1. What is an Issue?

2. Characteristics of an Issue:
An issue is something that causes CONCERN.
Issues have COMPLEX CAUSES.
Issues have multiple STAKEHOLDERS who have varying points of view on a given issue (perspectives).
Given that issues have complex causes, they are difficult to solve. World issues require COMPLEX SOLUTIONS.
Studying issues helps one to understand the rationale for these various perspectives
You should be able to debate for any side of an issue

3. The Need for the Full Picture
When we examine issues in isolation, we risk not getting the “full picture”
We must analyze issues from an interdisciplinary perspective in order to fully comprehend the issue, which is necessary for developing sustainable solutions

4. Geography’s Interdisciplinary Lenses:
Social
Political
Environmental
Economic
Cultural
When analyzing any issue, it is important to consider how the issue affects and is affected by each of these view points.
Remember the acronym SPEEC!

5. Complex world issues can be interrelated in the following ways:
SOCIAL – having to do with people, groups, and organizations. (often described as STAKEHOLDERS)
POLITICAL – fundamentally about power and control – who has it, how they got it, and what they do with it. Issues become more difficult to solve when there is no obvious power or control.
ENVIRONMENTAL – Environmental features are those that impact both the natural environment (for example, a rain forest) and the environment within which people interact with nature (for example, a village or city).
ECONOMIC – related to the financial well-being people of people, countries, and regions of the world.
CULTURAL – the values, customs, and ways of living of any group of people. Religion and language are a large part of culture. Different cultures produce different opinions about world issues.

6. In Review… World Issues are: Complex Interrelated Controversial
There are no simple answers
There are many cause and effect relationships
There are many myths and misconceptions surrounding the issue
Interrelated
Causes are interrelated
Implications are widespread
Controversial
There will be many differences in opinion on how these problems started and how they should be solved due to the number of passionate stakeholders.

7. Example: Poverty
Global poverty seems like an economic issue, but also relates to…
Health (the poor can’t afford proper food, water, sanitation, medical care)
Environment (the poor don’t have access to green technologies, have to resort to resource exploitation – like deforestation – to meet needs)
There are many perspectives on how to solve this issue
Trade and regulations
Debt
Outside help vs. helping themselves

8. Example: Gender Inequality
The widespread oppression of women seems like a social/cultural issue, but has implications on…
Economy (50% of the workforce)
Health (women are usually primary caregivers)
But in many parts of the world gender inequality is deeply culturally ingrained (while many people see the oppression of women as immoral, many other see women’s rights as immoral)

9. Using Interdisciplinary Lenses Climate Change Exemplar
Category
Causes
Implications
Social
Lack of education about negative impacts of burning fossil fuels in the past
Western society values convenience over environmental sustainability
Environment valued for economic purposes, profit
Human suffering, respiratory diseases, environmental refugees
Lower standard of living owing o increasing costs to pay for impacts of climate change
New social consciousness developing
Political
Many governments and leaders don’t want to enforce strict environmental laws/policies
Lack of political will
Short-sighted or no meaningful environmental policies
Industries that are closely tied to government are favoured
Economic
In the past, industries and gov’t saw environmental protection as costing more money than it was worth
Manufacture more = more profit (e.g. deforestation to make money = loss of carbon sinks)
Cheaper production = more profit
Costs taxpayers money to develop new green technologies, disaster relief, environment clean ups etc.
Certain industries losing business (e.g. ski resorts)
New businesses developing
Gap between rich and poor growing
Environmental
Greenhouse gases in atmosphere trapping Earth’s heat
Carbon dioxide levels said to be “highest in Earth’s history”
Natural fluctuations in climate
Warming of atmosphere
More frequent and erratic
weather activity
Melting ice caps, endangered species
Polluted air etc…
Cultural
Culture of waste and exploitation
Some cultural practices damage the environment
Some cultural groups losing traditional ways of life, sources of food and medicine (e.g. hunting and fishing in the Arctic)
Cultural groups being forcibly relocated due to natural disasters
Loss of cultural and natural heritage
Other examples include:
AIDS in Africa

10. Activity… Today’s World Issues
In your group, create a list that identifies the major issues facing humanity today. As many as you can think of…
Now identify the scope of the issues.
• Local
• National
• Regional
• International
Let’s make a master list as a class

11. Current Events
"contemporary developments in local, national, or world affairs; also : the organized study of such developments" (Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

12. Current events relevant to this course involve specific trends
Current events relevant to this course involve specific trends. These include but are not exclusive to:
Conflict (IS, civil war Syria, North Korea, Ongoing Israeli Palestinian conflict, Northern Ukraine, South China Sea, violence in Nigeria, civil unrest in Libya, democracy, dictatorships ...)
Empowerment of Women (education, child brides, maternal health, political representation, glass ceiling ...)
Environment (poaching, climate change, water contamination, drought, melting polar ice caps ...)
Globalization (worker's rights, transnational corporations, economics, human rights, aid ...)
Sustainability (corporate social responsibility, 3 R's, stewardship, conservation, resource exploitation ...)
Population Growth (hunger, health and wellness, habitat, sanitation, urbanization, governance ...)

13. As you read through the examples above you can see that many of these are connected to one another. These connections highlight the complexity of global issues in that they involve a variety of stakeholders, the relationships among the stakeholders are multi-faceted, and there are no simple solutions. 

14. Keeping abreast of current events is integral to your success in this class. Your confidence to participate in daily class conversations, in both small and large groups, will be determined by your willingness to investigate current events.
You can find news stories on TV, online, in newspapers, in weekly news publications, blogs, on radio and by talking to others.
It is not necessary that you understand the issues that cause these events to be significant to Canada or the world; we will do that together, however it is necessary that you come prepared, each day, to participate in conversation.
Remember, always ask yourself: "WHAT IS WHERE, WHY THERE, WHY CARE?"

15. Examining our list issues, how do you feel about the state of the world?
• Anxious?
• Hopeful?
• Sad?
• Overwhelmed?
• Intrigued?
• Depressed?
• All of the above?

16. We cannot solve all the world’s problems, but what if…
Lost Generation (YouTube)
There is hope!
Change IS possible
One step at a time.

17. Let’s get started….
Before we dive into learning about various world issues, you’ll need to brush up on your “World Issues Literacy”
We’ll start by learning the meaning of various ACRYNOMS used in conversations about global events and issues.
Next we’ll do a mapping activity to identify the “hot spots” of current global issues.