Environment in Bangladesh

Working on environmental issues in Qatar presented its own set of new challenges to a North American sustainability advocate- different government system, low awareness, hydrocarbon economy, developing infrastructure, little economic incentives, low regulation and simply my own lack of knowledge about the country's environment, politics and culture. Bangladesh is a whole different set of challenges.

Low awareness comes into play again but it's compounded by non or low-literacy and education of the general public. The huge population, small and poorly-developed infrastructure, along with few monetary resources contribute to Bangladesh's environmental woes: pollution, litter and poor air and water quality. Social norms and expectations also play a part, as a recent Science Daily article pointed out. If one sees others around them acting a certain way, they follow. In Qatar, it can be a mixed message; while expats, schools and corporations struggle to recycle, I'd have a Qatari male student confess to simply tossing his half-eaten shwarma out the car window- wrapper and all. Cultural norms of having servants/maids clean up after you in Qatar led many students to simply leave their lunch and snack trash throughout the cafeteria. The professors would be agog but that's what simply what these students have known and experienced. 

Given the homogenous population in Bangladesh, individuals receive fairly consistent cultural and environmental action cues- especially regarding trash disposal. I had prepared myself for the garbage and waste situation during my visit to India last April but the issue continues to strike me here in Bangladesh. Many Bangladeshis, young and old, educated and non, think nothing of tossing their wrapper, paper napkin, cigarette package or bag on the street, in the gutter, on the floor or in the water (always a 'public' location).  The trash sometimes collects in an area (removed? by whom?) and occasionally it's burned. 

I though at first this was an education issue- but then I saw a teenage female student toss her napkin out a shop door. My University-educated coworker once dropped his gum wrapper and cigarette package and I had to pick them up. He stopped, startled and commented that he had never thought about it. During the village visit, I'd carry my empty Sprite bottle for kilometers, looking for some designated trash spot, even making a point to ask the UNO (local government official) where I could toss my garbage. Only then did my colleague begin to notice the gobs of bottles, bags and wrappers strewn in the village woods and waterways. He had never noticed before. 

After the visit, this coworker realized that the Village Information Profile (VIP) of the GramWeb project did not have any environmental indicators and asked that I develop some for the next version of the document. I've included indicators asking about waste disposal (organic, inorganic and hazardous), fertilizer/pesticide use, cancer rates, birth defects, irrigation stress, distance to nearest moving water source and other details. By simply getting villagers to consider these topics is a huge step toward greater awareness and action.

Learn more more about the Environmental Performance Index ranking of Bangladesh (Qatar is not ranked for some reason. Perhaps data collection is not done or readily available/freely shared). 

Eco-Conference Call

In addition to teaching at Carnegie Mellon Qatar, I'm also the new Sustainability Coordinator and the faculty adviser for the student environmental group LiveGreen. The group was founded a year ago in collaboration with some Pittsburgh campus students who were doing an exchange in Qatar. The Pittsburgh campus has always been keen to have the two groups work together, although we have been a little less optimistic about what that collaboration could yield, given our situations are very different. (There is no recycling here, we're not an autonomous campus, we don't have a democratic system, most students don't live in dorms, etc....)

One step towards that fabled collaboration was to finally arrange a conference call between the two groups. Conference calls are easy on our end- every conference room and practically every classroom is set up for distance meetings and teaching. Not as easy for Pittsburgh- which needs to book one of a few special rooms. Then we get into the issue of timing- Doha is currently 7 hours ahead of Pittsburgh, meaning meetings have to be a little late or early for each party. We scheduled a 4 pm meeting for us, 9 am meeting for Pittsburgh- pretty decent timing considering most simulcasts from the States hit us at 8pm to 2 am...

The meeting was beneficial in that it gave the Pittsburgh campus a better sense of the difficulties we're having setting up recycling and developing sustainable habits here. We also discussed idea sharing and the idea of having a book/reading discussion each month during our conference calls. Then- we mentioned the idea of a huge big joint project: instead of us traveling there and creating little change during a week visit (and likewise if they visited Doha), we could meet somewhere in the middle, in Africa, and participate in an eco-service trip. I think it could be a fantastic global experience for the students (but would require planting quite a few trees for all that carbon offsetting...). So I'm in the process of looking for eco-service opportunities in Africa and convincing others that yes, we could do this. Ah- the curse of travel. It only makes me want to travel more. :)

Pause. Update.

