National Trends in Sustainability and
Resulting Local Opportunities
Debra Rowe, Ph.D.
President, U.S. Partnership for Education for
Sustainable Development – www.uspartnership.org
Co-coordinator, Higher Education Associations
Sustainability Consortium – www.heasc.net
Professor, Renewable Energies and Energy
Management, Oakland Community College
dgrowe@oaklandcc.edu
Education for a Sustainable
Future (EFS)
• Part I
Why EFS and Growing
Expectations?
• Part II What does it look like in higher
education?
• Part III National Trends and Resources
• Part IV Next Steps
Sustainable Development
is often defined as:
“meeting the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of
future generations to
meet their own needs”
World Commission on Env. and Development. (1987). Our Common Future. England:
Oxford University Press.
Flourishing
Environment
Social
Well-being
Sustainable
Society
Strong
Economy
Triple Bottom Line of Sustainability
The United Nations
has declared a
Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development
2005-2014
“The Millennium Development Goals serve
as the new framework for sustainable
development” – UN DESD website
Education for a
Sustainable Society:
“enables people to develop the
knowledge, values and skills to
participate in decisions …, that will
improve the quality of life now without
damaging the planet for the future.”
Ecosystem
Sustainable Communities
Ecosystem
Public Choices and
Behaviors-Laws
Applied
Knowledge/
Technological
Skills
Private Choices and
Behaviors-Habits
Sustainable Economies
Ecosystem
Ecosystem
We are the first generation capable of
determining the habitability of the planet
for humans and other species.
The decisions of this generation are crucial.
Why the Environmental Issues are
so important
Of the MDGs, the environmental one has
the shortest timeline and
the highest priority.
If not addressed, it will decrease the
possibilities for success of all the other
goals.
The goals are interdependent and
interactive.
•
•
Systems thinking is very important
Nirmala Nair from South Africa and India. Her message
– learn more about the interconnections of the MDGs to
create a sustainable future - power and status of U.S. –
be careful - recommend integrated solutions or don’t
recommend!
Why the Environmental Issues are
so important
1. Human presence on a global scale
2. All living systems in long term decline at
unprecedented and accelerating rate
3. Unprecedented growth in population and
consumption
4. Climate change
Our decisions will create:
more scarcity and suffering, or a future
of greater abundance and quality of life
Global Perspective
life supporting resources
declining
consumption of
life supporting resources
rising
Why is ESD such a high priority in the U.S.?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Much of the U.S. public doesn’t know that we are
exceeding the carrying capacity of the planet.
(www.myfootprint.org)
All of the life supporting ecosystems are in decline
(http://www.worldwatch.org/topics/nature)
The U.S. has approximately 5% of the world’s
population and is consuming 25% of the world’s
resources. (Jucker, Our Common Illiteracy – Education as If the
Earth and People Mattered, Peter Lang Publishers)
Public doesn’t know we can reduce human suffering,
environmental degradation and social injustice now
while building stronger economies
A rapid shift in mindset is needed and education for
action is the key.
Why is environmental responsibility such a high
priority?
• Freshwater withdrawal has almost doubled since 1960
and nearly half the world’s major rivers are going dry
or are badly polluted (New Internationalist, no. 329
November, 2000. 18)
• 11 of the world’s 15 major fishing areas and 69% of the
world’s major fish species are in decline (State of the
World 1998, 60-67)
• Climate change (global warming) exists, a major
culprit is fossil fuels, and impacts are very serious.
(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report:
Summary for Policymakers: The Science of Climate
Change 1995)
Effects -Climate Change – U.S. #1 polluter

Disruption of food production and the food chain

More extreme weather events

Disruptions of ecosystems, including water supplies

Spread of disease e.g. West Nile, Malaria

Submersion of land masses –
1 to 4 foot sea level rise - now up to 50 feet
50% of world’s population lives on the coasts
(75% in 2050)
Sources: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Global Transition -
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
From
Post-Industrial
Fossil powered
Take, make, waste
Living off nature’s capital
Market as master
Loss of cultural & biological
diversity
Independence
Materialism as goal
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
To
Life-Sustaining
Non-polluting powered
Cyclical production
Living off nature’s income
Market as servant
Increased cultural &
biological diversity
Interdependence
Human satisfaction goal
Dominant Inaccurate Human Beliefs
Which ones do you have to eliminate?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Humans dominant species separate from environment
Resources free and inexhaustible
Technology the answer
Earth can assimilate all wastes
All human needs can be met by human means
Individual success independent of health of communities,
cultures and ecosystems
Old Worldview
vs. Updated Worldview of Sustainability
Many myths must be dispelled.
