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The Wicked Problem of an Equitable​ Zero-Waste Circular Economy​
The U.S. is a consumption-based society whose economic health is dependent on spending and consumption of goods, or products, and services. The impact of our consumption, though, is felt globally. This is most ...

The Wicked Problem of Water Quality in the Mississippi River Watershed
Water connects all elements of Earth's ecosystems, and human activities – biological, economic, and even recreational – change the chemical and biological nature of water. As such, maintaining the quality ...

Externalities, Public Goods, and Common Resources – Navigating the market equilibrium
Consider our new understanding of what makes water quality a "wicked problem" using the example of the Mississippi River Watershed. In particular, focus on the SDGs related to clean water & sanitation ...

Using the Mississippi River Watershed Module in Introduction to Environmental Economics
This course offers an overview of economic analyses of environmental issues like pollution and resource management for non-majors. Students will receive an introduction to marginal thinking, market-based solutions, valuation techniques, and government intervention, with a focus on current issues and applying economics in an interdisciplinary manner to other environmental fields.

Materials Development
Content page detailing a faculty-led transdisciplinary curriculum development initiative focused on sustainability, outlining a structured process for creating and assessing teaching modules through collaborative workshops, common and course-specific exercises, and iterative revisions across STEM and business disciplines at multiple institutions. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Part 2: Mapping the Lifecycle of a Product
As individuals, we may vary in how much waste we produce and how we dispose of it, but it should be apparent that none of us produce zero waste. This activity explores the lifecycle of a specific product through ...

Part 1: Waste and the Linear Economy
Almost everything we do creates waste. This is true of many products that we buy, from their packaging at the time of purchase to their disposal at the end of their useful life. In the U.S., we dispose nearly 5 ...

Part 3: Creating a Revised Stakeholder Map for Downstream Pollution in the Water Cycle
After experiencing the role-play activity in Part 2, the goal is to create a single stakeholder map for the entire class that reflects the collective and revised understanding of the wicked problem of downstream ...

Town Meeting Reflection
Students were asked to reflect on a specific set of questions after the Town Meeting but before completing the final stakeholder map. This is for a communication course, so students were asked to reflect on their ...

Action Plan for Impacting Your Sustainable Development Goal
Using the article "Stop Raising Awareness Already" by Cristiano and Neimand and a six-step template, students create a plan to show how they apply the knowledge learned throughout the term to make a ...