Quick update before I leave town for a 10 day Eid Break trip to Morocco:

Blogging has taken a back seat to applying to business schools and getting my classes in order. Basically my day to day life isn't exactly thrilling blogging material. I didn't think you'd like to know about what alternative career would I pursue if I wasn't aiming for a consulting position or what's my most significant professional accomplishment. Plus, many of these musings aren't necessarily related to living in Qatar. One can find thousands of MBA hopefuls out there, but how many know someone living in Qatar?

I kept thinking this blog had to be 'significant' items or a 'collection' of thoughts/images to revel some insight. It now seems that many of my realizations about life here in Qatar aren't necessarily 'big' revelations or events. Often they are small things that, if put into words, would probably only take up a sentence or paragraph or one photograph. But those items might actually be more interesting to folks (and quicker to read too). So- inspired by the blogging style of Maryam of My Marrakesh, I'll leave you with this little visual before I leave for Morocco.

(On the box of frozen lamb kabobs, made in Saudi Arabia: 'Environmental awareness signifies a civilized society. Please recycle.')

Updates 1: Sustainability

Spring Break started today- so that of course meant students were scrambling this week to get things done. And if there was a class to miss, unfortunately my courses were often the courses to skip. I don't take it personally; I recognize the situation.

For the students that did show up Wednesday (the afternoon before the big 'Professional Day' and the day before the huge 'regression' exam), I gave them a bit of a break. I had planned to show "The Story of Stuff" and then make concept maps of the systems mentioned in the video. However, with half of the first section missing, I didn't very well want to re-teach the material later, so instead I slashed my lesson in half, created a new assignment (1 page response paper to the video) and allowed the students present to orally give their responses rather than having to write them. (As many of the students are non-native English speakers/writers, they tend to abhor writing assignments. Their oral presentation skills tend to be much better than their writing skills). We actually had some good discussions, as it was nice to see a glimmer of comprehension and emotional response in even the quietest and more distant students.

Also on the sustainability front, I recently submitted a proposal to CMU-Q Dean Chuck Thorpe for the creation of a 'Sustainability Coordinator' position and to consider me for the job. Yep- that means I'm thinking of another year (or two. or...) The following excerpt is from my proposal:

"Sustainability Coordinator:
This individual would be responsible for spearheading new sustainability initiatives in operations and academics, support and monitor current environmental enterprises, and coordinate efforts both internal and external to the campus community. The SC’s duties and influence would break down into four main categories; academics, operations, outreach, and visioning. "

I go on to list possible duties, such as teaching a few course, advising the student environmental group LiveGreen, act as liaison to Pittsburgh, work with faculty to incorporate and foster environmental learning in other courses, and generally coordinate all the environmental activity of CMU-Q.

Hopefully I'll have some sort of response waiting for me after Spring Break.

What are the issues?

Before I began my two sections of 51-276: 'Examining Sustainability in the Gulf' last week, I gave the students a questionnaire, asking basic details about their background, expectations, and whatnot. However I also asked them to list what they perceive as the top 3 issues/problems/challenges facing 1) the world? 2) the region (or their home county)? 3) Qatar? 4) themselves? It was enlightening to see the answers and gives me hope that their interest will be sustained in the course.

What are the 3 biggest issues/problems/challenges facing...
the world?
peace; poverty; illness; hunger; global warming; terrorism; animal extinction; pollution; energy; World War III; America; self-interests & self-disputes; pharmaceutical companies; democracy; modern economic framework; world politics & corruption; inequity of wealth distribution; starvation in Southern African countries

the region? (or your home country?)
education; oil/petrol; America; labor rights; wars in Iraq/Palestine; population increase; unemployment; politics; money allocation; poverty; ethnic/social integration; goods smuggling; global warming; pollution; inflation; dust; traffic; illiteracy; development; economy; civil war; international intervention; high cost of living; religious intolerance; corruption; immigrants; ignorance

Qatar?
environment; education; labor rights; expats; roads/traffic; public transit; obesity; uncivilized behavior; global warming; pollution; population; cost of living; planning & development; liquid natural gas production; developing the economy; immigrants; health care; Qatarization; oil; ignorance; inflation

you?
programming; time management; laziness; pressure to study; lack of sleep; surviving CMU; shyness; desire to succeed; future career; Dean's List; low self-confidence; family pressure; finding like-minded people; losing weight; high grades; speaking problems; procrastination;

My Brother's Visit to Qatar- the abridged version

Feb. 29- Lunch with Dan Boyarski at the City Center Mall. My brother Henry arrives that evening in Doha. We unsuccessfully try to find a BBQ at Qatar Foundation Housing and then pass out.

