Workshopping a sustainability scenario with first year engineering students in a problem based learning environment

The workshop activity serves to demonstrate how technological changes impact on society. In this case this is exemplified by the establishment of an irrigation scheme and by the degradation of environmental resources. A side issue is how the impact of the media on peoples perceptions of events. Students are allocated roles and participants of two companies (The Little Rock Company and Aquarius Incorporated) and two shops (The Black Stump Food Market and AragonSupermarket). All other participants take on the role of workers. Students are provided with organisational performance information (Revenue versus Production) and need to operate, using a designated currency with a changing exchange rate, within an arena of technological changes and environmental impacts with media reporting changes and fuelling perceptions and speculations.