Sustainable Development History: Sustainable Development History Critique of traditional development Contributing to health problems, ecological degradation, poverty and social injustice Undermining ecological, social and economic capital of communities SD as remedy.


Dimensions of Sustainability: Dimensions of Sustainability Human Health Social Justice & Equity Economic Opportunity for All Ecological Integrity & Diversity


Slide3: Sustainability requires that we focus simultaneously on systemic changes that improve health for current and future humans, build strong, secure and thriving communities, provide economic opportunity for all by restoring and preserving the integrity of the life support system.


Why Sustainability Now?: Why Sustainability Now? We are the first generation capable of determining the habitability of the planet for humans and other species.  


Why Sustainability & Why Now?: Why Sustainability & Why Now? Human presence on a global scale All living systems in long term decline at unprecedented and accelerating rate Old and new epidemics Unprecedented growth in population and consumption Gap between rich and poor accelerating Political instability and war Protracted energy challenge/crisis Global Warming


Global Perspective: Global Perspective


Systems Problem: Systems Problem & Design Failure


Principles of Sustainability: Principles of Sustainability Economy Society Ecology


Slide9: Strong Economy Social Well-being Flourishing Environment Sustainable Society


Ice Cores Preserve the History of Atmospheric CO2: The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has never been above 300 ppm for at least the last 430,000 years (and probably not for the last 30 million years!) Ice Cores Preserve the History of Atmospheric CO2


Slide11: Computer models of climate match the observations only when natural and human “forcings” are included in the models. The human forcings are responsible for most of the rapid warming 1970-2000.


Slide13: Muir Glacier, Alaska, 1941-2004 NSIDC/WDC for Glaciology, Boulder, compiler. 2002, updated 2006. Online glacier photograph database. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center. August 1941 August 2004 Coastal glaciers are retreating


Slide14: Soon Americans will have to settle for a Non-Glacier National Park.


Slide15: Greenland ice Melting 1992, 2002, and 2005 1992 2002 2005 Source: ACIA, 2004 and CIRES, 2005 In 1992 scientists measured this amount of melting in Greenland as indicated by red areas on the map Ten years later, in 2002, the melting was much worse And in 2005, it accelerated dramatically yet again Greenland summer surface melting, 1992-2005


Slide16: Shrinking mountain glaciers The famous snows of Kilimanjaro have been shrinking rapidly in recent decades and are nearly gone. This is particularly significant because high-elevation ice and snow near the equator does not vary much except when climate is changing globally. The decline between 1912 and 2000 was 81%


SOCIETY’S CHOICES: SOCIETY’S CHOICES Mitigation, meaning measures to reduce the pace & magnitude of the changes in global climate being caused by human activities. Adaptation, meaning measures to reduce the adverse impacts on human well-being resulting from the changes in climate that do occur. Suffering the adverse impacts that are not avoided by either mitigation or adaptation.


Slide20: Combining the ice-core data and the direct measurements from Mauna Loa yields a curve strikingly similar to the curve that describes…


Slide22: Making the “Invisible” “Visible”


Global Transition: Global Transition From Fossil powered Take, make, waste Living off nature’s capital Market as master Loss of cultural & biological diversity Individual centered To Solar powered Cyclical production Living off nature’s income Market as servant Increased cultural & biological diversity Community centered


Reversing Climate Disruption: Reversing Climate Disruption Energy Efficiency Renewable Energy wind, solar, geothermal, hydro Land use & transportation higher density, less auto dependence alternative fuels for vehicles “Circular” economy Sustainable/local agriculture Carbon sequestration


Sustainability Frameworks & Tools: Sustainability Frameworks & Tools Systemic, holistic, integrative thinking The Natural Step Ecological Footprint Biomimicry Natural Capitalism Life Cycle Analysis LEED Others


Higher Education’s Importance to Sustainability: Higher Education’s Importance to Sustainability Influences current & future leaders & professionals Deeply influences K-12 education Dedicated to new ideas, exploration and experimentation Has critical mass & diversity of skills necessary Crucial but overlooked leverage point in transition to sustainability


Slide29: Opportunity in Higher Education 4,096 U.S. Colleges and Universities1 14.8 million students1 $277 billion annual expenditures; 2.8% of the GDP1 Higher education expenditures greater than the GDP of all but 25 countries in the world2 1 From: 2001 Digest of Education Statistics, US Dept. of Education. 2 From: 2001 CIA World Factbook and Dowling, Mike., "Interactive Table of World Nations," available from http://www.mrdowling.com/800nations.html; Internet; updated Friday, June 29, 2001


