Before starting to share your project with the community, it is important to think about not only the positive ways you are going to make change, but also the possible negative impacts. This way, you can manage the negative implications to lessen their impact and communicate better with the community about your project.

Real Life Projects

• Watch the video at the top of the path.
• Let’s take a look at a real life community project and its ethical implications:
  • In response to the Flint water crisis, various community projects aimed to provide clean water and support to affected residents. One significant effort was the distribution of bottled water and the installation of water filters in homes. Ethical challenges included:
    • Sustainability: The reliance on bottled water raised concerns about long-term environmental impacts and sustainability.
    • Access: Ensuring all residents, especially those without transportation, had equal access to clean water was a significant challenge.
    • Trust: Many residents distrusted the organizations involved due to previous failures by government agencies, complicating relief efforts.
  • After Hurricane Katrina, numerous community projects were initiated to rebuild homes and infrastructure in New Orleans. One notable project was the Make It Right Foundation, which aimed to build sustainable and affordable housing. Ethical challenges included:
    • Quality and Safety: Some of the homes built experienced structural problems, raising concerns about the quality and safety of the construction.
    • Resident Involvement: There were issues with ensuring that displaced residents had a say in the rebuilding process and that their needs were adequately met.
    • Cultural Sensitivity: Rebuilding efforts sometimes failed to consider the cultural significance of certain neighborhoods and the wishes of long-term residents.
• As you can see, even projects with the best intentions can struggle to achieve 100% positive impact.

Mindful Movement

• Before moving into a brainstorming session, it can be helpful to center yourself. Follow the instructions on the mindful movement guide to check in with your body and prepare yourself for some brainstorming!

Brainstorming

• First, make a mind map of the possible ethical implications of your project. Use the guiding questions to brainstorm ideas.
• The first layer of the mind map needs to include:
  • Community Impact
  • Sustainability
  • Long-term Consequences
  • Inclusivity and Accessibility
  • Environmental Considerations
  • Cultural Sensitivity
  • Privacy and Consent
  • Fairness and Equity
  • Transparency and Accountability
• The second layer are all of your ideas of possible implications. You may not have implications for each, as it depends on your type of project.
• Get together with your mentor either in person or virtually. Share your mind map with them and see if there is anything that they think you can add.
• Together, discuss which problems you think will be the most likely to occur and brainstorm possible solutions. Make a T-chart following this template that shows how you could address each of the ethical implications.

• Post your T-chart on the path.

To continue, return to Module 5 Opportunity Card.