TREN 1F90 Introduction to Sustainability

1. TREN 1F90Introduction to Sustainability

2. http://www.brocku.ca/tren/courses/tren3p18 These notes available via the online course outline at:

3. TREN 1F90Introduction to Sustainability • Definitions • environment • policy • scale • jurisdiction • Defining Sustainable Development • About Interdisciplinarity

4. Definitions, tools and frameworks

5. en·vi·ron·ment • in-'vI-r&(n)-m&nt, -'vI(-&)r(n)- • [n] 1 : the circumstances, objects, or conditions by which one is surrounded • 2 a : the complex of physical, chemical, and biotic factors (as climate, soil, and living things) that act upon an organism or an ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival b : the aggregate of social and cultural conditions that influence the life of an individual or community. • - Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2004

6. environment • [n] the totality of surrounding conditions.

7. environmentaleffects • …are felt, and modified, in 3 main ways - through the flows of: • MATERIALS • ENERGY • INFORMATION • -> fundamental ‘spheres of influence’ for sustainability

8. policy • …a course or general plan of action to be adopted by a government, party, person, etc. • - Concise Oxford Dictionary

9. policy • …a selected, planned line of conduct in the light of which individual decisions are made and coordination achieved • - Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary

10. ENVI conceptual tools

11. scale - an ordered series of graduated quantities, values, degrees, etc. - relative magnitude • - Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary

12. scale may be: • - physical / geographical • ranking based upon size, dimension, geographical subunit, etc. • - ecological • individual, deme, community, population • - jurisdictional • local, municipal, regional, federal, global

13. scale GLOBAL / MACRO LOCAL / MICRO United Nations . . governments . . ngos / community groups . individuals earth continent country province region municipality neighbourhood household individual spatial jurisdictional /decision making

14. jurisdiction - the legal power to administer and enforce the law - the exercising of this power - the region within which this power is valid or in which a person has authority - authority • - Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary

15. Defining Sustainable Development

16. Sustainable development: • meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. • World Commission on Environment and Development (1987): Our Common Future

17. Elements of sustainability Environment Economy Society - World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987

18. the sustainable development triangle

19. Elements of sustainability Environment Economy Society - World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987

20. Elements of sustainability Environment • biodiversity • materials • energy • biophysical interactions - World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987

21. Elements of sustainability • money and capital • employment • technological growth • investment • market forces Economy - World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987

22. Elements of sustainability • human diversity (cultural, linguistic, ethnic) • equity (dependence / independence) • quality of life • institutional structures and organization • political structures Society - World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987

23. The ‘3 Es’ Model Ecology Economy Equity

24. SOCIETY ECONOMY • HEALTH ENVIRONMENT The Healthy Community Model

25. Sustainability: PROBLEMS • Depletion of finite resources • fuels, soil, minerals, species • Over-use of renewable resources • forests, fish & wildlife, fertility, public funds • Pollution • air, water, soil • Inequity • economic, political, social, gender • Species loss • endangered species and spaces - WCED, 1987

26. Sustainability: SOLUTIONS • Cyclical material use • emulate natural cycles; 3 R’s • Safe reliable energy • conservation, renewable energy, substitution, interim measures • Life-based interests • health, creativity, communication, coordination, appreciation, learning, intellectual and spiritual development

27. Two key sustainable development concepts: • EQUITY • LIMITS TO GROWTH -WCED 1987

28. Two key sustainable development concepts: • the concept of needs, particularly the essential needs of the world’s poor • EQUITY -WCED 1987

29. Two key sustainable development concepts: • EQUITY • the quality of being fair or impartial; fairness; impartiality • something that is fair and just. -dictionary.com

30. Contrast with: • EQUALITY • the state or quality of being equal; correspondence in quantity, degree, value, rank, or ability. • uniform character, as of motion or surface. -dictionary.com

31. Two key sustainable development concepts: • the idea of limitations (ecological, technological, and social) which affect the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs • LIMITS TO GROWTH -WCED 1987

32. Two key sustainable development concepts: • LIMITS TO GROWTH • - quantitative and qualitative limits • - living within the regenerative and assimilative capacities of the planet -WCED 1987

33. Sustainable development... • implies limits • Not predefined absolute limits, but limitations imposed by: • the ability of the biosphere to absorb the effects of human activities • adaptability of human social and political organization • technology

34. Sustainable development and economic growth Economic growth must be made: • less material intensive (‘dematerialization of the economy’) • less energy intensive • more equitable in its impacts • Economic growth may be reduced or curtailed to meet limitations imposed by environment, technology, or society

35. Institutional gaps impeding sustainable development 2 major gaps: • fragmented decision making • narrow mandates, jurisdictional rigidity, lack of communication and coordination • lack of accountabiity • failure to make the bodies whose policy actions degrade the environment responsible for their actions

36. materials and energy

37. Obsolescent “frontier” civilization: HEAT ENERGY HIGH THROUGHPUT NON-RENEWABLE and RENEWABLE CONSUMER SOCIETY CONVENTIONAL URBAN SYSTEM WASTE & TOXINS MATERIALS One-way flow of materials and energy

38. Sustainable civilization: Energy Efficiency Low-quality Heat Energy ENERGY LOW THROUGHPUT RENEWABLE CONSERVER SOCIETY Low-volume Nontoxic Waste Materials MATERIALS Waste Minimization Toxics control • Cyclical flows of materials • Appropriate energy usage

39. informationand decision making

40. Sustainable development... • considers future and present needs when making decisions about: • resource and energy use • technological development • direction of investments • social, political & institutional change...etc. etc. etc.

41. ECONOMY ENV’T SOCIETY TRADITIONAL DECISION MAKING

42. ECONOMY ENV’T SOCIETY • NON-PARTICIPATORY • FRAGMENTED TRADITIONAL DECISION MAKING

43. ECONOMY ENV’T SOCIETY SOCIETY ECONOMY • ‘ECO- • SYSTEM • HEALTH’ ENVIRONMENT TRADITIONAL DECISION MAKING ECOSYSTEM-BASED DECISION MAKING

44. SOCIETY ECONOMY • ‘ECO- • SYSTEM • HEALTH’ • PARTICIPATORY • INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENT ECOSYSTEM-BASED DECISION MAKING

45. Fragmented decision-making private other interests public community groups federal / national ISSUE municipal provincial / state regional - after Barrett and Kidd, 1991

46. private private other other public public interests interests community community federal/ federal/ ISSUE ISSUE groups groups national national municipal provincial/ municipal provincial/ state state regional Integrated decision-making - after Barrett and Kidd, 1991

47. decision making • reactive

48. decision making • reactive • (‘end of pipe’)

49. decision making • anticipatory • reactive

50. decision making • anticipatory • (planning for • change) • reactive