Higher Education Modeling Sustainabilityas a Fully Integrated Community: Higher Education Modeling Sustainability as a Fully Integrated Community


Higher Education Changes: Higher Education Changes Interdependent & Intergenerational ‘Worldview’ Problem Solving to Creating Systems thinking as a fundamental framework ‘Knowing’ to ‘Learning’ Communities Making ‘invisible’ ‘visible’


Education for Sustainability: Education for Sustainability Integrated, interdisciplinary learning “Lateral” & “vertical” rigor in learning Ethics, values & sustainability seamlessly integral to all disciplines Collaborative & experiential learning Practicing sustainability on campus and with communities


Higher Education Stakeholders: Higher Education Stakeholders Administrators Faculty Operations & facilities managers Students Trustees Staff Higher Ed Associations Alumni Parents of students Communities Accreditation orgs. Future Employers Funders Professionals Future Generations World cultures Biosphere & all its species


Sina Qua Non: Sina Qua Non Communication is to sustainability what Location is to real estate


American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment: American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment Voluntary effort ~ to Mayor’s Climate Agreement Organized by AASHE, Second Nature & ecoAmerica Commit to 3 actions Plan within 2 years to achieve climate neutrality GHG Inventory Operations, Education & Research Adoption of select emission reduction measures Public reporting on plans and progress thru AASHE www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org


American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment: American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment Phase 1 Development of policies, documents, website, marketing, website, plan Recruit Leadership Circle & signatories Phase 2 Launch w/in HE community - late Feb Get 200 signatories June 2007 summit Phase 3 Get 1000 signatories by Dec. 2009 Support for and report on progress


ACUPCC Signatories Jan.: ACUPCC Signatories Jan. Arizona State University Bainbridge Graduate Institute Ball State University California State University, Chico Cape Cod Community College Central Washington University Chandler-Gilbert CC College of the Atlantic Columbus State CC Community College of Denver Connecticut College Drury University Eastern University Iowa Lakes Community College Los Angeles CC District Mount Wachusett CC Norfolk State University Oberlin College Ohlone College Olympic College Pacific Lutheran University Randolph College University of Florida University of Tennessee U Wisconsin - Green Bay U Wisconsin – Oshkosh U Wisconsin – River Falls


The Natural Step: The Natural Step A Framework & Organization Compass toward sustainability Based on immutable natural Laws True systems thinking Easily understandable at all levels Scale Knowledge


Slide41: The Earth as a System


Global Perspective: Global Perspective


A Metaphorical Funnel: A Metaphorical Funnel


Slide44: System Overview Fundamental Principles = trunk and branches Details = leaves


Basic science: Basic science Nothing disappears Law of conservation of matter & energy First law of thermodynamics Matter & Energy tend to disperse Second law of thermodynamics (entropy law)


Basic science continued…: Basic science continued… Order, concentration and structure determine matter quality Photosynthesis is the primary provider of net order: “plants pay the bills”


Slide47: Natural Cycles


Slide48: Present Society


Slide49: Sustainable Society


Sustainability Principles: Sustainability Principles Increasing concentrations of substances extracted from the earth’s crust Increasing concentrations of substances produced by society Degradation by physical means In the sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing… and… human needs are met worldwide. The Natural Step guiding principles


Slide51: What is Biomimicry? A science that studies nature's best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems. The core idea is that nature, imaginative by necessity, has already solved many of the problems we are grappling with. Animals, plants, and microbes are the consummate engineers. They have found what works, what is appropriate, and most important, what lasts here on Earth. 1 1 From: An Interview with Janine Benyus, 2003 .


Material Inspirations : Material Inspirations Abalone mussel nacre (mother of pearl coating) Hard coatings-for windshields and bodies of solar cars, airplanes, anything that needs to be lightweight but fracture-resistant. A crystalline coating self-assembles in perfect precision atop protein templates. In the abalone, it's a 3-D masterpiece, tougher than anything we can manufacture! 1 1 From: www.biomimicry.net


Natural Capitalism: Natural Capitalism Dramatically increase productivity of natural resources Shift to biologically inspired production models Move to solutions-based business model Value as flow of services, e.g., illumination not lightbulbs Reinvest in natural capital