Collaborative Learning Group Assignment
Position Statement

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As a group, you will develop a position statement which outlines your organization’s vision for sustainable development in Bolivar County.  The position statement is in preparation for the Sustainability Summit to be held in December, 2008.

In carrying out this assignment, you must craft a position statement that would accurately represent the members of the type of organization you are representing.  In other words, you need to put yourselves in the shoes of business people and farmers (group 1), tourism authorities (group 2), church members (group 3), and environmentalists (group 4).  You need to create a position statement that represents the values of perspectives of members of this group, and most importantly, that represents a vision of sustainable development that would go along with how people in this group think.

Your position statement should be roughly five pages long.  All members of the group should contribute equally to the position statement.  You will submit a draft of the position statement on October 3, and once you get that back you will prepare a final position statement and post it on Blackboard by October 24.  Members of the other groups will read your position statement to prepare for the summit.

In order to prepare the position statement, you need first to investigate the vision of sustainable development that members of your group would have.  To do this, you should identify a number of readings that are representative of your perspective.  These readings may come from journal articles, book chapters, or from information published by well-known and reputable organizations (e.g. The World Bank, the United Nations, the World Health Organization, agencies from the U.S. Government, the Mississippi State Government, large Non-Governmental Organizations such as the Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund, or Oxfam, or large and reputable business-oriented groups).  Do not use random webpages, popular magazines or newspapers, or less reputable sources.

Compile the articles and chapters you identify and create a bibliography of the readings.  Each group member should identify at least three suitable readings.  These should form the basis of how you frame your position paper.  Cite the articles in your paper as sources that help you make your argument.
 

Dates to Remember:

Sep. 12, Post citations to articles on Blackboard (three per student)

Oct. 3, Draft Position Paper due (one per group)

Oct. 31, Final Position Paper due on Blackboard (one per group)

Dec. 8, Sustainability Summit