Practicing Sustainable Development Across Cultures

The overall goal of this program was to prepare both U.S. and international students to better address the challenges of cross-cultural understanding, communication, and action in the context of sustainable development.

The program consisted of two training retreats focused on sociocultural aspects of environmental sustainability. The retreats were designed to enhance the preparation of students pursuing overseas and domestic study/work in the fields of sustainable development and natural resource management.

A structured forum was provided to enable students to strengthen their cross-cultural skills and exchange ideas on sustainability issues while gaining a deeper understanding of why individuals, households, and communities make the decisions they do about their lives and environments.

Applied retreat themes included: gender relations, class and ethnicity issues, community dynamics, and cultural interpretations of sustainability, development, and the environment.