This time on the project course, it was all about further defining and selecting the final problem that the groups would then start working on. Selecting only one problem, from the wide array of dilemmas that we had earlier come up with, seemed like a difficult task at first. Our given challenge is broad with many issues linked to it. We would have wanted to pick up at least two problems to concentrate on, but time and resources are limited in one course. We’ll save the rest of the world later…
We were asked to think how our group’s skills would be useful in solving the problems. At the end of the day, the existing abilities and resources would in part facilitate possible solutions. Our group quickly noticed that the proficiencies we had listed were more general, whereas the problems we had in mind were quite specific. We started by stating that all technological solutions are off the table. After agreeing on one problem to focus on, we went ahead to meditate on preliminary solutions. At end of the session, we realized that these ideas about solutions turned out to be somewhat technological – the only thing we had thought it couldn’t be. Keeping an open mind and especially not limiting the things you think you can do seems to be a key to greater solutions.
We were also asked to form a vision: what do we want to solve and why and, what change do we want to achieve in the world. Our group consists solely of environmental science students, so we already had a shared vision: we want to go after problems and create solutions that really matter for the betterment of environment and the world. Within the framework of our given issue this means enabling more energy-efficient solutions to be used in the public buildings.
Now that the problems are more precise and concrete, it feels exciting to get to go forward creating solutions. At the end of the session we shared with others our group’s vision, the given challenge and the problem we had decided to concentrate on. The problems and plans in each group seemed ambitious, and we can’t wait to see how the solutions come together and what they will be at the end of this course!
Group Ekat