Which of these myths
do you believe?
• Sustainability is mostly about the environment
• Sustainability is just another issue, like
international studies or computer literacy
• Sustainability is primarily a scientific and
technical problem
• I don’t have the skills or power to make big
changes in society for sustainability.
Potential is enormous for social and
environmental justice and health
Higher Education Sector as one example
•
•
•
•
4,096 U.S. Colleges and Universities (1)
14.8 million students (1)
$277 billion annual expenditures; 2.8% of the GDP(1)
HE expenditures > the GDP of all but 25 countries in
the world(2)
1
From: 2001 Digest of Education Statistics, US Dept. of Education.
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
2
Part II
What does
education for a sustainable future
look like within higher education?
What if higher education were to take a
leadership role, as it did in the space race
and the war on cancer, in preparing students
and providing the information and knowledge
to achieve a just and sustainable society?
What would higher education look like?
(Could replace higher ed with K-12 or media or
government – great learning tool for action.)
For higher education,
Sustainable Development integrated into:
Curricula
Research
Operations
Mission and
Planning
Community
Outreach and
Partnerships
Purchasing
Student Life
Professional
Development
KEY THRUST
Change operational and policy norms so all
students can learn and practice how to be:
• environmentally responsible
• socially responsible
• economically responsible
• active citizens in a global economy
Goals:
• All students engaged as effective change
agents in our sustainability challenges
• From apathy
caring involvement.
• Students know that their daily decisions affect
the quality of life of people around the globe.
• Students have the skills to engage in the
complexity of sustainability problems and
solutions
Skills for
students and educators (and all of us):
1) Teach/learn sustainable development
literacy
2) Teach/learn optimism skills (Seligman)
3) Teach/learn efficacy; tell stories of “normal”
people making a difference
4) Teach/learn interpersonal and intrapersonal
intelligences – e.g. civil discourse, conflict
resolution, emotional intelligence
5) Teach/learn systems thinking, futurist skills
and change agent skills
The campus as a living lab
for sustainability practices and skill building.
Academics, Student Life, Facilities and Purchasing
collaborating to create
Sustainability as the Campus Context
“Latent Currricula”
Provides the models and opportunities for practicing
the changing of behaviors
Building values, behaviors, and identities
A community of learners.
A community of real life problem solvers.
Key places to place sustainability and
institutionalize it:
•
•
•
•
•
Mission
Strategic Plan
Budget
Orientation
Campus Map and
Signage
• Building Policies
• Operations and
Purchasing Policies
• Student Life
• Residential Living
• Infused throughout
curricula
• First Year Experience
• Gen Ed Core
• Curricula Review
• Community Partnerships
• Workforce Developmt.
Mission and Planning
Already in most mission statements
Tie it to the academic, student life and
facilities/operation plan
Include it in the budget
Purchasing and Operations
• NEW NORM IN HAWAII
• LEED – can be done without extra funds (Interface
Engineering) – www.usgbc.org
• Life Cycle Costing = Cradle to cradle analysis
• Conservation first, renewables next (higher ed is #1
purchaser of wind power) – www.energystar.gov
• Campus Climate Challenge and the mainstream Higher
Education Climate Action Partnership – measure and
reduce greenhouse gases – www.hecap.org
• Environmentally and socially responsible purchasing –
www.coopamerica.org, www.newdream.org, NAEP
purchasing coalition - Rutgers, National Association of
Campus Stores
Student Life
• Presidential Taskforce on Sustainability – ACPA
http://www.myacpa.org/task-force/sustainability/ ,
including overview, learning outcomes, residential
sustainable living campaigns (with ACUHO-I), first year
experience, orientation, film series and sustainability
media festivals, examples and templates for members…
• ACUI and NACA national initiatives
• NACUFS for dining halls and food services
• Harvard Campus Greening by students http://www.greencampus.harvard.edu/greenteams/ How-to manuals for staff and students
• Works best when integrated with academics
HE Sustainability Examples
• Systemic integration
• University of Florida
• Georgia Tech
• University of North Carolina
• University of British Columbia
• Arizona State
• Lane Community College
• Transportation
• UC Boulder
• Cornell
• Energy & Climate Change
• SUNY Buffalo
• University of California System
• Western Washington University
• University of Minnesota
HE Sustainability Examples
• Curriculum
• Northern Arizona University
• University of Georgia – Article in ACE Presidency W ‘06
• Comm. Colleges – Article at AACC site/sustainable
• Food
• University of Montana
• UC Santa Cruz
• Green Building
• University of Washington
• South Carolina universities
Make sustainability an
integral part of
planning, operations, facility design,
purchasing, investments, and student life,
and tie all of these efforts to the formal
curriculum.
