Assignment
In this Capstone Project, you will utilize much of the knowledge gained throughout the Environmental Studies program to design a sustainable community from scratch. For this assignment, pretend you are a developer looking to construct a sustainable community that includes both residential and commercial dwellings as well as infrastructure (roads, energy, water, etc.) for 100,000 people. You are to describe your plan in detail utilizing the knowledge gained throughout the program. Your plan must contain the following sections:
1. Introduction (one to two and a half pages; at least two sources)
o This section should introduce the concept of sustainability and provide general details about your community (location, housing types to be constructed, infrastructure, etc.). You may utilize GIS to display maps if desired.
2. Description of land use, wildlife, wilderness, and wetland destruction/preservation (approximately five pages; at least four sources)
o This section should discuss the impact of your community on land, wildlife, wilderness, and wetlands. You are to discuss how your community will affect each of these components and what steps will be taken to ensure sustainability of the land, wildlife, wilderness, and wetlands in the location.
3. Description of water supply and wastewater treatment (approximately five pages; at least four sources)
o This section should discuss how you will obtain water for your community and deal with the wastewater in a sustainable manner.
4. Description of solid and hazardous waste treatment and recycling plan (approximately five pages; at least four sources)
o This section should discuss how you will deal with solid and hazardous waste in a sustainable manner. A recycling policy should also be a part of the waste management plan.
5. Description of energy production and air pollution treatment (approximately five pages; at least four sources)
o This section should address how you plan to obtain energy for your community in a sustainable manner. Additionally, it should address the topic of air pollution and how you will manage to keep air pollution to a minimum.
6. Conclusion (one to two and a half pages; at least two sources)
o This section should summarize your overall community plan and address the importance of sustainability in community development.
As part of your development plan for sections two through five above, you are required to discuss the following four topics:
1. How you will ensure sustainability. This should include a discussion of how the plan is designed so the community is not significantly contributing to climate change.
2. If applicable, what laws or regulations govern the various topics (for instance, the Clean Air Act has strict regulations on power plant construction)? Additionally, you should note if an EIS is needed for any of the plans.
3. A significant discussion surrounding the economics of each section should be present. If your plan is too expensive, alternative options may be needed. Make sure that your plan is economically feasible.
4. The ethics of your community plan should also be discussed for each section. How do ethical considerations play into your choices?
Your Final Project must be 20 to 25 double-spaced pages (excluding title and reference pages) in length and formatted according to APA style You must use at least 20 scholarly and/or reputable resources to provide sufficient detail of the topics listed above and illustrate ample knowledge of the environmental studies field.