GLOBAL SERVICE + RESPONSIBILITY

The MLPD program is billed as “an entrepreneurship-oriented program of study which combines business and finance with physical planning, design, and construction.” With that, it could be assumed that developers require a keen entrepreneurial spirit when in practice. Developers always aim to create the vision that they see for whatever type of gain that might be. While the goal is always to create a positive financial return, it is also the responsibility of a developer to ensure the local community and society at large are also affected positively. Throughout the program, students are tasked with analyzing the full scope of their decisions for various projects, making sure to be mindful of all aspects that could be involved.

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Throughout LDEV 671 (Sustainable Development), students are consistently asked what effect does development have in the overall scheme of the site, community, region, and world. This course offers the most obvious practice toward gaining and understanding the responsibilities that are present within the field. As a final project for the class, students were asked to take into consideration all of the materials that were covered and provide feedback and opinions on what was gained. The course overall does well to expose students to all of the impacts that are present in the field and attempts to show potential creative solutions to some of these problems. Throughout the course, students are constantly reminded of the service we owe as developers, stewards, and humans toward the protection of the environment and provides answers to the questions one may have about the best practices to achieve this. I felt that the class was effective in teaching students these necessary principles and aided in the understanding of their importance. The full course response is attached below.