General Education and Student life is
both the content, the context and the
glue for this learning.
Latent Professors
Example of Student Sustainability Projects
for all campuses Part I
• Campus sustainability audits
• Green and fair trade purchasing research
• Higher Ed. Climate Action Partnership
(http://www.campusclimatechallenge.org and
www.hecap.org)- move to conservation and
renewables
• Fellowships through National Wildlife
Federation’s Campus Ecology http://www.nwf.org/campusecology/
Example of Student Sustainability Projects
for all campuses Part II
• Film and speaker series and positive futures
fairs
• Green building designs and sustainable living
“campaigns”
• Info on sustainability in career office,
orientation, first year experience and freshman
pledge
• Many more possibilities– sustainability related
assignments in all courses with an integrated
gen. ed. core - project website!
Part III
National Trends and Resources
GREAT NEWS!!!
Growing National Trend:
Seventeen national HE associations
and thirteen national disciplinary
associations are creating initiatives
on Education for
Sustainable Development
Engaged National Associations
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
ACE–Am. Council on Ed.–
Presidency Magazine W’06
AACU – Ass. of American
Colleges and Universities
AACC – Am. Ass. of
Community Colleges
AASCU – State Institutions
ACUHO – Housing
NACAS – Aux. Officers
NAEP – Educational
Buyers
NACA – Campus Activities
9. APPA – Facilities
10. NACUBO – Business
11. SCUP – College and
University Planners
12. ACUI – Student Unions
13. ACPA – Student Life
14. NACUFS – Food
15. ACEED-I – Events and
Conference Directors
16. NACS – Campus Stores
17. NIRSA – Recreation
18. AGB – Ass. of Governing
Boards
AND MORE
Higher Education Associations
Sustainability Consortium
www.heasc.net
HEASC founding members
ACPA – student affairs and student life
AASCU – state colleges and universities
APPA - facilities directors
SCUP - planners
NACUBO - business officers
NAEP - buyers
AASHE - sustainability leaders
ACUI - student unions
Members in HEASC as of 6/06
College Student Educators International (ACPA)
American Association of State Colleges & Universities (AASCU)
APPA: Serving Higher Education Facilities Professionals
Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education
(AASHE)
Association of College & University Housing Officers International
(ACUHO-I)
Association of College Unions International (ACUI)
Association of Governing Boards of Universities & Colleges (AGB)
National Association for Campus Activities (NACA)
National Association of College & University Business Officers
(NACUBO)
National Association of College Stores (NACS)
National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP)
National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA)
Society for College & University Planning (SCUP)
Higher Education Associations
•
Collaboration with national higher education associations
on:
• Rating system
• Socially and environmentally responsible procurement
• President’s pledge on climate change
• Higher Education Climate Action Project –
www.hecap.org
• Team building on campus at VP and other levels for
sustainability
• Learning Outcomes
• Essential questions for any course to infuse
sustainability
More Exciting News!!
Association for the Advancement of
Sustainability in Higher Education
AASHE
(AY-shee)
www.aashe.org
AASHE’s Mission
• Catalyze sustainability in all
sectors of higher ed - from
governance and operations to
curriculum and research
• Vision: campuses modeling
sustainability in all learning,
operations, and outreach
AASHE Resources
• Case Studies of curricula, planning, operations…
• Tools (e.g. sustainability assessments/indicators,
greenhouse gas calculators)
• Conferences and professional development
• Web resources – over 800 syllabi, institutional profiles
• Listservs (for faculty, business officers, purchasing agents,
facilities managers, students)
• Inform local, state & national policy
• Encourage & facilitate collaboration
• Awards and recognition
National Discipline Associations
have become engaged!
• Convened this year in May
• Political Science, Religion, Philosophy, Sociology,
Chemistry, Biology, Engineering, Geography,
Anthropology, Communications, Psychology, Modern
Languages…
• Cosponsors = AAC&U, AASHE,ULSF
• Academic learning combined with real life
problem solving for sustainability in all
disciplines and as gen. ed. core
Curricula: Sustainability Gen. Ed.
requirements
and infusion into multiple disciplines
Ignite faculty imaginations. “Each of you
have a unique contribution to make to
create a sustainable future.”
