Reflective Journal: Understanding Sustainable Development Themes

This reflective journal reflects on the themes of sustainability explored during a semester-long course. The student initially found the topic uninteresting but gained a deep understanding of its importance. The journal covers various themes, including transportation, design, habitat, food sources, waste management, and health. The student learned about the impact of transportation on businesses and the benefits of good urban design. The journal also discusses the importance of creating wild spaces, promoting local food sources, and implementing efficient waste processing and recycling. The student emphasizes the link between waste management and health, advocating for clean water and air. The journal concludes by highlighting the need for cooperation among government, citizens, and organizations to achieve sustainable development.

Running head: REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
Reflective Journal
Name
Institutional Affiliations

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL 2
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
At the beginning of the semester, our lecturer introduced a topic on sustainability. At
first, I did not get the essence of studying that topic because I thought it was not related to my
career. The topic did not seem to be interesting at the introduction and felt as if the whole
semester would be like that. The lecturer gave all the importance of studying the course on
sustainability. My full concentration came immediately the lecturer started on the themes of
sustainability. I was focused and strived to understand all the content that was taught during the
course. The themes and their applicability in life were very clear to me and I really enjoyed the
lecturers.
To start with, the theme of transportation focused on the way goods and people moves
from one place to another. I was able to understand the dynamic concept of transportation.
Transportation is one of the things that a company or any other business cannot do without.
Transportation acts as a supplement to any other activities in a company (Bernes, et al 2018). For
the company to be convenience they have to improve on the way goods and services move from
one place to another. Transportation sustains different process involved in manufacturing. It
enables movement of raw materials and labor from one place to another.
I also learned about how design may act as a sustainability aspect in development. The
way the urban center is designed will have a great impact on quality of life and sustainable
development. For instance, a well-designed city makes walking easier and mass transit more
viable. Good designing involves reduction of automobiles in the city that will increase the safety
of the neighborhood. On the other hand, I came to understand that when natural raw materials
such as wood and stone in the building may reduce pollution and save a lot of energy.

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL 3
Another theme that affects sustainable development is habitat. This involves water areas,
the general rural environment and urban green places (Roy, Schoenherr, & Charan, 2018). It
came to my realization that if we create more wild land and parks within a city, we will be
providing a good place for different animal species. In addition, we will also be creating a good
environment for human beings to enjoy and relax. For us to be able to create more wild hand
within our cities we have to involve private landowners who are around the cities so that they
can allocate part of their land for such projects. This will increase sustainable development in our
and therefore the quality of our lives will increase.
Food is also another important theme in sustainable development that I learned. The source of
food in our cities plays a great role in sustainable development. From the past records, food has
been supplied to the city from the regions that surround it (Koukios et al 2018). In a good
number of countries, international suppliers of food have replaced the locals in supplying food to
the country. We have to encourage the supply of food from the locals to enhance sustainable
development. This is because food from the local farmers will reach the consumer when they are
very fresh and will not have been polluted during transportation. The project of allowing local
farmers to supply food to the city will also increase the income of the locals and therefore
promote sustainable development. In addition, it is a good way to provide city residents with a
way to pass time and fresh food.
I also learned about wastes as a theme in sustainability. The theme involves recycling, efficient
design, processing of wastes and energy conservation. I learned that effective and efficient
processing of waste is a very important step in reducing the amount of land that is used in
damping of waste. The process also creates employment, reduces use, and therefore leads to
sustainable development (Hult, et al 2018). We also need to train people on how to store farm

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL 4
chemicals so as to reduced contamination of groundwater. This will ensure that the health of
farmers is safe and that they are Able to perform their duties well. I also learned other different
ways that can be used to reduce wastes. This can be done by restructuring and redesigning the
manufacturing processes in different manufacturing companies.
The above theme of waste brought another theme of health. This theme is very important in
sustainability and involves clean water and air, needs of vulnerable groups in association with
the environment, tranquility, and safety. The residents in the rural areas mostly pollute water.
Therefore getting clean water and air in the cities is very difficult and yet it is a necessity. In
sustainable development, there is need to come up with projects that will effectively address the
issue. For the project to be successful there is a need to involve government, community and
industry representatives (Doing Good 2018). In addition to water and clean air, the resident of
the cities needs the safety. The many automobiles in the cities and congestions threaten the
resident’s safety. A project on designing an effective traffic that will reduce the accident in the
urban areas is a great step towards sustainable development.
In conclusion, there are so many themes that I learned and was able to see what sustainable
development is all about. Other than the mentioned themes, I was able to learn about recreation
and sense of place. Sustainability is therefore all about how creating a conducive environment
for the operation of human beings. Sustainable development needs cooperation from all the
government citizens and any other organization. it’s from the lessons that I was able to see what
responsibilities I have in sustainable development.

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL 5
References
Barnes, S., Delacruz, B., McDevitt, R., & Rosen, L. (2018). Furthering a Synergetic Sustainability
Curriculum at The Ohio State University.
Brinkmann, R. (2018). Economic Development and Sustainability: A Case Study from Long Island,
New York. The Palgrave Handbook of Sustainability (pp. 433-450). Palgrave Macmillan,
Cham.
Hult, G. T. M., Mena, J. A., Gonzalez-Perez, M. A., Lagerström, K., & Hult, D. T. (2018). A Ten
Country-Company Study of Sustainability and Product-Market Performance: Influences of
Doing Good, Warm Glow, and Price Fairness. Journal of Macromarketing,
0276146718787017.
Koukios, E., Monteleone, M., Carrondo, M. J. T., Charalambous, A., Girio, F., Hernández, E. L., ...
& Zabaniotou, A. (2018). Targeting sustainable bioeconomy: A new development strategy
for Southern European countries. The Manifesto of the European Mezzogiorno. Journal of
Cleaner Production, 172, 3931-3941.
Roy, V., Schoenherr, T., & Charan, P. (2018). The thematic landscape of literature in sustainable
supply chain management (SSCM) A review of the principal facets of SSCM development.
International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 38(4), 1091-1124.