TOOLKIT FOR A SMART & SUSTAINABLE WORLD

Why should I take this Trinity Elective?

People both reshape the surface of the planet and depend on its living and non-living components for survival and wellbeing. Perhaps the biggest global challenge facing humanity today is how to achieve acceptable levels of wellbeing in the long-term, while population and per capita use of our ‘natural capital’ rises rapidly. If you want to learn about key societal challenges facing the globe, and become equipped with the tools to investigate, test and construct theoretical and practical responses to those challenges, then this elective is for you

What will I learn?

You will learn about key societal challenges to the sustainable use of living and non-living components of the environment.
You will get an overview of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and how they can be achieved.
You will learn about innovative ways that humans use technology and nature-based solutions to address sustainability challenges now and into the future.

What will I do?

Attend a series of lectures from world-renowned scientists to understand the basics of environmental systems, UN SDGs, and solutions for achieving the UN’s targets (no prior knowledge required).
Identify innovative sustainability initiatives that are being increasingly developed and adopted by TCD.
In small student-led groups, justify, design and communicate an artefact of your choice (e.g., phone app, video, game, book proposal) that contributes to progress on meeting one or more Sustainable Development Goals.

How will this be delivered?

11 hours lectures (1 per week)
22 hours pre/post lecture reading (2 hours per week)
Approx. 64 hours team-building, planning, creation, justification and presentation of group artefact assessment item
3 hours in-module quizzes

How will this be assessed?

Continuous Assessment/Coursework: 100%
Coursework evaluation is based on the end-of-year project artefact with a live demonstration, oral examination within teams, peer and teaching staff assessment of engagement and contribution and in-module quizzes (Blackboard MCQ). 50% of the marks are group-wide, and 50% is individual. Criteria for evaluation are:

Demonstration/presentation of artefact produced by group;
Oral exam in teams – answering questions based on artefact & presentation;
Individualised assessment of engagement & contribution based on team-members’ peer reviews and lecturer/TA observation in class and online;
In-module quizzes throughout the semester.