15 Urbanova in The United States

Team 22 Poster

Team Reflection

The coil project was an opportunity for research, collaboration and most importantly an opportunity to explore sustainability. This project translated our in-class knowledge to a multitude of different projects. From company research to the interview to the poster, this project has been a team effort. As we reflect on the work done throughout the project, we have come away with many valuable lessons. Here are our takeaways as a team and individually.

Urbanova’s story shows how they’re using smart solutions like the iCloud Energy Management System and solar panels to make their buildings more sustainable in Peru’s cities. In the interview, Joanna’s enthusiasm for Urbanova’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint and supporting local communities came through, especially with projects that work toward the UN SDGs. Learning about their specific actions made me think about how much a company can do to help the environment and the community. It was exciting to see a real estate company that’s genuinely focused on positive change and not just business, as most do. It gave me a sense of hope knowing that companies like Urbanova are working toward a better future for people and the planet, and it made me believe even more that sustainability can be a realistic goal for businesses.

The COIL project and working with Urbanova’s line of business provided us with great insight into the line between business profitability and sustainability. Urbanova’s innovative approach is a demonstration of the triple bottom line, their innovative approach exemplifies integrating sustainability while achieving financial success.

This project showed us that sustainability is not an extra for operations, but rather an essential part of a business plan to enhance operational efficiency and brand reputation. Their use of their iCloud monitoring system to reduce energy waste is a clear example of how a sustainable approach can derive tangible financial benefits. This new approach challenges common assumptions that sustainability can be limited to specific sectors, revealing that even traditional industries like real estate can evolve in sustainability.

AIM2FLOURISH provided us with the opportunity to think outside the box about what business innovations look like. AIM2FLOURISH stories challenge the traditional norms that profits are the purpose of a company. It is important that as students we expand our sustainability knowledge and AIM2FLOURISH did just that. Exploring these companies and innovations provided us with unique insights, deepened our knowledge and let us collaborate as a team and with a company. This project showcased the adaptability of companies as they progressively implement sustainability into the core of their businesses. Incorporating United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into the AIM2FLOURISH projects connected companies with a global initiative. As students, we are the future of business but also sustainability. Understanding the purpose and importance of sustainability will be a huge role we must take on. With our knowledge learned in class and throughout this project, we have the competencies to become leaders in sustainability. We plan to actively set standards for sustainability in all areas of business. We want to advocate for the importance of sustainable business practices. Meaningful change will come with an abundance of work, AIM2Flourish has given us a clear blueprint of what success of sustainability looks like. It will be a tool we can always look back and reference. We are the leaders of tomorrow and projects like AIM2FLOURISH are stepping stones to creating valuable sustainable practices in business.

We have learned that in the business world, even for-profit companies care about sustainable development and make an effort to implement their sustainability plans, which is impressive. Also, sustainability is involved in many areas of business and industries. For example, the real estate company Urbanova that we wrote the story about has practiced sustainability in its work as a real estate company, they create commercial and residential buildings while adhering to environmentally friendly practices.

The learnings in the courses helped supplement our teamwork in many ways. The first is in the week 1 reading  Collaboration as a Pathway for Sustainability which talks about the Nash equilibrium this theory highlights the idea of a cooperative strategy that enhances sustainability and benefits if no party diverts from the plan. In my eyes, this connected back to our teamwork because all parties in our group never diverted from our goals and planning which ultimately led to a sustainable workload for all group members. The second way the learnings in this course tied to our teamwork was in the week 3 reading Insights from Indigenous Leadership. In this particular reading, it talks about how culture affects leadership styles. All of the group members come from different cultures and with that comes different norms and leadership styles. After reading the article in week three it gave me a better understanding of how different cultures style the way they lead.

By doing meetings on the application Zoom, we distributed the tasks between us and emphasized distribution and coordination among us for meetings to ensure that the meeting time was suitable for all team members and that they could attend by using the application WhatsApp. A collaborative file was shared in the Google Doc application for everyone to solve in need any member’s help we can help him immediately, and also the reason why it is a collaborative file is Audit Spelling so that if a member notices that a word has been misspelled, they can edit it immediately.

The major factor for our team’s success was our weekly team meetings. All members were present, and having no absences each week provided us with the consistency and commitment we needed to be successful. We would start our meeting off with a summary of what was completed and or work in progress from the week before. We could assess those projects and all provide our input. We would then shift our focus to the week ahead, assess what the work would be, and due dates and distribute roles and responsibilities. We would also plan the next meeting that would suit everyone’s schedule. Throughout the week we communicated through WhatsApp, which allowed us to stay in contact without having a formal meeting. We would all answer promptly which also made things successful.

Some challenges we faced along the way were time-zone differences, although this was to be expected there were days such as daylight saving that affected our schedules. Sometimes members were late to meetings which made it inefficient as we would have to re-cap them on what they missed. Overall we faced limited challenges as we were all proactive and task-oriented.

