2012 Summer Institute for Sustainable Communities  

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Join us in beautiful Flagstaff, Arizona for sustainability workshops.

The SUS Summer Institute for Sustainable Communities offers graduate students and the greater Flagstaff community the opportunity to learn hands-on skills. 

For more information or to register, please call 
928-523-0499. 

NAU graduate students who wish to take the workshops for credit may register online at https://my.nau.edu or contact us at Sustainable.Communities@nau.edu. Some need-based, non-credit workshop scholarships are available for community members who would like to participate in a Summer Institute workshop.

Community Needs Assessment

Instructed by Dr. Miguel Vasquez

  • May 11, 6PM-9PM
  • May 12, 9AM-5PM
  • May 13, 9AM-1PM
  • May 18, 6PM-9PM
  • May 19, 9AM-5PM
  • May 20, 9AM-1PM

Cost 

The cost of the workshop is either a $250 workshop registration or 2 units of graduate credit (pass/fail) through NAU as SUS 697 Independent Study: Community Needs Assessment

Workshop details 

Do you need to complete qualitative thesis or dissertation research? Do you work in the private, public, or non-governmental sector? Do you need to know what is going on in your community? Do you need to know how to translate your findings into doable and sustainable solutions?

Using Rapid Assessment, Response, and Evaluation (RARE) techniques developed for the US Department of Health and Human services, and now used by agencies and organizations around the world and here in Flagstaff, this course will provide you with the basic techniques to enable you to assess community behaviors, needs, and perspectives in a focused, systematic, and credible manner and to communicate them to stakeholders and policy makers:

  • observation
  • social mapping
  • street intercept surveys
  • cultural expert interviews
  • focus groups

Speaker biography 

Dr. Miguel Vasquez, applied anthropologist on the NAU faculty, has worked as a trainer, evaluator, and consultant for the US Office of Minority Health with RARE projects in 19 cities across the US.

Teaching for Sustainability: Theory and Practice

Instructed by Rosemary Logan

  • June 1, 6-9 PM
  • June 2, 9-5 PM
  • June 3, 9-1 PM

Cost 

The cost of the workshop is either $125 workshop registration or 1 unit of graduate credit (pass/fail) through NAU as SUS 697 Independent Study: Media Justice, Social Change.

Workshop details 

Develop your skills as an educator and program designer by delving into the theory and research that support sustainability education. During this course students will learn to design authentic projects that address community needs, while also enhancing student engagement, and achievement. Students will learn about the process of designing a learning expedition in the manner of Expeditionary Learning Schools, and how to integrate sustainability standards and assessments into their design. The course instructor, Rosemary Logan, a PhD candidate in Prescott College’s Education for Sustainability program, will model sustainability education practice in her instruction, as well as link the learning directly to needs within the educational community of Flagstaff.

Speaker biography 

Rosemary Logan has her Masters in Sustainable Communities from NAU and is a third year PhD student in Prescott College's Education for Sustainability Program, where she is studying the intersection between Expeditionary Learning, transformative learning, and sustainability education. Her background is in sustainability education and has included curriculum design for organizations such as Flagstaff Foodlink and Museum of Northern Arizona, and teaching for Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy's Colorado Plateau Studies class, Earlham College's Southwest Field Studies Semester Program, and Camp Colton.

Placemaking and Permaculture

Instructed by Josh Robinson

  • August 17, 6-9 PM
  • August 18, 9-5 PM
  • August 19, 9-1 PM

Cost 

The cost of the workshop is either a $250 workshop registration or 2 units of graduate credit (pass/fail) through NAU as SUS 697 Independent Study: Honeybees, Food Democracy

Workshop details 

Participants will learn the basic tenants of permaculture design, with special emphasis on building healthy ecosystems and communities through regenerative gardening.  Participants will gain both a theoretical and practical understanding of the relationship between place and citizenship, and how creating gathering places and places of beauty not only build community, but can also activate citizenship and participation in decision-making. Students will visit and participate in local place-making efforts within the local community and neighborhoods as well as create a final product that will address a direct need at one of these organizations. 

Speaker biography 

Josh Robinson has been teaching, designing, and installing integrated permaculture based systems professionally since 2006. He received his Master's Degree in Ecological Landscape Design from Prescott College.  He started the first permaculture based landscaping company in Northern Arizona specializing in integrated water harvesting. He is the recipient of the Toby Hemenway's "Gaia's Garden" and the Art Ludwig's "Create an Oasis with Greywater" award.