Blog #9

What are the common personal goals within the members of your team, and how can you leverage those goals to build collaboration?

  • Our passion for the environment and sustainability. We can leverage this goal to promote collaboration by pushing each other to further our knowledge of the environmental and sustainable factors of the park.
  • Our concern with the community and wanting to address issues present in it. We can leverage this goal to promote collaboration by pushing each other to better our understanding of the environmental issues Bethlehem faces.
  • We want to change the way the Lehigh Community interacts with the Bethlehem Community as the environmental issues that face the city face the members of campus too. We can leverage this goal to promote collaboration by encouraging ourselves to host events.

What are the common project goals within the members of your team, and how can you leverage those goals to make progress?

  • To educate the community on the need for green spaces. We can leverage this goal to try and spread awareness about permaculture, cause an increase in green spaces.
  • So create a self-sustaining garden that can regrow every year without yearly planting. We can leverage this goal to focus our planting for fall when everything has already bloomed.
  • To re-establish a relationship between Lehigh and the South Bethlehem community. We can leverage this goal to help us create events to boost park exposure and try to combat some of our biggest issues.

What are some biases that might become a barrier to your project goals?

  • Lehigh’s policies and regulations about park access
  • South Bethlehem residents resistance with Lehigh students 
  • The idea that the city needs more green spaces, not believing in environmental issues
  • Projection Bias- assuming we are effectively addressing the issue and that our community reaches the same conclusion we have.
  • False Consensus Effect- assuming that the Bethlehem community agrees that we need more green space in the area.
  • The Planning Fallacy- as we are only two people there is much more to this project that can sometimes slip through the cracks because we do not appropriately schedule the needed time.

What type of decision-making system will you use and why?

  • We both like to discuss our past ideas and future plans before making any decisions so we are able to see where we are heading clearly. 
  • Ask advice from our professors and advisors in case they notice something we missed 
  • As a collective, we make final decisions together on everything. This makes sure that everyone is on the same page for future plans.

 

Blog #8

Identify FIVE specific things in your slides that you could have done differently.

  • Adding pictures of the park and the garden 
  • The specific plants we are planting
  • Schematics for the future garden beds
  • Given more background on the history of the park
  • Been more clear on the structure of our project, and how we focus on food security in an environmentally friendly way

Identify FIVE specific ways that you could have delivered your presentation better.

  • Stood in front of or beside the stand instead of behind it 
  • Spoken louder 
  • Avoided using “hum” in between sentences
  • Keep in mind our body language and how we can portray more confidence 
  • Memorized the slides so we did not have look at them as much

Identify FIVE specific ways you could have built your credibility further.

  • Spoken more about our partners and what we have accomplished with them 
  • Given the name of the professor who wants permaculture park visits as part of their course curriculum
  • Spoken more about the green committee, their achievements, their goals, and how we fit into that 
  • Divided the questions better so both could answer them equally 
  • Shown the accomplishments made by past years and discussing what we intend to continue (plans, partnerships, ideas) or what we decided to stop/take in a different direction

Identify FIVE specific questions that you could have answered better. What were the questions, how did you respond, and how should you have responded to each?

  • We were asked about our idea of a permaculture course. We answered to explain how we have an extensive website and google drive with all needed information. But, we could have shown our website and the free permaculture course as we described it as we had it linked in the presentation.
  • We were asked about the details of vocabulary and the specific plants within the park. We gladly explained what we meant by these terminologies, however we should have given more information and explained more in depth as we assumed that such words like permaculture and perennial plants were already known.
  • When asked about if our project would provide enough food, we were pretty unsure about what to say for this question. Logically we know the answer is no, however we knew that was not the proper thing to say. Instead we tried to phrase it in a way where our park is the inspiration for others. However, I believe that we should have a better answer for it, I am not sure what specifically that is.
  • When asked if we are growing non GMOs or organic foods, we frankly did not know the answer, as we are in the beginning stages of this project we are aware that we do not currently have a full list of everything that will be grown and given out in the garden. We partially answered this question in how I described however, we should have been more prepared with a detailed list of the food to be grown.
  • We were asked about tackling the size of this project and what the plan of action is as only two individuals. We answered this as we are aware of our struggles and are planning on gathering volunteers. However, as we have nothing confirmed as this was all just planning and possible thoughts this definitely caused some doubts in the capability to succeed.

