Instructor: Bonnie Colby
Wednesday | 3:00 PM - 4:15 PM | In-Person
Fall 2024
This seminar provides an experiential introduction to economic tools being used to address water challenges worldwide; from local problems such as loss of a town’s drinking water to degradation of large rivers in our global climate crisis. Water challenges often are intertwined with social justice. An example is higher exposure to contaminated water for low income and minority communities and low access to potable water. Economic policies rightly have been blamed for water and ecosystem degradation and injustice. This seminar focuses on economic tools being used by governments, non-profits and private business to accomplish environmental restoration and ameliorate injustice. We develop our ethical reasoning by exploring how economic forces and tools harm and assist diverse groups in differing ways. We explore a half dozen economic problem-solving and negotiation approaches, applying them to actual water challenges in locations tailored to student interests. Class meetings are highly interactive and hone our interpersonal and leadership skills, along with experiencing how economic strategies can be used to tackle tough issues.