Wholly Frijoles!Teaching Sustainability thru Interactive

Systems Thinking Education

Jill Ramirez, M.A., Coordinator of Sustainability Education, Residence Life

Russell Martin, M.A., Asst. Director, Office of Academic Success and Achievement

The University of Arizona

2012-2013 Advocates Coming Together

Goals• Understand the systems thinking framework

• Experience an innovative, educational program that could be adapted for use on your campus

• Understand intersections between sustainability and social justice

• Understand how effectively systems thinking concepts can enhance sustainability and social justice education

Sustainability DefinedPerpetual and cooperative environmental, social,

and economic systemsPeople

PlanetProfit

Systems ThinkingMaking Sense of the Triple Bottom Line

What is a System?

Any group of related, interdependent parts

What is Systems Thinking?• A way of thinking about the world and relationships

• An approach to problem solving

• Encourages an appreciation of dynamic relationships

Habits of a Systems Thinker

Understanding the Big Picture• Remember to see the forest

• Maintain balance between the big picture and the details

• Think holistically

Changing Perspectives• Use new perspectives to increase understanding

• Are you willing to be a little bit right and a little bit wrong?

Considering Cause-and-Effect• Identify the circular nature of complex cause-and-effect

relationships

• What are the causal connections? Interdependencies?

Consequences• Consider both short AND long-term consequences

• Can you accept “short-term pain for long-term gain”?

Leverage Actions• Understand the system’s structure to

identify possible leverage actions

• Where can even small changes make an impact?

Wholly Frijoles!Just how did we teach these?

Rules• Assign generations

• Each generational representative brings their utensil to the beans

• All families have 10 seconds to simultaneously collect

• Utensils only!– No cups in the cooler

• Return with your beans and keep in your family’s clear bin

• Process repeats with each generation

Let’s Play!

Caveats• Shortened time frame

– Need more time for debrief

• Missing graph component– Visually see disparities

1 2 3 4 50

1

2

3

4

Depth vs. Generation

History• Fortuitous beginnings

• Partnership with the School of Engineering and the Waters Foundation

• Green Fund grant

• Experiment

Experiment Design• Strategically paired 22

undergraduate halls– Based on size and culture

• Worked with students– 1 student coordinator and 4 student facilitators

• Hosted Wholly Frijoles! in the 11 treatment halls

Battle of the Utilities• Water and energy reduction competition

• Goal based—reduce by 15% to win

• Incentives– Money for hall programs or amenities– Two students win $25 gift cards to UA Bookstore

• Monitor usage– September: Baseline– October: Competition– November: Long-Term Impact

Assumptions• Understanding impact motivates behavior change

– Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen)

• Similarly sized and cultured halls exhibit similar sustainability behaviors– UA Residence Life: 80% first year students– Potential for culture shifts

• Consistent experiences– Different facilitators– Different insights

Results

September October November$20.00$22.00$24.00$26.00$28.00$30.00$32.00$34.00$36.00

Utility Cost Per Capita

TreatmentControl

Lessons Learned• Systems thinking enhances sustainability education

• Promotion is critical

• Short-term effectiveness

Questions?

For facilitation instructions, contact Jill Ramirez at jillramirez@life.arizona.edu