you will build a sustainable solution strategy on how to transition from the problem to the vision. For this, you will use the strategy-building tool you learned in this course. Be aware that Essay #3 does NOT describe the vision (you have done this in Poster#1!) – you need to describe the strategy to achieve the vision. That means you need to describe all the main steps and actions that need to be taken to make the vision become a reality!
Content and Structure
For this essay, using your assigned sustainability problem, provide basic information about the problem, and elaborate on why it is a sustainability problem. Your problem should stay focused on specific location identified (UAE and the Gulf Coast Region). This essay should apply the concepts we have covered in this course (SOS 320). Pay close attention to the following criteria as the essay should be structured according to the following four parts each with their own header:
- The first part (introduction) is only 1-2 paragraphs: briefly describe the manifestation of the problem and the context of the problem you selected (extent, location, history, etc.). This should include any relevant background information.
- The second part of the essay should explain the sustainability features of the problem (why this is a sustainability problem) each with their own header:
- Is the problem significantly harmful over the long term – does it threaten collective goods (ecosystems, human wellbeing, livelihoods, justice) that are essential for the long-term viability, vitality, and integrity of the society in question? A problem is significantly harmful when it threatens the majority of the following goods, and all of these should be explicitly discussed:
- Viability or Integrity of Ecosystems.
- Human and Social Wellbeing.
- Is the problem significantly harmful over the long term – does it threaten collective goods (ecosystems, human wellbeing, livelihoods, justice) that are essential for the long-term viability, vitality, and integrity of the society in question? A problem is significantly harmful when it threatens the majority of the following goods, and all of these should be explicitly discussed:
- Equitable Opportunity for Livelihood and Economic Activities.
- Justice across Societies (Inter-regional Justice).
- Justice from one Generation to the Next (Inter-generational Justice).
- Is the problem urgent? Does it display features of irreversibility in the short-term?
- Are there dispersed effects? Do the adverse effects of the problem spread across different sectors and across different spatial levels (from local to global)?
- Are there complex causes? Are the underlying causes of the problem manifold and characterized by long and indirect cause-effect chains?
- Is the problem contested? Is the problem controversially discussed and even willfully obscured?
- The third part of the essay should explain the need for sustainability problem solving by discussing the legitimate stakeholders of the problem:
- Does a group of legitimate stakeholders recognize and judge this situation as negative or adverse, in terms of sustainability, on justifiable grounds? Who are these stakeholder?
- Is a group of legitimate stakeholders honestly interested in doing something to resolve and mitigate this situation? Who are these stakeholders?
- fourth part should describe in one short paragraph who can benefit from your essay series (who will be interested in the results of your analysis and solution study). It is not sufficient to use general categories such as “the public.” Instead, you need to identify a specific group, organization, association, agency, company, or the like that might be interested in your work!
