PROJECT 1: PAYING IT FORWARD

Though, the concept of environmental-community service is not very new its importance has developed in the past few years. There are thousands of organizations all over the world that engage and hold millions of young people all through the world. People of all age groups, with a maximum number of youth are involved in the process of community service. Environmental-community-based organizations include; social service organizations, nonprofit providers and associations that engage both young people as well adults as volunteers; youth development organizations, after-school programs, and faith-based organizations. The process is beneficial both for the individuals as well as the society. Environmental-Community service can be defined as a service that is performed for the benefit of the public. Environmental-Community service is a commitment. Basically, community service is a way for a person to give back to a community in which they live. There are many ways of giving back to the community; it can include mural painting on school wall, cleaning and painting of orphanages, building a small bench for students in school, collecting items for charity, or just simply cleaning up a park. One of the main benefits of environmental -community service is that it builds a person’s character. It helps you to work on skills of being able to communicate with people, being able to work on a team, and being able to take on leadership role. Applying what is taught in the classroom to real life problems not only helps the members of the community, it also increases students’ knowledge and skills while helping them find their place as engaged citizens of the world.

 

OBJECTIVES OF PROJECT

The objectives of this assignment are as follows:

1. To increase awareness of current environmental issues locally

2. To induce creativity in attempting to explore the current environmental circumstances

3. To allow students to explore the opportunity to work with the community and for the community

4. To create awareness of the importance of creating and environmentally sustainable product/design/services

5. To be able to understand and explain the principles of sustainability from environmental and social perspective

 

There are many ways in which designers experience a community. The purpose of this project is to further develop these community skills. By working in teams you are given the opportunity to deepen your team work abilities. You create and adapt strategies that allow you to benefit from the knowledge of your team and contribute to that knowledge. These skills are crucial in your ability to develop good professional design practice in the future. Therefore, in participating in this project you are asked not only to engage with the theme, but also to embrace, examine and reflect on the notions of community as its active member.Through interactive and dynamic exercises, you will gain a deeper understanding of environment and your responsibility to community, practice solving real-world challenges using creative ideas.

 

In a group of 10, we were assigned to identify an environmental-community related issue in your local community. The issues have to be genuine and any solution provided by our team must have an impact to the environment and community. We had to visit our project site more then once to collect a variety of observation before making suggestions or proposals.

 

Our observations should also include what is the main environmental-community related issue, who are affected, any particular organization directly related to the issue, what the people or community needs and etc. Our record of the observation can be in the form of written, video or visual.