means does the community possess to work
towards a more
sustainable future?
The information the Community Coordinators collect will ultimately inform a set
of recommendations on how to link the community with other entities to increase
sustainability. Community Coordinators may also compile descriptive data
that characterize their communities. Together, the Community Coordinators
should develop a unified approach to carrying out this project, so that all four
communities are undergoing similar processes and addressing the same general
questions.
The Education Coordinator is responsible for working with the teachers in
the community to assess strategies for increasing education for sustainable
development. Working together, the Education Coordinators will develop a
sustainable development strategy, considering questions such as:
• How much education for sustainable development occurs now
in the school
system? Are the teachers amenable to
incorporating sustainable development
in their courses?
• What are the most salient barriers to teaching sustainable
development?
• What would the teachers need to increase their commitment
to teaching
sustainable development?
The information the Education Coordinators compile will ultimately inform a set
of recommendations on how to incorporate sustainable development into the
teaching curriculum. Together, the Education Coordinators should develop a
unified approach, so that the teachers in all the communities are undergoing the
same processes and addressing the same questions.
The Environment Coordinator is responsible for working with the Dahomey
National Wildlife Refuge staff (including the Friends of DNWR) to assess
Working together, the Environment Coordinators will develop a sustainable
development strategy, considering questions such as:
• How much interaction does the refuge staff have with
members of surrounding
communities? How much environmental
education does the refuge undertake?
• Would the refuge like to see more community involvement in
managing the
site? What resources does the refuge have
to increase community
involvement?
• What information would the refuge staff like to know about
surrounding
communities?
The GIS Coordinator will work with the DSU GIS Lab to organize the
information provided by the group members. The GIS Coordinator will
collaborate with the staff at the GIS lab to develop geospatial data maps which
organize the information into applications which will be useful to the wildlife
refuge staff, to the communities and to the teachers. The GIS Coordinator
should also create maps of the communities summarizing demographic
characteristics, using data from the 2000 Census or a similar source.
Note that each group member is coordinator of one particular area, but is not
responsible for carrying out all of the work in that area. All group
members should work in all areas at some point during the semester, by
collecting data in the communities, visiting schools and the wildlife refuge for
specific projects, and assisting in coding and entering GIS data, for example.
The coordinator should take the lead in their specialty area, but must also
solicit and coordinate activities involving the other group members.
The GIS lab offers a capstone course this semester, and unless your schedule is
overloaded, you should sign up for this course so that you will have access to
work in the GIS labs. The course is GIS 590, Section 1, and the CRN is
45362. The course is 1 credit, and you do not have to show up to weekly
class sessions. At the end of the semester, you will present your results
to the GIS personnel, and comment on how you used GIS in your project (the pros
and cons, challenges, etc.). If you would like more information on GIS,
you can sign up for the course GIS 200: Computer Mapping/Cartography, Section 2,
CRN 45303. The course meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:05 to 4:20 in
Whitfield Gym. Contact Subu Swaminathan (4522) for further information if
you intend to sign up for this course.
Note: For those also taking SOC/COD 600 Community Development this
semester, Dr. Green and I agree that it is fine if you do your projects for
both courses in the same community. You must have distinct activities
for each project within the communities, however. If you have any
questions, please consult with one or both instructors.