Mar. 1- Bill Brown Memorial Ride early AM. I bike 46 km in total from Doha Golf Club to Simaisma Bridge. My brother- on the small loaner bike, rides 26 km to Lusail. See some pics from the event. Henry passes out and then goes to see 'Vantage Point' at the City Center Mall. I help LiveGreen (CMU-Q's student environmental group) prepare for the next day. I stay up too late preparing for my own speech.

Mar. 2- I give a ~20 minute presentation ('The Opportunities of Sustainability") 2 times at Qatar University's " Go Green. Change Our Future" كن صديقاً للبيئة. غير مستقبلنا Conference (Women only). I'm in at least 2 English papers and apparently some Arabic papers the next day (See The Gulf Times & The Peninsula). My brother heads back to City Center Mall with a student of mine, only to accidentally have my car keys in his pocket. We sort it out, do some food shopping, cook a veggie dinner and call it another early night.

Mar. 3- I give my presentation twice again (Males Only), teach my communication design class, teach my first section of 'Examining Sustainability in the Gulf', add another section of it, discover CMU-Q accidentally sent my textbooks back and we've now ordered them to arrive with the Pittsburgh students this Saturday. Henry and I play volleyball with the students, faculty, & staff. We then head to the souqs, Henry purchases souvenirs, and we have Iraqi food.

Mar. 4- I go to Arabic class, do some work at school, & swap my sedan with Darbi/Greg's SUV so my brother and I can go find the 'Singing Dunes'. I tell Henry I'm on my way home (we communicated via email, 2 American cell phones, 1 Qatari cell phone with mixed results). I leave Education City and pull into traffic too soon, getting slammed in the back, smashing up a little blue car driven by two Egyptians that don't speak English. We wait ~3 hours for the police to come to file a report. One tank of gas, one traffic department, 2 reports, 12 riyals, and 1.5 hours later and I'm finally back home to my stranded (and ill-informed) brother. In the fading light we attempt to find the Singing Dunes but no luck. Henry and I go with Greg and his visiting girlfriend Sophie to pick up Turkey Central. We eat at Greg's and then they watch movies at Greg's place. I work.

Mar. 5- We plan to get my brother to the Qatar National Museum for the morning and have him join me in the afternoon (after my classes). We have conflicting reports of whether the museum is open, closed, partially-open and can't confirm any details. We find the place deserted and later learn it won't be open to the public until November. After some phone calls- we learn the Weapons Museum is now open to the public and will be open until noon. We call, confirm, and then unsuccessfully try to find the place. Back at campus, we're given exact directions of how to get there- we head back out again and Henry books a cab for the ride back. We arrive- it looks nice- clean- legit. I bid Henry farewell and then he runs back, saying it's closed. I throw my hands up. At this point Henry begins to truly realize what it means to live in Doha and that while a decent place to live, Doha is not primed for tourists yet. I teach 3 classes (my sustainability course now has 20 students in two sections)- Henry relaxes. I secure a GPS from Justin & Marjorie and in the fading light Henry and I set out for the Singing Dunes again. 45 km from the city, we find the dunes and by flashlight we hike towards them on foot (as I have my sedan again and it would have not been happy on the rocks). It was eerie to make the dunes hum and vibrate at our footsteps and even eerier that we only had a flash-light at this point. We did see some fantastic stars.