Blog #7

Identify three different primary stakeholders on your project, and come up with a list of 10 distinct questions you would ask each of them. Remember the aspirational/emotional/functional categories of needs and desires and try to find a balance of questions that might give you information in each of those areas.

  • Lehigh Students
  1. What do you know about permaculture
  2. Do you eat sustainably
  3. How easily can you access nutritional food
  4. Have you heard of the Southside Permaculture Park
  5. Do you know where the park is located
  6. Have your classes utilized the park for educational purposes
  7. Would you attend events at the park
  8. How much do you depend on the available grocery stores and other food in South Bethlehem
  9. Can the current food availability fill your dietary restrictions
  10. How environmentally conscious are you when at school
  • South Bethlehem Community
  1. What do you know about permaculture
  2. How easily can you access nutritional food
  3. Have you heard of the Southside Permaculture Park
  4. Do you know where the park is located
  5. Can the current food availability fill your dietary restrictions
  6. How easily can you access the community gardens
  7. How environmentally conscious are you
  8. Does the lehigh community have a negative or positive impact on your access to essentials
  9. Have you found value in engaging with Lehigh organizations to help increase your quality of life
  10.  How large of a household do you have to feed
  • CABD Public and Green Space Committee 
  1. Have you spoken to the Lehigh community
  2. Have you tried engaging with the lehigh students
  3. What form of advertising do you for your cleanups
  4. How accessible are the Bethlehem Community gardens
  5. What are the needed resources for expanding the gardens
  6. How easily can you communicate with the lehigh community
  7. How easily can you communicate with the Bethlehem communities wants
  8. Have you found value in engaging with Lehigh organizations to help your cause
  9. What restrictions do you face within the gardens
  10. What are the main environmental priorities of the committee

 

Identify all of the key customers for your product/service/creation/solution. List specific ways that you will ensure that your product will meet their aspirational, emotional, and functional needs and desires.

  • Bethlehem residents: Decrease food insecurity by providing small quantities of food and methods of planting so they can grow their own.
  • Lehigh students: Engage students with the rest of the community to increase their sense of belonging and reduce homesickness.
  • Local Farmers: Expose them to permaculture practices as an additional source of income.
  • Land Owners: Explore the possibilities of creating other permaculture parks for the community.

 

Articulate your value propositions for each of your customer segments (using the format presented in class).

  • We help the Southside Bethlehem Community decrease their food insecurity by introducing permaculture principles so they can grow their own food. 
  • We help the Lehigh Students connect with Bethlehem Residents by encouraging community engagement. 
  • We help Local Farmers and Land Owners increase their income by introducing permaculture to them and assisting them to implement it. 

 

What are the technological, social, economic, and political trends that will impact (help or hurt) your ventures?

    • Technical: Technology affects our project because it is one of our main ways to keep in contact with our partnerships, Lehigh, and to plan for community events.
    • Social: Socially there has been a massive increase in awareness of the food desert that is South Bethlehem. Greek organizations on campus even have a similar focus on providing food security. Not to mention with the current state of the environment, sustainable ways to complete any task have significantly grown in popularity and focus.
    • Economic: the effect of the economy on our project is that of what the current price of goods may be. There could be a significant increase in desperation for the need for food if prices rise too high for anyone in the Bethlehem community to pay for.
    • Political: Politically what will affect our project is how the Bethlehem government feels about the priority of food security. This focus is very focused on one particular community that we interact with that overall US government or worldly politics do not play a major role in our ventures.

 

What is the Total Available Market and Total Addressable Market for your product or service?

Available:

  • Residents of food desert regions
  • Low-income population 
  • Agriculture industries and business 
  • Farmers 

Addressable:

  • Southside Bethlehem Community 
  • Adults who need fresh produce due to the food desert in the area 
  • Local businesses that focus on health, sustainability, environment, and nourishment 
  • Schools and other colleges in the surrounding