Field studies in sustainable development: Lesotho case study

The Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering at QUT comprises some nineteen disciplines and sub-disciplines representing the breadth of professions currently operating within the field of urban development. A core theme for encouraging multidisciplinary engagement across the Faculty and beyond is “sustainable living‿. One initiative aimed at achieving this objective is the introduction of an elective in Field Studies in Sustainable Development. The objective is to take students outside the core experiences of study in their chosen fields and require engagement with very different cultural beliefs and practices and the collaborative exploration of alternative technologies and development ideologies appropriate to the cultural context. The first of these Field Studies involved the immersion of students in a small village in Lesotho, southern Africa.