Sustainable Futures in Business: Insights from Australia and New Zealand

The saying goes “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Think of what video can do to bring a subject to life! In May 2023, a group of 20 Penn State students from multiple campuses joined Kaitlin Farnan, a business instructor at Penn State Altoona, and Annie Taylor, the senior assistant dean for distance learning in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, on a trip to New Zealand and Australia to learn about sustainable business practices. The itinerary included 31 hands-on experiences encompassing site visits, interviews, and service-learning projects. These experiences included visits to farms, nature preserves, eco-tourism companies, foundations, and government agencies. Students engaged with representatives from diverse businesses including the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, Whale Watch Kiakoura, Katmandu Outdoor, Remix Plastic, the Skybury Cafe, and Greenspace Community Vertical Farming. They heard about the New Zealand Film Industry from one of its pioneers, and visited numerous other locations to see, and hear about, sustainability practices in action.

Each video in this collection features a site visit and/or presentation from the trip that has been professionally captured and edited by College of Earth and Mineral Sciences multimedia specialist Kay DiMarco. This is more than a collection; it's a gateway to inspiration and understanding of how sustainability is practiced around the world.  These resources are available here as open educational resources that can be freely used and adapted by instructors across Penn State, and beyond, to enrich student learning about sustainability.