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:
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?
Group introductions
Name
Department/position: From whence do you come?
Sustainability-related issues in your field
University
mission:
tripartite
Teaching/
Curriculum
Sustainable
University:
4-fold mission
Research/C
reative
scholarship
Operations
Outreach/
Community
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 Gro Brundtland
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
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: Core components for courses
1990’s: More accurate view as concentric circles
Social and economic systems
exist inside of and depend upon
environmental systems
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 wellbeing, economic resilience and good governance
Ambitious objective that can be reached through different pathways
>50 definitions to date! Favorites?
Interconnectedness among systems
Why teach sustainability?
Importance = ever-increasing
(world economics, climate
change, social issues, health)
Understanding
= increasing but low
Leadership capacity to address
= even lower
Long ago
Now
Human History
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