Definition Activity Overview

Transcription

1 Definition Activity Overview We want to have a conversation about the term sustainability. It is helpful when we explore the concept of sustainability that we know how others think about the idea. The difficulty some people have understanding sustainability is that there is not one clear definition. Sustainability looks different in different settings. What is sustainable in Switzerland might not be the same as what is sustainable in the United States. A particular activity might be sustainable in Florida but not Wisconsin. Something sustainable for the Madison School District might not be sustainable in the Waupaca School District. Likewise, what is sustainable today may also change over time as we face new challenges, acquire new resources, and gain new knowledge. That said, there are generally some common themes within the concept of sustainability. What we want to do is generate a definition of what you, as a community of educators, view sustainability as. The way in which we will do this is to read through a variety of definitions of sustainability. They come from authors, organizations, and even Wikipedia. You will work in small groups to identify what parts of the definitions you like, what you might not like, and what you might add. Education for Sustainability in Wisconsin

2 Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations to meet their own needs. Brundtland Report (World Commission on Environment & Development) Sustainable design is the set of perceptual and analytic abilities, ecological wisdom, and practical wherewithal essential to making things that fit in a world of microbes, plants, animals, and entropy. In other words, (sustainability) is the careful meshing of human purposes with the larger patterns and flows of the natural world, and careful study of those patterns and flows to inform human purposes. David Orr, Ecological Literacy

3 Sustainability is the ability to achieve continuing economic prosperity while protecting the natural systems of the planet and providing a high quality of life for its people. Achieving sustainable solutions calls for stewardship, with everyone taking responsibility for solving the problems of today and tomorrow-individuals, communities, businesses and governments are all stewards of the environment. Environmental Protection Agency Sustainability is asking ourselves today: How much do we really need? Then not taking more from the earth than that. Alliance for Global Sustainability Principle Investors

4 A transition to sustainability involves moving from linear to cyclical processes and technologies. The only processes we can rely on indefinitely are cyclical; all linear processes must eventually come to an end. Dr. Karl Henrik-Robert, MD, founder of The Natural Step, Sweden Sustainability is the capacity to endure. In ecology the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time. Long-lived and healthy wetlands and forests are examples of sustainable biological systems. For humans, sustainability is the potential for long-term maintenance of wellbeing, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions. Wikipedia (Jan 2011)

5 Sustainability occurs when human activity does not adversely affect the quality of the environment and resource base available for future generations of living things on the planet. Alliance for Global Sustainability Principle Investors Sustainability is equity over time. As a value, it refers to giving equal weight in your decisions to the future as well as the present. You might think of it as extending the Golden Rule through time, so that you do unto future generations (as well as to your present fellow beings) as you would have them do unto you. Robert Gilman, Director Context Institute

6 Leave the world better than you found it, take no more than you need, try not to harm life or the environment, make amends if you do. Paul Hawken A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise. Aldo Leopold, A Land Ethic, from Sand County Almanac Clean air, clean water, safety in city parks, low-income housing, education, child care, welfare, medical care, unemployment (insurance), transportation, recreation/cultural centers, open space, wetlands... Hazel Wolf, Seattle Audubon Society

7 Notes on Definitions Bruntland Commission: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This definition was created in 1987 at the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission). It is enshrined in the Swiss federal constitution. It is similar to the "seventh generation" philosophy of the Native American Iroquois Confederacy, mandating that chiefs always consider the effects of their actions on their descendants seven generations in the future. David W. Orr is the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics and Special Assistant to the President of Oberlin College and a James Marsh Professor at the University of Vermont. In 1996 he organized the effort to design the first substantially green building on a U.S. college campus. His career as a scholar, teacher, writer, speaker, and entrepreneur spans fields as diverse as environment and politics, environmental education, campus greening, green building, ecological design, and climate change. Ecological Literacy (SUNY, 1992), described as a true classic by Garrett Hardin, is widely read and used in hundreds of colleges and universities. In its early days, US Environmental Protection Agency acted primarily as the nation's environmental watchdog, striving to ensure that businesses met legal requirements in the area of pollution control. Implementing these pollution control regulations required large investments in time, money, and other resources. Over time, EPA began to develop ways to move from pollution control to pollution prevention. This effort sparked a new generation of innovative approaches to environmental protection. Today the EPA aims to make sustainability the next level of environmental protection by drawing on advances in science and technology, applying government regulations and policies to protect public health and welfare, and promoting green business practices. The 1970 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) formally established as a national goal the creation and maintenance of conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans. Over the past 30 years, the concept of sustainability has evolved to reflect perspectives of both the public and private sectors. A public policy perspective would define sustainability as the satisfaction of basic economic, social, and security needs now and in the future without undermining the natural resource base and environmental quality on which life depends. From a business perspective, the goal of sustainability is to increase long-term shareholder and social value, while decreasing industry s use of materials and reducing negative impacts on the environment. Common to both the public policy and business perspectives is recognition of the need to support a growing economy while reducing the social and economic costs of economic growth. Sustainable development can foster policies that integrate environmental, economic, and social values in decision making. From a business perspective, sustainable development favors an approach based on capturing system dynamics, building resilient and adaptive systems, anticipating and managing variability and risk, and earning a profit. Sustainable development reflects not the trade-off between business and the environment but the synergy between them. Education for Sustainability in Wisconsin 403 LRC, WCEE, UW-Stevens Point Stevens Point, WI wcee@uwsp.edu

