Last March, two separate student groups from the Undergraduate Program Office of Colombia Climate School went to Rwanda and Bangladesh, their courses on sustainable development. Their travel focuses on exploring the meaning of sustainability in the context of sub-Saharan Africa and the tectonic active delta.
Sustainable Development of the Rwandan Class (SDEV 4400) has been provided to sustainable students to provide hands-on experiences to understand the historical and current sustainable development efforts in sub-Saharan Africa. Throughout the semester of working with the University of Rwanda (UR), students work with the Rwanda Organization. During spring break, Colombia and UR students meet in Rwanda to collaborate on projects and make recommendations for local partners.
This year, the two projects include a joint effort with Koko Networks, a climate technology company that provides improved bioethanol cooking stoves that operate through a fully digital system, while a big tree is a big tree, a research project that is a research to improve the psychosocial health of young people in local primary schools.
Gabriel Najum Spratt, an advanced major in Anthropology, prepared a meal using charcoal cooking dishes, which made how the stovetop negatively affect the stovetop. The experience also provided him with a real-world background as his team solved the problem in the class.
“The course is a transition from the scale of global climate change and sustainability to a smaller, more impactful environment. Being able to contribute directly to practical solutions to address the serious sustainability crisis has fostered a great sense of self-efficacy for me,” he said.
The course meets the pinnacle requirements of students majoring in the field of sustainability, combining preliminary literature reviews, field research, presentations to UR campus clients and ultimate deliverables in Colombia.
Sustainability junior Helen Yibrah said the course helped her improve her organization, public speaking and communication skills due to the advanced final lecture, while also encouraging a critical perspective on sustainability.
“I have the ability to further understand climate change actions and sustainability efforts without the need for a lot of economic trade-offs,” she said.
The course aims to help students understand Rwanda’s unique historical and current development challenges by analyzing how climate change complicates sustainable development in the global South while engaging in cultural exchanges and gaining insights from local communities.
Lisa Dale, a curriculum lecturer and master’s director of the climate school, said that bringing Columbia and our students together is as important as the projects these teams do. “Intercultural understanding is crucial to sustainable development, and this lesson allows us to build friendships around the world while we contribute to real solutions on the ground,” she said.
Ashley Young, a junior in Sustainability major, shared that the course allowed her and her peers to witness the far-reaching impact of seemingly “small-scale” projects firsthand. By building connections with Rwandan students, interacting with companies like Green Starz and impacting children’s lives, she hopes their efforts will be available locally and one day globally.
“The course brings sustainability to life through real people, real projects and real impacts. It proves the efforts to sustainability, no matter how small they seem, can ripple outward in a truly infinite way. I’m always inspired to never stop creating these ripples.”
Meanwhile, 3600 miles away, 10 Colombian students and 10 Dhaka University students learned about the geosciences, environmental issues and their intersection with the Bangladesh population as part of the SDEV 3350: Bangladesh Workshop.
This course gives students the opportunity to study the extreme climate and migration of the Bangladesh Delta in a group, as well as the impact of heat stress adaptation in the country. Lecturer Mike Steckler has been studying and traveling to Bangladesh for more than 20 years. The trip made particularly meaningful to him, as it marked his 25th visit accompanied by his daughter.
“It’s exciting to share my knowledge with a group of new students. Bangladesh is a place not only in climate change, but also in changing landscapes; the land is inspiring and surrendering, rivers and islands are shifting, coastal and river banks are eroding and growing.
Michelle Ueltschi, a senior graduate student who studies sustainability, said the course helped her see real-life applications of concepts she learned in the classroom and added a new understanding of her understanding of sustainability by showing her people who directly impact them. “Nothing can replace the experience of people who change in real time with the people whose surroundings have the greatest impact,” she said.
The students started their journey in Dhaka and later went to various villages for interviews. During the St. Dalban forest, they observed wild boars, birds and monkeys and heard a tiger roaring from the river bank. “This time was definitely a highlight for me,” Ultzchi said, also reflecting her experience on her personal blog.
For students like Jinhao Bai, a sustainable junior, this class provides tailored knowledge on a wide range of and complex topics of sustainability.
“I usually find it difficult to master knowledge by just reciting bullet points from lecture slides. This course does show me that climate change is not a slogan on paper, but a phenomenon that shapes the landscape of the planet and people’s lives,” he said.
After a intense and meaningful spring break visit to Rwanda and Bangladesh, both course students returned to Colombia, where they will soon deliver their final speech and reflect on their deepening understanding of sustainable development.
“No research can compare to the depth of understanding that real life experience brings,” Young said.
