All University of Hawaiʻi faculty, staff and community partners are invited to share research, writing, practices and teaching materials exploring the “Meaning and Management of Water” as part of UH‘s annual systemwide focused inquiry project for AY 18–19.
Faculty and community partners are invited to join the Laulima collaboration server platform SYS MM1U to share resources, learning outcomes, assignments and other teaching materials related to water.
The initiative follows up on the successful Grand Challenges of Water Summer Institute which took place at the UH Mānoa campus May 15–17, 2017, led by a strong coalition of partners in educational renewal.
More than sixty faculty gathered with community partners at the UH Mānoa campus for three days working together across disciplines and institutions to develop curriculum exploring water issues with their students over the coming academic year.
Economics instructor Jackie Lindo of Kapiʻolani Community College said, “The sessions provided knowledge, resources and hands-on sustainability-related curriculum development. Perhaps more importantly, the institute provided a valuable opportunity for faculty across the system and across disciplines to share their teaching innovations and visions for increased collaboration, building excitement and hope for the future of higher education and sustainability initiatives in Hawaiʻi.”
“Challenges related to water and water security are global, cross-cutting and fundamental to social justice,” said Daniele Spirandeli, assistant professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at UH Mānoa. “I have incorporated new pedagogies and resources into a new undergraduate research course that focuses on the myriad of ways that scholars, professionals and community members address water related issues that are of critical importance to Hawaiʻi.”
Many Minds, One University #MM1U
“Imagine what the University of Hawaiʻi could accomplish if we were to focus our collective efforts and resources to answering one essential question of Sustainability?” said Matthew K. Lynch, UH sustainability coordinator.
On May 15, the UH Office of Sustainability launched Many Minds, One University for AY 18–19 to provide support for collaboration across campuses.
“Today’s first-year college students will be 30 years old in 2030, and they need to be equipped and involved now to manifest such goals. We can’t let them down.” said Professor Krista Hiser, who serves as UH System sustainability curriculum coordinator. “#MM1U is a project which will focus collective intellectual effort on one specific area of sustainability each year.”
#MM1U is designed to raise awareness of state goals like this one, from the Aloha + Sustainability challenge, as well as the United National Sustainable Development goals framework and core concepts of sustainability. The project emphasizes interdisciplinary and applied research such as the ʻIke Wai research partnership to map and model Hawaiʻi’s water, creative design projects such as the Make the Ala Wai Awesome student design challenge, and citizen science such as the UH SeaGrant project to document the 2017 King Tides.
F or more information on #MM1U, visit the UH Sustainability site or email Krista Hiser at hiser@hawaii.edu.
