Today is an introduction to concepts: Development Environmentalism Week 2: Definitions and contexts Today is an introduction to concepts: Development Environmentalism ‘Sustainable development’ Mags Liddy Department of Education and Professional Studies

Origins of environmentalism Key words- preservation and conservation Industrial Revolution- 1750 onwards Industrialisation- pollution, smoke Urbanisation- sanitation, water issues Romantic poets and anti-urbanisation Fashion: Royal Society for Protection of Birds 1889 Sierra Club 1892 by John Muir

Global Development After WW2: UN system and sister agencies Concept of underdevelopment (1949) 60s decade of development: growth plus change Focus on industrialisation and progress Promotion of education Infrastructural projects to aid economy: dams, transport Funding from World Bank through loans Impact on environment and communities

1960s environmentalism New social changes after WW2; affluence, fossil fuels, technology Questioning fundamental beliefs Silent Spring by Rachel Carson 1962 Highlighted affects of pesticides on insect and bird life Question: can industrialisation and progress occur without environmental damage? The Population Bomb 1968; Limits to Growth 1972; Small is Beautiful 1973

Custodians of Earth The Blue Marble is a famous photograph of the Earth taken on December 7, 1972, by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft at a distance of about 29,000 kilometres

1970s New strands to environmentalism Environmental justice Deep ecology Anthropocentrism vs ecocentrism Linked with spirituality and feminism Activism and protests UN meetings and treaties: 1972 Stockholm; 1992 Rio summit; 2009 Copenhagen First Earth Day 1970- April 22nd

1980s Development questions Environmental concerns International debt crisis; Mexico defaulted 1982 Famine: Ethiopia 1984 HIV/ AIDS from mid 80s onwards Environmental concerns Bhopal chemical gas spill 1984 Chernobyl nuclear accident 1986 Ozone layer 1985

Origins of… UN World Commission on Environment and Development to find answer Note use of ‘and’ not ‘or’ Finding a compromise? ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ Our Common Future, 1987

means…change Politics and policy-making Technology to provide answers International agreements and law Technology to provide answers Replace fossil fuel with.. Cultural values and ethics lifestyle change-more eco-centred

Wangari Maathai: Nobel Peace Prize 2004 Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system... In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other. That time is now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzS8H1Afk5I

readings Google E-resources Books What do we mean by development? By Lalage Brown E-resources The roots of modern environmentalism by David Pepper (summary on web- JPE) Green history [electronic resource] by Derek Wall Books Blessed unrest by Paul Hawken Environmentalism in Ireland by Hilary Tovey Contemporary environmental politics, by Stephens, Barry and Dobson