Consider this post a placeholder - I hope to develop it more when time permits. The most striking elements of Civics 101 for me related to the two areas noted in the header. (Note: the images used here are merely illustrative, not drawn from course materials).
First, folks intimately involved with the daily operations of infrastructure - water, landfill, sewer, rescue, transportation, land - spoke most intensely when discussing the limits on priceless resources, the costs of operating the systems that use them, and the reasons and methods of real sustainability. I think about the energy involved in delivering a gallon of water to my faucet in ways I hadn't before.
Second, it was enormously instructive to hear various department heads lay out the thinking that informs their work. The conceptual models now in use by Planning, Environmental Services, Parks, Traffic and more. The thinking is often innovative, interdisciplinary, drawing upon advanced global research and pragmatic approaches to prudent stewardship of public goods. It was eye-opening to learn the ways in which Sarasota County is a leader in key areas, and a place where others come to learn.
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