Introduction to sustainability principles 101 june 2 2010
-
Upload
lauraebrown -
Category
Documents
-
view
966 -
download
0
description
Transcript of Introduction to sustainability principles 101 june 2 2010
Introduction to Sustainability Principles
In preparation for the EALP Leadership Class Trip to
Greensburg, KansasPresented by Sustainability Team Members
Laura Brown, Jason Kauffield, Mary Kluz, Catherine Neiswender June 2, 2010
Overview
• Why are we here today? o Greensburg’s experiment in sustainability
• What do we mean by sustainability? o Sustainability basics o Time – Relationships - Resilience
• How are sustainability questions being approached and responded to at the community level? o The Natural Step and Transition Townso Community Engagement
Only a crisis—actual or perceived—produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable.
Milton Friedman
Why are we talking about sustainability?
Sustainability Basics
• Time (and change)• Relationships• Resilience
World Population, 10,000 BC to Present
Societal Pressure on Earth Systems
Source: International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, 2004
Societal Pressure on Earth Systems
Source: International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, 2004
Sustainability Basics
• Time (and change)• Relationships• Resilience
Supporting•Nutrient cycling•Soil formation•Primary production
Provisioning• Food• Freshwater• Wood and fibre• Fuel
Regulating•Climate regulation•Flood regulation•Disease regulation•Water purification
Cultural•Aesthetics•Spiritual•Educational•Recreational
Categories of Ecosystem Services
Source: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. Washington, DC: Island Press.
How much is 2 trillion barrels of oil anyway?
How many trillion barrels of water are there in the Great Lakes system?
Source: Midwest Permacultureand the Energy Information Centerhttp://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/reserves.html
15
We will replace oil with other forms of energy…!!!
Source:The Oil Drum .com
Indu
stria
l As
cent
(Mod
erni
sm)
Indu
stria
l As
cent
(Mod
erni
sm)
Energy & Resource UseEnergy & Resource Use Population Pollution Pollution
ClimaxClimax
Techno-Fantasy
Green-Tech StabilityGreen-Tech Stability
Earth stewardship
Mad Max
Great Grand Great Grand ChildrenChildren
AgricultureAgriculture10.000yrs BP10.000yrs BP
Industrial Industrial RevolutionRevolution
Baby BoomBaby Boom
Pre-industrial sustainable culture
Pre-industrial sustainable culture
Historical Time Future Time
Creative Descent
Creative Descent
Creative Descent
Creative Descent
Where are we going?
Sustainability Basics
• Time (and change)• Relationships• Resilience
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.”
Intergenerational equitySource: World Commission on Environment and Development. Our Common Future. The Brundtland
Report. Oxford University Press, 1987, p. 43.
Defining Sustainable Development
“It contains two key concepts: the concept of “needs,” in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor,
to which overriding priority should be
given; and the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology
and social organization on the environment’s ability to meet
present and future needs.”
Intragenerational equityEnvironmental limits
Defining Sustainable Development
Source: World Commission on Environment and Development. Our Common Future. The Brundtland Report. Oxford University Press, 1987, p. 43.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Transcendence
Self Actualization
Aesthetic Needs
Need to Know and Understand
Esteem Needs
Belonging and Love Needs
Safety Needs
Physiological Needs
Community Development
• a group of people in a locality• initiating a social action process (i.e.,
planned intervention)• to change their economic, social,
cultural, and/or environmental situation
Community Emphasis
• Grassroots energy and action• Place-based• Where our individual/household and
business/institutional lives meet• “All politics is local” • Quality of life and quality of place• Comprehensive and holistic• The list goes on
Sustainable Community DevelopmentSustainability Revolution and Paradigm
ChangeEarly 1970s and still evolving
Old Paradigm 1970’s- 90’s• Limits to population
growth, carrying capacity• Physical infrastructure,
technology development• Business and industry • Training and social
resources• Sustainable living
New Paradigm 2000 +• Holistic focus: human, social,
and natural capital• Economic, social, and
ecological relationships• Life Cycle Assessment
Evolving Views of the Community
Unconnected or silos view Interconnected or linkages view
Interdependent, nested, or systems view
EnvironmentEconomy
Society
EnvironmentEconomy
Society
Environment
Society
Economy
How are sustainability questions being approached and
responded to at the community level?
Wisconsin Eco-municipalities
Town of La PointeCity of WashburnCity of AshlandCity of MadisonCity of BayfieldTown of BayfieldDouglas CountyVillage of Johnson CreekCity of MarshfieldCity of ManitowocCity of NeenahCity of MenashaTown of MenashaCity of Eau ClaireTown of Cottage GroveCity of La CrosseLa Crosse CountyCity of Stevens PointCity of WausauCity of BeloitCity of BarabooCity of SheboyganDunn CountyVillage of Spring GreenVillage of ColfaxTown of GreenvilleVillage of Shorewood
Transition Model
“ . . . a positive, solutions-focused way of gathering those around you together to start exploring community-scale responses to peak oil and climate change.”
Rob Hopkins. The Transition Handbook, 2008.
Transition Town Initiatives
• Life with lower energy consumption is inevitable, and it’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise.
• Our communities presently lack the resilience to enable them to weather the coming changes.
• We have to act collectively, we have to act locally, and we have to act now.
• By unleashing the skills and ideas of the community we can creatively design our energy transition and build ways of living that are connected, enriching and sustainable.
The Natural Step Framework
1. A shared science- and systems-based definition for sustainability
2. A decision-making framework and process to help organizations and communities plan for sustainability
3. A compass to help us know if we’re moving in the right direction
Source material from TNS Canada
Resource Funnel
Resource Availability and Ecosystem Ability to Provide Vital Services
Raw materials, ecosystem services, declining integrity and capacity of natural systems
SustainabilityMargin for
Action
Societal Demand for ResourcesGrowth in population, resource requirements as affluence increases, increased demands as technology spreads
Source: Nattrass, Brian, and Altomare, Mary. The Natural Step for Business. New Society Publishers, 1999.
Four Sustainability Principles
...concentrations of substances extracted from the Earth’s crust,
...concentrations of substances produced by society,
...degradation by physical means,
...people are not subject to conditions that systematically undermine their capacity to meet their needs.
In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing...
and, in that society...
Three Rules for Decision-Making
• Sustainable scale• Just distribution• Efficient allocation
Source: Daly, Herman. Ecological Economics. Island Press, 2004.
Other Approaches and Access Points
• Eco-teams- Household Choices• Consumer Choices• Energy and Efficiency (LEED etc)• Climate Change• Economic Development- Triple Bottom Line• Agriculture and Natural Resources• Community and Land Use Planning
Sarah James and Torbjorn Lahti. The Natural Step New Society Publishers 2004
A Growing Movement
Community stories
Thank you!
For more sustainability resources check out the Sustainability Team website
www.capacitycenter.org
Other resources referenced:• http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.aspx• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Common_Future• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow• http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Brundtland_Report/From_One_Earth_to_One_World• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transition_Towns. • Hopkins, Rob and Richard Heinberg (2008) The Transition Handbook: From Oil
Dependency to Local Resilience. Chelsea Green. • Lahti, Torbjorn and Sarah James. (2004) The Natural Step for Communities: How Cities
and Towns can Change to Sustainable Practices. New Society Publishers• Mcmichael, Philip. (2004) Development and Social Change. Sage Publications.