Mar. 6- I skip out on Arabic class and Henry and I do tourist shopping. We purchase a photo book for Grammy and Henry picks up some foodstuffs at the Carrefour (as well as some helpful new sandals). We head back to City Center and pick up some carmel and stuffed dates at Bateel. We find time running short and Henry cheerfully suggests trying the 'McArabian' chicken pita-sandwich at McDonald's. I agreed because yes- technically it's a cultural experience. Like many McDonald's products- while initially tasty, the meal leaves us feeling disgusting. I'm done with McDonald's in Qatar. We're signed up with 5 others for an 8-hour desert cruise with QIA. Two others not from CMU-Q would also join us. We set up the night before for them to pick the CMU-Q folks up a little later due to other's time conflicts. The driver calls us up 45 minutes early demanding to know where we were. After some semi-heated phone calls and calls to the company, we clear it up and the 2 other tourists don't appear mad at us. We drive off, ride camels (20QAR each), bash dunes, feel like we're about to tip the car (it was our driver's first time- greeeeeeeeeaaat), collect sea shells, attempt to sand board (sounds like a better idea than it actually is) , hear a helicopter air-lifting someone who flipped their quad-bike on the dunes, have a BBQ on the beach, and then drive back in the dark.

Mar. 7- We got Henry to the airport (almost the wrong airport- Qatar is building a new airport and they already have signs up for it. Thanks Qatar.) by 6:30 am. I see him checked in, bid him farewell, drive home, and sleep for another couple hours. I think I plan to use this weekend to recover from his vacation.

Lessons learned:
-Very few of the students have environmental exposure.
-Give your expat host more than a week to plan.
-The tourist experience here leaves something to be desired.
-GPS in the desert is good.
-Wear sunscreen.
-Avoid McDonald's (my stomach still isn't very happy).
-Call. Confirm. But don't be surprised if things change.
-Always check your pockets.
-If you have to teach a difficult/boring/unpopular subject, offer it as a 4th quarter mini course so that students who fail other courses, drop those classes and then desperately need units pack your course.

Oh- did I mention?

...that Dan Boyarski (Head of the Carnegie Mellon-Pittsburgh School of Design) arrives in Doha tonight to participate in VCU-Q's 'Tasmeem' Design Conference next week? And he'll be siting in/TAing 2-3 of my Communication Design classes?

...that my 19-year old brother arrives tomorrow night to spend his first collegiate spring break in a dry-Middle Eastern country with his big sister? It will also be his first time in the Middle East.

...that I've been biking on Friday afternoons with a group of cyclists, through heat, sun, wind, and sand, riding on the loaner bike, which turns out to be the old bike of the renowned and sadly departed Bill Brown (CMU-Pgh and CMU-Q Bio Professor who died last July)? Or that I am signed up to bike 68 km (48 mi) from Doha to Al-Kohr in the
Bill Brown Memorial Bike Ride on his old bike this Saturday morning?

...that I've been taking two Arabic classes in the mornings, each 1 hour, each twice a week- with one class focusing on learning the alphabet (which I already learned at a class last fall in Washington DC) and the other on writing and reading sentences? (It's a little advanced and I would be entirely lost if I hadn't been working on Rosetta Stone)

...that I've been taking Spanish Level 2 classes here at CMU-Q? (The term 'taking' is used loosely here- the class meets 4 times a week and I often show up 2-3 times a week- although I only went once this week... :/ )

...that I'm giving a half hour presentation 4 times this Sunday and Monday at Qatar University's " Go Green. Change Our Future" كن صديقاً للبيئة. غير مستقبلنا Conference, presenting to a minimum total of 2,100 people?

...that the 'Examining Sustainability in the Gulf' mini course starts this Monday, and that I've had numerous inquiries into the course and received enthusiastic interest? I just received an email stating that "Me and my friends want to joing this mini course so badly, but unfortunately the timing is bad since others and I have a class that starts at 2:30". I responded that if the demand was high enough, I'd consider requesting to create another section of the course... Imagine that!

So- yeah. I didn't mention any of that? Sorry- I've been meaning to blog on that for a while now... :)

Examining Sustainability in the Gulf Region

So after the inability to launch 'Designing Sustainable Systems' at the start of the semester, I set about reworking the semester-long course into a half-semester 'mini' course (6 units). Re-titled 'Examining Sustainability in the Gulf Region', it will introduce the concept of sustainability, systems thinking, sustainable issues and solutions and how those solutions may be adapted or completely rethought to the unique environment and societies found in the Gulf. (Note that it's the 'Arabian Gulf', not the 'Persian Gulf'). This course will be half lecture (me rattling on) and half research/seminar. I don't know what sustainability means to this region; that's what I hope to learn along with the students.

