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Sustainability in the Curriculum: Fall Line Project V May 9-10, 2012 What is sustainability:

Sustainability in the Curriculum: Fall Line Project V May 9-10, 2012 What is sustainability: How do we connect? Nanette Chadwick Director of Academic Sustainability Programs Associate Professor of Biological Sciences “From whence I came…. ”. History of faculty workshops :

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Sustainability in the Curriculum: Fall Line Project V May 9-10, 2012 What is sustainability:

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  1. Sustainability in the Curriculum: Fall Line Project V May 9-10, 2012 What is sustainability: How do we connect? Nanette Chadwick Director of Academic Sustainability Programs Associate Professor of Biological Sciences “From whence I came….”

  2. History of faculty workshops: 1995 Northern Arizona University – Ponderosa Project (Chase & Rowland) 2001 Emory University – Piedmont Project (Bartlett) 2006 Auburn University – Fall Line Project (Biggs & Williams) Local names, sense of place Organizers now trained at 175 institutions in 6 countries Workshop concepts: -- Faculty as experts: contribute to each other’s growth and perspectives -- Gift of stimulation, excitement of getting outside your discipline -- Unity of personal and professional: connect values & duties Satisfaction and challenges – what are yours? -- Enjoyment of group and place, sense of fun in teaching Achieving sustainability requires major, transformational social and cultural change: Huge, complex problem But small pieces are manageable Reasons to hope?

  3. Group introductions Name Department/position: From whence do you come? Sustainability-related issues in your field

  4. University mission: tripartite Sustainable University: 4-fold mission

  5. History of sustainability movement and definitions Origins: Environmental disasters (DDT, Amazon forest, ozone hole) Unsustainable global development programs 1987 World Commission on Environment and Development Norwegian Prime Minister GroBrundtland Our Common Future “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” Idea of intergenerational equity: future generations have the same rights as the present ones 1987 Edward Barbier (Economics faculty, U Wyoming) Triple Bottom Line: Interlinkage of 3 major systems

  6. Economic capital = everything produced by individuals, goods & services Human /social capital= value of each individual as part of society Natural capital = ecosystem services, natural resources World Bank requires TBL on all projects Easiest to teach and understand each system separately But: Only connected systems lead to sustainable framework TBL: Corecomponents for courses

  7. 1990’s: More accurate view as concentric circles • Social and economic systems • exist inside of and depend upon • environmental systems

  8. 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio: Earth Summit Climate change convention, Kyoto Protocol, biodiversity 1998 Alan AtKisson: Sustainability is an ideal end state, like democracy -- a goal that eludes us, is not perfect 2009 Frank Rhodes (Cornell president): New foundation for arts and sciences -- broad, cohesive framework New kind of global map, hope for meeting global challenges 2012 FAO Ensuring human rights and well-being without depleting or diminishing the capacity of the earth's ecosystems to support life, or at the expense of others well-being Multi-dimensional concept encompassing environmental integrity, social well-being, economic resilience and good governance Ambitious objective that can be reached through different pathways >50 definitions to date! Favorites?

  9. Why teach sustainability? Importance = ever-increasing (world economics, climate change, social issues, health) Understanding = increasing but low Leadership capacity to address = even lower Interconnectedness among systems Human History

  10. 9 reasons to teach sustainability: (useful for justifying changes -- to upper admin, peers, students!) -- Peer inst. are doing (GA Tech, U Georgia, Emory, U Florida, etc.) -- enhances PR and recruitment to AU -- student and employer demand (training for green jobs) -- increases program prestige to upper admin, positive feedback -- increases chances for external funding and awards (Gogue and Univ. presidents climate change award – interested!) -- saves $$ over the long run (millions to utilities & disposal by AU) -- engages the local community and alumni -- enhances interdisciplinary connections and opportunities -- increases depth of understanding by students & quality of education

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