Castles, Communities, and Sustainability: Lessons from Scotland in the 21st Century will introduce students to contemporary challenges of Scottish sustainability rooted in the history, identity, and culture of Scotland. Scotland is a leader in sustainability practices and provides a unique, bounded case study through which to explore sustainability practices and policies rooted in culture, identity, institutions, and history. Since 1999 Scottish law and policy (independent of United Kingdom laws and policies) have focused on empowering people and communities to engage in sustainable activities that increase economic and social well-being at neighborhood, community, and regional levels

Students will engage with communities that are actively engaged at hyperlocal, grassroots, neighborhood, and community levels to address sustainability and wellbeing challenges in people’s everyday lives. Students will engage in volunteer work with at least two of our community partners for one afternoon on two different days during our visits to these communities or organizations. The course begins with an overview of Scottish Geology and History at Holyrood Park, an ancient open space of significant symbolic importance to Scotland which is located near both the Scottish Parliament and the Royal Palace at Holyrood. The program also includes a visit and tour to the Scottish Parliament and potential meetings with Scottish Ministers. These first few days set the historical and institutional context of the course before we depart for community sites and related visits to museums and institutes. A key goal is to introduce students to the tensions between institutional and community or place based approaches to sustainability, the collaborative possibilities of cross-sector work, and the creative solutions that communities devise to address issues of sustainability, resilience, and wellbeing.

This course places community engagement in a broader, comparative perspective for Rutgers students and enhances student success by building small, engaged cohorts willing to translate these experiences into independent and honors research projects, as well as international internships. Students can use those experiences to identify areas for future research, capstone projects, graduate education, jobs, or internships.

The course meets the experiential learning requirements of the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and the Department of Human Ecology. The course will be multi-site and encompass both urban and rural regions of the country, as well as introduce students to the multiculturalism of 21st century Scotland. The intent and design of the program is to have students learn from people deeply engaged with problems of sustainability in their own communities and regions and bring that knowledge back to their studies at Rutgers.