BBA students map fast fashion and housing affordability systems
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The world’s great challenges cannot be attributed to a single cause, or solved with one simple solution. Students in the Bachelor of Business Administration program learn to understand this complexity better than anyone, in Leading Change with Systems Thinking, a course included in the undergraduate degree.
Tackling important issues – fast fashion and housing affordability – this years’ BBA students were split into two groups to present on their “maps of the system” at RRU Langford, John Horgan Campus.
BBA students Amanda Mitchell, Danica Cheyfetz, Aysima Unver and Aarav Modi presented a fast fashion map.
The fast fashion map was presented by Danica Cheyfetz, Amanda Mitchell, Aysima Unver and Aarav Modi. They explored a variety of interconnected causes and impacts of the fast fashion industry, from consumer psychology to financial pressures, bulk production, child labour and unsafe working conditions, discriminatory treatment, waste export and environmental impacts.
By mapping out the factors that contribute to fast fashion and its harmful impacts on people and place, the group determined four themes within the system: consumer behaviours, economic drivers, environmental impacts, and humanitarian impacts. Through this process, they were able to indicate where interventions should occur to stop the vicious cycle.
“If we can start to educate ourselves, because I think the trickiest thing is changing our behaviour or way of thinking,” says Unver, a student from the Netherlands on a four-month exchange in the BBA program. “I think that would be the most impactful impact on the consumer side.”
In terms of accountability from manufacturers, Modi explains: “The price [of fast fashion garments] is low because [the manufacturers] don’t pay for the environmental cost... That’s where we can start change as consumers, by telling the manufacturers to pay this cost, and encourage sustainability.”
BBA students Shen-Chi Huang, Tshering Lhaden, Sia Nanda and Fuko Habu presented a BC housing crisis map.
The housing affordability map was presented by Shen-Chi Huang, Tshering Lhaden, Sia Nanda and Fuko Habu. They explored the events, patterns, structures and mental models at play in the housing crisis in Southern BC, with a special focus on the experiences of international students struggling to find housing here.
The team presented a complex picture of government policies, labour supply issues and mental models which all contribute to the housing insecurity or homelessness of tens of thousands in BC. They explained how mental models like NIMBYism (the Not In My Backyard mindset) and blaming the lack of supply on immigration, are unproductive in resolving the widespread, nuanced issue of housing in BC.
With regards to NIMBYism, Habu explains that British Columbians are mostly on board for new housing developments, “except when it comes to building more houses in their area... And that also ties into people not wanting high-rise buildings in their community. 30% of Canadians [only support] ground-oriented housing,” they said.
With regards to the systems thinking course, the students appreciate the interactive nature of study, which allows students to gain real-world experience amidst the program.
“What stands out to me is how interactive [the course] is,” says Mitchell. “You’re not just learning to regurgitate information – you're learning how to apply it. And apply it with clients specifically, so you can refer to that in [your future career].”