My course already has at least 4 registered with at least 2-3 other considering it. That's not bad- it's roughly 2-4% of the student body. One has to remember the proportions and sizes are different here, changing expectations for class sizes. 2% in PGH that would mean a course of at least 100 undergrads. By comparison, my CDF course has 18 students, or roughly 11% of CMU-Q's student body. Wow.

Below is my current description for the course to be listed on the CMU Course Schedule:

"Over the last couple of decades, humanity has become increasing aware of the complexity and interconnectedness of our world. We now recognize that our actions impact the earth around us and this in turn can affect the planet's ability to support life. The challenge of our time is to balance human growth and development with planetary limits, considering how our societies and world will be sustained into the future. This minicourse examines sustainability as it applies to the Gulf Region, dividing the course into two main parts. The first half of the class will introduce students to the concepts and principles of sustainability and systems thinking, examining how ecological, economic, and social systems interactions are crucial to a sustainable world. Using readings, movies, and lectures, we will review key environmental/social issues and sustainable solutions from around the globe. In the second part of the class, we will examine and define key issues and solutions as they apply to environments and societies of Arabian Gulf region. Students will then pick a topic to investigate further, applying the design method to define, research, and develop a unique solution to a sustainability problem faced in the region. Students will refine their findings in the form of a final project to be presented at Meeting of the Minds at the end of the semester."

The class starts next week and runs for seven weeks. We meet Monday and Wednesday for an hour and half and I'm capping the class at max. 15 students (hoping for a few less- I'll be tickled with 8-10). I'm looking forward to it, as it's a new subject for many of these students and one that I enjoying discussing. I'm also extremely interested in their findings and how that information can be used in future projects. I'll keep you updated as the class develops.

Getting back in the designer saddle

Before I came to Doha, I worked at the Alliance to Save Energy in Washington D.C., in their Building Codes Assistance Project (BCAP). I researched building energy legislation, efficient building case studies, and helped restructure the information architecture of their website. I also helped coordinate a conference for the Commercial Building Initiative (CBI), aimed at advancing the efficiency of commercial buildings. It wasn't much of a design job, but then again, that wasn't why I went to Washington.

At the end of my design education at Carnegie Mellon, I wasn't sure how keen I was to be in design, to be a designer. My interests seemed to be focused more on environmental topics and less on pushing pixels. I wasn't sure that graphic or communication design was for me. I found myself drawn to the bigger picture, bigger-system-level design, and at the time I thought that meant environmental policy, perhaps even a policy or law degree. (I even took a practice LSAT). So I went to try it out as the Alliance. I also wanted to see what, if anything, I would miss from design.

During that time, I looked up obscure 'Residential Energy Code Ordinances', calculated the difference between Energy Star and HERS ratings, and searched numerous House and Senate Bills. It a little alarming to discover that I did find researching legislation scarily enjoyable at times. However, I mainly found myself aching for something visual, some software beyond 'Photoshop Effects', for the opportunity to create something. Thus I was more than happy to mock-up BCAP's new website or develop an visual identity for the CBI conference. It was refreshing and it felt good to be of use to this NGO. I left DC with more uncertainty about policy and a renewed optimism about design. I figured my time in Qatar would be a good place to experiment.

They say if you want to jump start your thinking, your work, your creativity, teach. And it's true. When I assign exercises, I imagine my own solutions to the problems. I see fresh wonder, excitement, and ideas from my non-major students and it invigorates me. And, as the only design faculty in Education City outside of those at Virginia Commonwealth University next door, I do feel the need to prove myself. So I willingly volunteered to design the overall event poster for the upcoming Carnegie Mellon 'Liberal and Social Science' (LAS) Faculty Film Series. LAS Faculty are basically anyone not in computer science or business- such as language, history, English, science, architecture, and * design *.


Carnegie Mellon is currently housed in the LAS Building with a very distinctive tangram-like pattern on both the exterior and interior. I turned to this architectural language as the basis for film series mark and the initial A3-sized poster. I am also slated to design 2 other posters before having my students design the rest as an assignment (sshh- they don't know yet!).