Individual Reflections

Monica Tanguay

As I look back on the COIL project the word fulfilled is how I would describe my experience. Working in a team is a challenging and rewarding experience, my group members were hardworking and always present. Working with students from different universities was a new experience for me. It was a great opportunity to learn about other cultures, gain new perspectives and meet new people. Working through time-zone differences and language barriers is prevalent in business. Understanding how to manage elements like time-zone differences is a great tool.  It was fascinating to research companies that value sustainability. It was rewarding to also give them the much-deserved acknowledgement for their contributions towards sustainability. The story posted on AIM2FLOURISH provided me with a direct view of an accomplishment a company can strive for when implementing sustainability into their business. The poster was a very creative aspect of the project, I appreciated having the chance to showcase the company in such a creative way. It is sometimes rare in University, especially business, to have the opportunity to showcase your research and work creatively like the poster. This was also a great opportunity to work on digital design.

Sawyer Whitaker

​Now that our coil project is slowly wrapping up, looking back on the past couple of months and reflecting on what I’ve learned as an individual in the multicultural business group I can say I’ve learned a lot about myself and as well as how to work together with people from other parts of the world. Reflecting on what I think the team learned from this assignment took me some time to come up with, but after really thinking about it I think I found the answer. I believe that as a team we all learned how to put our differences aside and come together for something bigger than ourselves. All team members put aside time weekly to meet and discuss further plans and jobs as a group. Overall, the whole experience of the COIL project was exciting and educational in all aspects. I believe that this project is good for students to learn how to work with others from different parts of the world, as well as how to organize a team to accomplish delaines and tasks

Maria Rivas 

Participating in the AIM2FLOURISH project was truly a unique and fulfilling experience. Personally, the projects and activities I enjoy the most in university are the ones that explore how what we are studying plays in real life. We had the opportunity to study in depth the innovations and operations of a company that has been able to achieve great success working for a positive change in the environment. Urbanova reminded me that there is always room for innovation and that it is important to work for the greater good. The COIL project was also a great tool to enforce skills for teamwork. As a group, we all had to be considerate of time differences, cultural differences and language barriers. It was a new experience for me that had a great positive impact on the final result of the project as it led to different approaches and new perspectives.

In conclusion, working on the AIM2FLOURISH project provided me with a great opportunity to apply class knowledge to real-life experiences, it deepened my understanding of sustainability and innovation, helped me build essential teamwork skills and reinforced the importance of working towards meaningful goals.

Letizia Chung

Working on the AIM2Flourish project with a virtual team was an enriching experience and a rewarding first-time opportunity to collaborate with people from diverse backgrounds and universities. Each person brought different perspectives, ideas, and knowledge, which made our discussions engaging and this project even gave me a chance to learn about companies from each member’s country. In my opinion, we worked effectively as a team, with everyone meeting deadlines and contributing to their parts. We kept communication open and consistent, which helped a lot, although finding a meeting time that worked for everyone was sometimes tricky with our different time zones and everyone’s class schedules. Despite these challenges, each team member put in the effort, and it shows in the quality of our final work.

Overall, this experience opened my perspective on sustainability. It was inspiring to see how different countries and companies are working toward the SDGs, coming up with innovative ways to support their communities and protect the environment. Learning about these different approaches and seeing the positive impact they’re making was eye-opening and made me appreciate how much effort is being put into sustainability worldwide.

Lina Almohaser

The COIL program is interesting, as it highlights and talks about companies from the for-profit sector that have their own sustainability goals, and from my point of view, it is a positive thing that is in the interest of the company, especially in terms of reputation. The program has also reinforced my concept of sustainability and made me realize how important it is that there are companies that make a high effort for sustainability not only for them but for the people around them, the communities around them, as Urbanova did, what Urbanova is doing is impressive. As a future businessperson, I will try to make sustainability an integral part of the company I work for, not for the sake of reputation, but for the general interest of the company I work for and the interest of society. This was also a wholesale experience as I had the privilege of working with students from different universities. I also had the privilege of getting to know and collaborating with members of my group, who are hard-working people who are keen to attend all meetings and are also interactive.

Sadeem Almogbel 

Working for the COIL project made me gain new experience and knowledge. Engaging with people from different cultures has opened my eyes to a multitude of perspectives that I would not have encountered otherwise, I mostly appreciated my team members for the respectful, passionate, and cooperative spirit that characterized our team. Despite our differences in language, cultural norms, and even time zones, everyone was fully committed to the project and willing to support one another. I found myself in a truly positive environment, we faced different challenges but these challenges did not stop us from working hard, instead, they motivated us to develop new skills and strategies to communicate effectively and stay in touch. We became more flexible, creative, and intentional about how we worked together. Meeting new people and learning about multiple companies has deepened my understanding of the importance of sustainable development goals and how to implement them in different business fields. I am incredibly proud to have had the opportunity to participate in this project. This knowledge is something I hope to carry forward and apply in my work.