1) Examples at
www.ncseonline.org/EFS/DebraRowe.pdf ,
www.aashe.org and www.ulsf.org
2) Textbook revisions to infuse ESD- creating a
consistently updated worldview across disciplines
Disciplinary Associations
•
•
•
•
Sustainability resolutions
Featured workshops at conferences
Inclusion in journal publications
Make educating for sustainability “part of the
professional responsibilities of anyone in the
discipline”
• Articles on how to infuse sustainability into
Intro to Psych, Sociology, Religion…
Other higher ed resources
• Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable
Future – www.ulsf.org – Tailloires Declaration
• Second Nature – www.secondnature.org
• Grey Pinstripes for business schools through the
World Resources Institute http://projects.wri.org/project_description.cfm?ProjectI
D=18
Part IV
• Next Steps
What are your next steps in making education
for and practice of sustainability a major goal
and new norm in the society?
Who and how can you include key
constituencies for a critical mass of support?
If you feel overwhelmed or unsure, don’t
give up!!
There are people you can talk to about how
to create success.
U.S. Partnership for Education for
Sustainable Development
• Non-partisan
• Multiple Sector Teams:
Business, Higher Ed., K-12, Youth, Faith…
• Convene, Catalyze, Communicate
www.uspartnership.org
www.uspartnership.org
Join for free
Participate in a sector or action team
Helpful tools!!!!!!!!!!
• “We Can Afford to Solve the World’s Problems – The World
Game Institute - 18 strategies for confronting the major
systemic problems confronting humanity” http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/TLSF/theme_a/mod02
/www.worldgame.org/wwwproject/index.shtml
• Learning outcomes from ACPA
• Essential Questions to be infused into any discussion
• Sustainability web casts and annual Campus Sustainability
Day from www.scup.org
• Conservation first, renewables next – www.energystar.gov
• Environmentally and socially responsible purchasing –
www.coopamerica.org, www.newdream.org
Tools continued
• Businesses – World Business Council for
Sustainable Development (www.wbcsd.org)
• State, city and county government (Mayors’
Climate Protection Act)
• Environmental Electronic Resources Library –
www.eerl.org
• Today’s resources!!
Continuum of Awareness and
Action
Less evolved
to
1. Taste each other’s food
2. Experience each other’s culture
3. Learn how to compete in a
global economy
4. Analyze issues
More evolved
5. Explore interdependencies
6. Understand my impact on others
7. Learn change agent skills and
practice better choices as
consumer, investor,
community member, family
member, career, think local
and global and act global
Key EFS Ideas
• Making invisible impacts visible
• Making better choices as an individual,
community, nation and species
Local and National Opportunities
YOU AND…..
• Energy planning
• Sustainability Education – multiple projects to work on
• Socially and environmentally responsible businesses
– convening trade associations
• Sustainable design and community development
LEVERAGE UP what you are doing.
The world needs YOU.
Challenges and Answers
Challenges
•
Already busy – outside of my job description
•
Don’t know this stuff
•
Putting out fires, don’t have time to do the right thing
•
Issues complex and systemic
•
Societal & environmental impacts invisible and ignored
Answers
•
Don’t have to know the answers. Just keep asking the
sustainability questions.
•
Use national and local resources to work/volunteer with
and help you learn, grow and implement
•
Step outside your normal job description and personal
activities
Conclusions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The U.S. public is not educated enough about sustainability issues and
solutions.
We need sustainability literacy and effective engagement for ALL. This
is no longer optional for a viable future. To be given a higher education
degree and not be sustainability literate and effectively engaged in
solutions is inappropriate.
Climate change is the highest priority with the shortest time line, and we
have to stop burning fossil fuels as soon as possible. Conservation and
renewables must be fully utilized to create the triple bottom line.
Some exciting developments, too many to report, but much more needs
to be done.
We all need to learn more about how to change consumption, investment
and civic behaviors to create appropriate market modifications for
sustainability (heart modifications too)
Your time is needed in this effort. (Need more - I can help you find your
ways to contribute.)
The Power of What You Do
• We are leaders in the world
• We can choose a sustainable
future
Let our enthusiasm show!
For more information,
contact Debra Rowe at
dgrowe@oaklandcc.edu