This is a hands-on, experience-based course focusing on critical thinking skills for shifting paradigms in sustainable natural resource management. Our reference point for this course will be the field of horticulture and plants, but we will actively address intersection points with issues in each of three global environmental areas of concern- water, climate, and waste. We will review both conventional approaches and ecological approaches. We will use current literature, discussion, activities, and site tours to learn about gathering information from direct sensory input; fragmentation and integration of landscape processes; sustainability measures; waste as a functional resource; major energy inputs for horticulture industries; carbon accounting; decentralized versus centralized water treatment systems; and mechanical versus ecological management strategies. We will look at the difference between designing for change, using the dynamic cyclical nature of natural processes, as opposed to designing for control, with an expectation of stasis in the final products. We will explore how we decide where the boundary is between dirty and clean. We will develop a checklist and protocol for ecological problem solving in urban/natural interfaces. This course offers provocative environmental literacy for students in all fields- sciences and humanities.

Time:  Class meets Mondays and Wedsnesdays from 1:30-3:50

Location:  Chemeketa Community College, main campus, Building 62, Room 102

Cost:  $216 tuition + $27 fee = $243

Course #:  HOR278 = lecture (41105) + lab (41106)

Instructor:  Renee Stoops

Registration instructions:

If you have not registered for a Chemeketa course within the last year, you will not be able to use the on-line registration system. Please call 503-399-5139 or 503-589-7946 for a registration form to be faxed, emailed, or mailed to you.

If you are a current Chemeketa student (whether you are a degree-seeking student or not), you can register online at my.chemeketa.edu