Project Utopia was an assignment designed to make us think about the complexities of our world and society today. We were introduced to the concept of Utopia during English when reading ‘The Giver’. The society in ‘The Giver’ has attempted to create a perfect world, but as the book progresses, we discover that it has many flaws. How can a Utopia be created then? To start off, you must understand the word Utopia itself, interpreting it in your way. According to https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/utopia Utopia means ‘a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions’. So, a place of perfection, that seems easy enough. Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but no, a perfect place is not as easy as it seems. To create a ‘Utopia’, one must think about the strategies that are being used today, and those of the past. Which of these have work, and which have not? Finding solutions to common societies problems, without creating more problems in the process. You also must include all the liveability and sustainability factors, the UN Global Goals, Social connections, sustainable infrastructure, functioning government that is fair for all, honestly the list could go on and on! In the hindsight, creating a Utopia is not an easy job, you must find a way to satisfy all. Although our Utopia, ‘Hapori’, still has its flaws, it is our interpretation of Utopia.
The college capabilities are skills needed to make a positive difference, whether in ourselves our with others. During Project Utopia I found that many of these capabilities were needed to effectively complete the task to the best of our abilities. We used the college capabilities collaboration, effective communication, organisation, creativity and problem solving. I found my partner and I had excellent collaboration and communication skills. We were able to communicate our ideas to each other, taking and considering all ideas as possible additions to our Utopia. Every weekday we made sure we went on our team to communicate the work needed to be done that night and sharing ideas and thoughts on the work. From this project I learnt that sharing ideas with others and communicating my own is the best way to effectively work in a project like this. I learnt this when my partner and I were discussing our Utopia, when an idea was raised, we would both add to it. For example, our Pods came from an idea brought up by my partner, which made me think of incorporating communal living in our community. The college capability, organisation, I felt my partner and I achieved. We decided to keep our shared collaboration space, adding new sections for almost every part of Project Utopia. Every piece of work done towards our Utopia was added in the OneNote, allowing easy access to the information if needed. We had an excellent to do list, with clear labels on what must be completed. A team was also made so that we could easily communicate about the work that must be done over the week. I always knew the work and when it had to be done by. Our organisation was also commended by the innovated facilitators as our OneNote was shown to all of the year 7’s and special guests as an example of great organisation. From this I learnt that when you are organised and have a clear structure, everything becomes a lot easier to manage. I also feel that we managed to achieve creativity and problem solving. After some research, my partner and I put our brains together to think outside the box for ideas that may be completely different to society today. We took our way of life and completely reimagined it, flipping it around. We found solutions to many of the problems that exist today, in a creative manner. I found from this that many of the greatest ideas are the ones that seem impossible at first, then you find ways to amend its faults. Our no currency system was exactly that, an idea that would surely lead us to communism, but we managed to continue to look at it from every angle, changing how to obtain goods and services. Overall, the college capabilities were extremely helpful in the making of our Utopia.
The global goals are goals that are designed to resolve some of the greatest challenges our world faces. There are 17 in total, each outlining the steps to achieve the goal by 2030. These goals are really what connected our project to the real world, and the challenges it faces. The innovated facilitators decided to implement accreditations, a way to help students understand the goals and how they can make them a reality in their Utopia. If you had an idea to help the goal become a reality in you Utopia, you will present it to a facilitator, and they will decide whether you gain an accreditation or not. I found this to be a great idea, making me and my partner understand the complexities of the world greater and finding ideal solutions that would work in our Utopia. For me it was challenging to find suitable strategies to be accredited for as I was just thinking about what we use today. Overcoming this I found that many great ideas are not what you would originally think. At the start of this project I never would have thought reduced inequalities would be the result of no currency. This was found after looking at every angle of this strategy. As we drew closer to the end of the project, I found I understood the Goals better, as well as beginning to find ways to bring ourselves closer to achieving them.
When doing a public speech, I found that rehearsing the script made it a lot easier to present. Knowing the script practically off by heart helps to improve my confidence when presenting in front of others. When presenting my speech, I tried to remain eye contact with the audience for the most time possible, only occasionally looking down at my palm cards which contained a mere few words. I enjoyed presenting in front of others as, even though I was a little bit nervous, I really thought the work we did on our Utopia was good and I wanted to share it with others. I knew our Utopia well and was confident in the ideas presented in my speech. I learnt that being enthusiastic and knowing the subject well makes a big difference in public speaking. If I were to redo all the public speaking in Project Utopia, I would continue to focus more on my eye contact and body language. I find that I occasionally overuse hand gestures, distracting the audience from my speech and drawing the attention to my hands. This can be used to my advantage as I could direct the attention to the visual aids, helping the audience better visualise what I am saying.
Overall, Project Utopia was a challenge that with a lot of hard work we managed to overcome using multiple strategies. When creating a Utopia, I learnt the complexities of our society today. It helped me understand further how concepts like liveability and sustainability are used in our world today, and how they can be used to improve the way we live. Communication is very important in a project this size. Listening and collaborating ideas and thoughts are key to creating the best work. Your interpretation of something may be completely different to another’s, collaborating your ideas means that you get the best of both. It is also compromising, problem solving when disagreements arise. When having organised all that needs to be completed and when it needs to be achieved, the work comes easier and you find that everything flows. You must also give yourself time to think everything through, clarify what flaws it may have and find solutions that connect. When doing a project like this it is also good to make note of what you are learning from the experience. Project Utopia taught me many useful strategies that can be used in future projects.
