Sustainability
Decision making for renewables
Working in small groups, students role-play various positions at a fictitious energy company and explore the challenges and opportunities of moving to clean, renewable energy.
Grade
10-12
Duration
1.5 hours
Type
Group work
Overview
Students explore opportunities and challenges of moving from a fossil fuel economy to a clean renewable energy economy. Representing various roles at a fictitious energy company, students create a development plan presentation to show at a community engagement event with the goal of soliciting the continued support of the community to move the project forward.
Instructions
What you'll need
- "Roles and responsibilities" handout, provide one handout per group of 3 students (adjust group numbers to suit class size)
- Supporting articles such as:
- Start by sharing these or similar articles that discuss the challenges of shifting companies to renewable energy with students:
- Invite students to share what they see as challenges and opportunities for energy companies to move into the renewable energy sector and a low-carbon economic future. Some energy companies have significant economic and political resources but are responsible for a large portion of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. How can they change this picture? What are the possible conflicting positions of stakeholders that need to be considered in decision-making at the corporate level? Consider how companies must balance the three pillars of sustainability: economics, environment, and people. Discuss issues like:
- Environmental concerns
- Human rights, social justice issues
- Human resources and staff
- Other community stakeholders such as local Indigenous nations
- Shareholders and economic growth
- Divide students into groups of 3 and provide each group with a copy of the "Roles and responsibilities" handout.
- Students, as part of an energy company called XYZ Energy, are given the basics of a solar farm development project. They are tasked with working together as a team, representing the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Labour Union Representative, and Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) to design a plan to satisfy the needs of the stakeholders: the general community, local business owners, employees of XYZ, shareholders of XYZ, local Indigenous nation, and a local environmental group.
- Using PowerPoint or a similar platform, challenge students to create a slide deck and dialogue to present at a community engagement event to gain the trust and support of the stakeholders. Teams should highlight the stakeholder opportunities as well as address how they will mitigate their concerns.
- Next, invite students to revisit their initial thoughts on what they see as challenges and opportunities for energy companies to move into the renewable energy sector and a low-carbon economic future. Have their views changed and if so, how? You may want to also discuss:
- What were some of the challenges with the project?
- Was it easy to reach consensus? Why or why not?
- Were all the needs of all the stakeholders met? Why or why not?
- Is there a different development model that might work like a community owned/developed project?
Modify or extend this activity
- Consider how community development, partnerships, and control of economic opportunities could benefit Indigenous people in B.C.
- Read BC Hydro’s Electrification plan and discuss how the transition to a low-carbon future will impact communities in B.C.
- Pull up the “Where do you stand on energy conservation” activity to share opinions on conservation, climate change and sustainability.
Curriculum Fit
Career Life Education (CLE)
Big ideas and content
- Career-life decisions influence and are influenced by internal and external factors, including local and global trends
- Career-life development: competencies of the educated citizen, employability skills, essential skills, leadership, and collaboration skills
- Connections with community: factors that both inform career-life choices and are influenced by them, including personal, environmental and land use factors
Curricular competencies
Experience
- Demonstrate inclusive, respectful, and safe interactions in diverse career-life environments
- Identify career-life challenges and opportunities, and generate and apply strategies
Career Life Connection (CLC)
Big ideas and content
- Career-life decisions influence and are influenced by internal and external factors, including local and global trends
- Personal career-life development: factors that shape personal identity and inform career-life choices
- Connections with community: social capital and transferrable skills, including intercultural, leadership, and collaboration skills
- Career-life planning: labour market trends and local and global influences on career-life choices
Curricular competencies
Experience
- Explore possibilities for preferred personal and education/employment futures, using creative and innovative thinking
- Engage in, reflect on, and evaluate career-life exploration
Social Studies 10
Content
- Environmental, political & economic policies: environmental issues including climate change, renewable energy and food security
Curricular competencies
- Use Social Studies inquiry processes and skills to ask questions; gather, interpret, and analyze ideas and data; and communicate findings and decisions
- Assess how underlying conditions and the actions of individuals or groups influence events, decisions, or developments, and analyze multiple consequences
Social Studies 11
Content
- Natural resource use and local, regional, national, or global development
- Global issues in urbanization
Curricular competencies
- Use Social Studies inquiry processes and skills to ask questions; gather, interpret, and analyze ideas and data; and communicate findings and decisions
- Assess the short- and long-term causes and expected and unexpected consequences of people’s actions, events, phenomena, ideas, or developments
Urban Studies 12
Big ideas and content
- Decision making in urban and regional planning requires balancing political, economic, social, and environmental factors
- Decision making in the planning of cities and regions
- Contemporary issues in urban studies
Curricular competencies
- Use Social Studies inquiry processes and skills to ask questions; gather, interpret, and analyze ideas; and communicate findings and decisions
- Determine and assess the long- and short-term causes and consequences, and the intended and unintended consequences, of public policy decisions related to urban places
Composition 10, 11, 12
Big ideas and content
- Language shapes ideas and influences others
- Writing processes
Curricular competencies
Comprehend and connect
- Access information for diverse purposes and from a variety of sources to inform writing
Create and communicate
- Respectfully exchange ideas and viewpoints from diverse perspectives to build shared understanding and extend thinking
- Use writing and design processes to plan, develop, and create engaging and meaningful texts for a variety of purposes and audiences
Teaching Notes
Transition to renewables
Decisive times for oil and gas companies as they transition to renewables, this article highlights some of the dilemmas facing oil and gas companies
Economics, environment, and people
Outlined here are companies' need to meet the needs of all their stakeholders: How energy companies can approach strategy to thrive amid change.
B.C. is powered by water
In B.C., we have a unique advantage. The province’s natural landscape has allowed us to generate and deliver clean, renewable power to B.C. residents for decades. And as we look to the future, BC Hydro has an ambitious goal to do more.
Our plan to electrify B.C.
BC Hydro will be instrumental in building a sustainable economy in B.C. We’ll continue to support conservation efforts, while also offering new programs and incentives to help British Columbians make the switch from fossil fuels to clean hydroelectricity to power their homes, businesses, and vehicles. We’ll also help to attract new energy-intensive industries to B.C. and offer programs to reduce the time and costs for new customers to get connected to our grid.
The BC Hydro’s Electrification plan outlines strategies to move B.C. to a low-carbon economy.
Assessment
- Assess students’ ability to share ideas, and listen to each other
- Assess students’ participation and cooperation in class discussions and group work
- Assess students’ critical thinking with identifying and balancing the needs of all the stakeholders involved in the development project
Downloads
Roles And Responsibilities Handout
454.7 kb • pdf
