Town Meeting: An Approach to Exploring Environmental Issues

This module introduces the "town meeting" format as a new teaching method for evaluation of a complex environmental issue. The case study that is used to illustrate the method is the Klamath Basin, Oregon situation where dwindling water supplies, drought, and endangered species management have resulted in impacts on the local agricultural community. Any local, regional or international issue could be examined in the same manner. Various stakeholders in the issue are identified and students are asked to research and represent the viewpoints of their chosen stakeholder at a "town meeting" that is moderated by the instructor.
Objectives Upon completion of this module students should be able to: Access information on a complex environmental issue Present the viewpoints of a stakeholder in a "town meeting" format Propose and evaluate solutions to contentious environmental issues Understand the importance of compromise to the
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Updated January 2008.