First The BESR Community Forum: Sustainability Meets Entrepreneurship
Course Syllabus Spring 2009 5120 Grainger Hall Envir St 900, Sem 5 Gen Bus 765, Lect 1 BSE 900, Lect 2 Alternating Fridays, noon 1:15 pm
TomEggert,Esq. [e-mail] 2672761 5277GraingerHall
ThisprogramispartoftheWiscontrepreneurInitiative, madepossibleinpartbyagrantfromtheEwingMarionKauffman Foundation andadministeredbytheUWMadisonOfficeofCorporateRelations. AdditionalsupportisprovidedbytheMGEFoundation.
Objectives:
This course is for students and community members to learn from experts in the field and from each other. Over the course of 6 class meetings, we will hear from practioners and experts in the area of cleantech, alternative energy and the development of green jobs. We will hear about trends, flows of money and future opportunities. We will hear how concepts of sustainability (or sustainable development) have been operationalized in the cleantech world. In short, this is a course about taking the idea of sustainability into the real world. Sustainability (or sustainable development I use the terms interchangeably) refers to balancing economic progress with environmental care and concern for the community. For many, this means efficiently using tax dollars while minimizing the environmental impact of operations and contributing to social development. Increasingly, sustainable development is being recognized as a driver of innovation and value creation in the private sector and through this class, we hope to convince you this is true for innovative cleantech companies and other startups. Without the involvement of small business and very small business in reshaping how we think about our individual and collective responsibility to the earth and future generations, our chances of successfully navigating the very troubled waters ahead of us are slim. This class brings together students with community members to dialogue on the relevance of sustainability in a focused and constructive way. It has been organized to give you better insights into how sustainable development can be a part of most decisions that are made, whether at the individual lifestyle level or at the organizational level. Though the class is only a one credit class, it is my hope that the lessons and knowledge that you will take from this class will rival that which you would take from a three credit class. We are deeply indebted to the following sponsors that allow us to offer this community forum. Please let them know how much you appreciate their support! This program is part of the Wiscontrepreneur Initiative, made possible in part by a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and administered by the UW-Madison Office of Corporate Relations. Additional support is provided by the MGE Foundation.
GROUND RULES: It is essential that you be present for each class.
One absence will affect your grade, two absences will result in you not passing the class. This is not a course geared toward "passive learning". Your purpose for being in this class should not be to passively receive information from "experts", but rather to actively engage in your own inquiry and restructure your thoughts about, and your relationship with, the concept of sustainability. You will be asked to read The Clean Tech Revolution during the semester. I will need you to submit a one page (standard margins, single spaced and 10 point or 12 point font) response to the book by class on April 24th. This response to the book may include brief comments, reflections or observations about the relationship of the book to something that one of the speakers about. talked Many of you have already discovered the website for the class. That website is: http://www.bus.wisc.edu/sustainability/classes/communityforum/ You will also be assigned one short writing assignment for the class. Short means no more than 1 page (standard margins, single spaced and 10 point or 12 point font). It is important to note that you will be graded on both the content and your writing skills. This means that your analysis and logic are given equal weight with grammar, paper organization, development of your ideas, and other writing skills. Being able to say what you need to say concisely is an important skill to learn. Your short paper will be a letter to the editor of a newspaper of your choosing that integrates the ideas from one of the books and from one or more sessions. You are to recommend an action(s) or a response by the community in your letter to the editor. For instance, you may recommend that Madison respond to the challenge of global climate disruption by embracing more solar technology. For your short paper to be graded highly, you will need to be very persuasive and your persuasiveness must include an appeal to both the heart and the head. In other words, simply arguing that something should be done because it is the right thing to do will not receive as much credit as a paper that also argues the financial benefits of implementing the actions that you are recommending. You may submit your letter to the editor at any time during the class. Please also submit it to the publication that you are writing to. Additional information about sustainability and sustainable development is available on Toms website: www.uwsustainability.com. This is a rich site for resources, ideas, books, jobs, and more.
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GRADING
40%ofyourfinalgradewillbebaseduponCitizenshipincludesattendance,attitude, interest,appreciation,enthusiasm,activeandproductiveparticipationinclassand knowledgeoftopics. 30%ofyourfinalgradewillbebaseduponyourwrittenresponsetooneoftherequired books 30%ofyourfinalgradewillbebaseduponyourshortpaper.
In fairness to others in the class, late submissions of the written response to the book or the short paper will be penalized at a rate of 20% of the papers value per day (e.g., your short papers presented one day late will receive at most a weight of 24 out of the 30 points available).
Required Book:
TheCleanTechRevolution:The Next Big Growth and Investment OpportunitybyRonPernickandClintWilder,CollinsBusiness,
2007.
Recommended Book:
Hot,Flat&Crowded;Why We Need a Green Revolution--and
How It Can Renew America, byThomasFriedman,Farrar,StrausandGiroux,
2008.
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Class will meet only on the following dates: Jan. 23 & 30; Feb. 13 & 27; Mar. 13 & 27; Apr. 17 & 24
January 23 -- Class introduction. Review syllabus, describe relationship of class to School of Business, Nelson Institute and Ag Engineering. No lunch provided. January 30 -- CleanTech, Alternative Energy and Sustainability: Notes from the Field Tom Eggert, WI School of Business and Jun Pan, Biological Systems Engineering February 13 Entrepreneurship and a clean environment Terry Barry, President, aquaMost LLC February 27 -- Entrepreneurship and alternative fuels & transportation John Biondi, President, C5-6 Technologies March 13 -- Entrepreneurship and Green Building Dr. Sonya Newenhouse, President, Madison Environmental Group, Inc. March 27 -- Green policy Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton April 17 -- Entrepreneurship and green power, Andy Jensen, Vice President, General Manager, Cardinal Solar Technologies
April 24 -- Class wrap-up. Final assignments due. No lunch provided.
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