Introduction:
A utopia is defined as an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect. However, despite this simple and precise definition, there is a lot of controversy around the concept of a utopia. What is perfection? Can it be achieved? We began looking into these questions in English when we studied the novel ‘The Giver’, through which we learned the importance of livability factors, and how a ‘utopia’ is defined. An example of a livability factor that we learned about through the obvious lack of it in The Giver is variety. We found that sameness and uniformity are strong themes throughout the novel. In HASS we learned about the livability, sustainability, and geographical factors that help to make cities more desirable. We looked at the capabilities wheel and design thinking process, and how to represent our knowledge and creativity from our design for the new Fremantle Port into a vision board in InnovatED. We then presented our vision boards to our parents and other guests.
An overview of our design:
My group’s design idea was to create a green space with attached facilities that include a museum, café, and playground. We surrounded our green space with Indigenous artwork, incorporated Indigenous designs into our playground, served traditional and native dishes in our café, and dedicated our museum to celebrate Indigenous culture to acknowledge reconciliation amongst the Indigenous community. We spoke with professionals Georgia Scott and Grace Ferraz, who both work as a consultant in sustainability. They gave advice on how to improve our designs. This helped us to identify that the location of our design was unsafe in that it was too close to the shore and exposed to potential damage from erosion.
ASC Capabilities Wheel – Collaboration, Effective Communication, and Problem Solving:
What are the ASC Capabilities?
The ASC capabilities wheel is a visual representation of important values that help to contribute to making a positive difference. The wheel is divided into 10 individual components as listed in the image aside.
Collaboration and Effective Communication:
Collaboration and Effective communication are very important skills, both for this project and the future. Without these skills, productivity and positive work environments are almost impossible. An example of our collaboration was when we had to create a map connecting the UN Global Goals. To do this we had to work together to match goals that were related to each other. Despite having some differences in opinions, we negotiated to achieve a win-win situation. During the term, I feel that I worked well, efficiently, and positively with all members of my group. There were many things that we had to accomplish in a short period of time, so as a solution to become more efficient, we assigned tasks to each other. Some group members had the task of drawing our designs, some researching, and some writing our script. This could not have been done without us communicating clearly and effectively. In doing this, we completed tasks faster and had more time to edit.
Problem Solving:
Problem-solving was another important and useful skill. Being a larger group, we did not agree on everything. When we were brainstorming ideas for our design, members of our group were caught in a disagreement. To avoid conflict between us – which would disrupt the flow of our progress and work – we decided to connect our ideas to form a design that we all agreed on. This, however, was not the only problem solving we used in our group. We also had to decide who would take home the vision board to decorate the background. Multiple members offered to take it home, but only one of us could. We decided to be logical, and give it to the person with the most and proper equipment. This worked out well as in the end we had a completed background that we all thought represented our idea accurately.
Public Speaking:
Public speaking has always been a skill that I wish to improve on. I am comfortable going up and talking in front of people, however, like most others, it can be disquieting. Originally, when I went up and spoke in front of my peers, I felt very nervous. Despite being overwhelmed by stage fright, I continued. As I read towards the end it felt much more comfortable and I began to gain confidence. This was a very helpful experience for me. Simply the shaking knees and sweating hands taught me that perhaps being prepared and confident can help you become a better public speaker. With this new knowledge, I found it much easier to present in front of parents on presenting day after having practiced. By the end of our presentation time, I found it very easy to project my voice, speak clearly and at an appropriate pace in front of others.
UN Global Goals:
The Global Goals were a very important part of this project. Our goal was to include as many of these global goals as we could to our best standards. My group focused on the more sustainability-related global goals which we used to make our design a safe environment for both our Earth and its population. In our first week, we looked specifically at how the global goals can be used to benefit the Fremantle port. This helped me to understand the importance and significance of these global goals, especially in today’s day and age. I gained a stronger and deeper understanding of the problems that affect today’s society, and that action and even education are very important.
Conclusion:
Project Utopia was a very insightful experience through which I learned the importance and value of skills and factors that were previously unknown to me. I gained new skills and attributes, confidence in already existing ones, and knowledge about real-world issues that affect today’s society. I feel that my work in this project has achieved a level of effort and thinking that I am happy with. However, despite being happy with my accomplishments, I definitely could have improved my performance through organization and time management. Although we met the requirements, my group and I could have better used our time to create a more effective work schedule that gave us more time to reach an even higher standard. Overall, I was very lucky to have been involved in such a project, and I am happy that we achieved a successful final piece.