8 The Alliance for Global Sustainability is a partnership of four scientific and technological universities the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The University of Tokyo, Chalmers University of Technology, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and their associated partners. It was formed in 1997 in the conviction that closer collaboration amongst some of the world's leading research institutions would lead to faster progress towards sustainability. The AGS believes that a sense of social responsibility for the future of the planet and environmental awareness should be a part of the education of every student. The issues around global sustainability - energy efficiency, clean and adequate water, fresh air, and sufficient food for an expanding population - are among the most challenging problems on earth today. With strengths in science, technology, and the social sciences, the AGS partner universities together commit substantial academic and research resources to meet these challenges. Professor Karl-Henrik Robèrt, MD, PhD is one of Sweden s foremost cancer scientists and the founder of The Natural Step. The Natural Step Framework is a comprehensive model for planning in complex systems. The Natural Step (TNS) Framework is based on systems thinking; recognizing that what happens in one part of a system affects every other part. The TNS Framework provides this shared mental model of sustainability by helping people across organizations, disciplines and cultures to communicate effectively, build consensus, and ultimately move toward their vision. The four Natural Step principles are: 1. Reduce and eventually eliminate our contribution to the systematic accumulation of materials from the earth s crust. 2. Reduce and eliminate our contribution to the systematic accumulation of substances produced by society. 3. Reduce and eliminate our contribution to the ongoing physical degradation of nature. 4. Reduce and eliminate our contribution to conditions that systematically undermine people s ability to meet their basic needs. Dr. Robert C. Gilman, Ph.D., President of Context Institute, received his bachelor's in astronomy from the University of California at Berkeley in 1967 and his Ph.D. in astrophysics from Princeton University in In the mid 1970s he decided that "the stars could wait, but the planet couldn't." He turned his attention to the study of global sustainability, futures research, and strategies for positive cultural change. In 1979 he founded the Context Institute, one of the earliest NGOs to focus directly on sustainability. In 1983 Context Institute began publishing IN CONTEXT, A Quarterly of Humane Sustainable Culture. Robert developed a wide background in all aspects of sustainable development including cultural history, innovation theory, sustainable economics, and greening of the built environment. Robert's present work draws on all three phases of his life as he helps groups and individuals transform their own lives while they help move the planet toward a humane and sustainable future. Education for Sustainability in Wisconsin 403 LRC, WCEE, UW-Stevens Point Stevens Point, WI wcee@uwsp.edu

9 Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist, and author. Starting at age 20, he dedicated his life to sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the environment. His practice has included starting and running ecological businesses, writing and teaching about the impact of commerce on living systems, and consulting with governments and corporations on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy. Aldo Leopold ( ) is considered the father of wildlife ecology and a true Wisconsin hero. He was a renowned scientist and scholar, exceptional teacher, philosopher, and gifted writer. It is for his book, A Sand County Almanac, that Leopold is best known by millions of people around the globe. The Almanac, often acclaimed as the century's literary landmark in conservation, melds exceptional poetic prose with keen observations of the natural world. The Almanac reflects an evolution of a lifetime of love, observation, and thought. It led to a philosophy that has guided many to discovering what it means to live in harmony with the land and with one another. Hazel Wolf ( ) was an environmental and social activist whose causes ranged from the rights of workers, women, and minorities to the protection of wilderness, wetlands, and wildlife. She became involved in labor issues after moving to Seattle in 1923, a single mother, struggling to support herself and her young child with a series of low-paying jobs. She joined the Communist Party in the 1930s, drifted away from it in the 1940s, and then fought off a 14- year effort by the federal government to deport her as a threat to national security. She eventually became one of the most venerated figures in the Northwest environmental community. Her later years were largely dominated by her environmental activism, which led her travel and lecture intensively, making connections with and between indigenous people, labor, and environmentalists. A film festival, a wetlands preserve, a bird sanctuary, a high school, and a Seattle Audubon Society endowment all carry her name, in tribute to a woman who proudly described herself as a lifelong "rabble rouser." Wikipedia is written collaboratively by largely anonymous Internet volunteers who write without pay. Anyone with Internet access can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles. Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia has grown rapidly into one of the largest reference websites, attracting nearly 78 million visitors monthly as of January Wikipedia is a live collaboration differing from paper-based reference sources in important ways. Unlike printed encyclopedias, Wikipedia is continually created and updated, with articles on historic events appearing within minutes, rather than months or years. Education for Sustainability in Wisconsin 403 LRC, WCEE, UW-Stevens Point Stevens Point, WI wcee@uwsp.edu