Conservation Entrepreneurship/Assignments

Assignments

 * Assignment 1 -- Review Business Plans


 * Assignment 2 -- Social Entrepreneur Examples


 * Assignment 3 -- Business Plan Ideas


 * Assignment 4 -- Greening the Amazon


 * Assignment 5 -- Mission and time management


 * Assignment 6 -- Job Description

individual initiative opportunities
Sign up for these optional assignments so that they are not over-subscribed (but 2 people on a topic is not at all bad)

Find and check out the web site / NGO that links donors to projects (allows donors to pick specific projects and aggregates donations)

Read and report back on this article on what motivates social entrepreneurs John C. Allen and Stephanie Malin. 2008. Green Entrepreneurship: A Method for Managing Natural Resources? Society & Natural Resources, Volume 21, Issue 9 October 2008, pages 828 - 844. We identify patterns of social awareness described by green entrepreneurs and how they may be drawn into the natural resource management process. We draw upon case studies of small “green” and “green-green” businesses to learn how they incorporate their businesses into environmental and social justice causes. A few themes emerged from in-depth interviews with a sample of green entrepreneurs, including: low levels of interest in economic success; high degrees of awareness about the business's environmental impact; and high levels of concern for social justice. In addition, several constructs emerged, which included personal motivation and mission, locality, and a forward-thinking orientation about sustainability. The findings reveal innovative models for incorporating green business into environmental causes and natural resource management.

Read and report back on "Why We Shop" or another book by Paco Underhill. Light and readable, talk about consumer culture in USA. Mira.

Check out Fast Company magazine or web site; many interesting articles on innovation, emphasizing design and technology.

Pick an article from Harvard Business Review.

Read and share any piece of The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook.

Understand and explain ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 certification. (There is a link to get you started on the Resources page).

Read and report back on the Republic of Tea business plan. I have the book and can lend it to you. Business plan is in the appendix.

Read part of "How to Change the World" - described on Resources/Literature page. Report back on Bill Drayton and Ashoka.

Look at the blogs on the resource page and report back.

Attend a meeting of the Sierra Club and assess how effectively the group interactions work. What aspects make this likely to be an effective group (team, partnership) and what challenges do you see for the group to be effective?