SUSTAINABILITY & Higher Education

Sustainability Principles Increasing concentrations of substances extracted from the earth’s crust Increasing concentrations of substances produced by society Degradation by physical means In the sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing… and… human needs are met worldwide.

Sustainability requires that we focus simultaneously on systemic changes that improve health for current and future humans, build strong, secure and thriving communities, provide economic opportunity for all by restoring and preserving the integrity of the life support system.

Why Sustainability Now? We are the first generation capable of determining the habitability of the planet for humans and other species.

Global Perspective life supporting resources declining consumption of life supporting resources rising

Strong Economy Social Well-being Flourishing Environment Sustainable Society

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has never been above 300 ppm for at least the last 430,000 years (and probably not for the last 30 million years!) Ice Cores Preserve the History of Atmospheric CO 2

Computer models of climate match the observations only when natural and human “forcings” are included in the models. The human forcings are responsible for most of the rapid warming

Muir Glacier, Alaska, NSIDC/WDC for Glaciology, Boulder, compiler. 2002, updated Online glacier photograph database. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center. August 1941August 2004 Coastal glaciers are retreating

Soon Americans will have to settle for a Non-Glacier National Park.

Greenland ice Melting 1992, 2002, and Source: ACIA, 2004 and CIRES, 2005 In 1992 scientists measured this amount of melting in Greenland as indicated by red areas on the map Ten years later, in 2002, the melting was much worse And in 2005, it accelerated dramatically yet again Greenland summer surface melting,

Shrinking mountain glaciers The famous snows of Kilimanjaro have been shrinking rapidly in recent decades and are nearly gone. This is particularly significant because high-elevation ice and snow near the equator does not vary much except when climate is changing globally. The decline between 1912 and 2000 was 81%

2011 Mississippi Floods

Combining the ice-core data and the direct measurements from Mauna Loa yields a curve strikingly similar to the curve that describes…

Global Transition From Fossil powered Take, make, waste Living off nature’s capital Market as master Loss of cultural & biological diversity Individual centered To Solar powered Cyclical production Living off nature’s income Market as servant Increased cultural & biological diversity Community centered

Reversing Climate Disruption Energy Efficiency Renewable Energy – wind, solar, geothermal, hydro Land use & transportation – higher density, less auto dependence – alternative fuels for vehicles “Circular” economy Sustainable/local agriculture Carbon sequestration

Higher Education’s Importance to Sustainability Influences current & future leaders & professionals Deeply influences K-12 education Dedicated to new ideas, exploration and experimentation Has critical mass & diversity of skills necessary Crucial but overlooked leverage point in transition to sustainability

Opportunity in Higher Education 4,096 U.S. Colleges and Universities million students 1 $277 billion annual expenditures; 2.8% of the GDP 1 Higher education expenditures greater than the GDP of all but 25 countries in the world 2 1 From: 2001 Digest of Education Statistics, US Dept. of Education. 2 From: 2001 CIA World Factbook and Dowling, Mike., "Interactive Table of World Nations," available from Internet; updated Friday, June 29, 2001

Higher Education Modeling Sustainability as a Fully Integrated Community

Higher Education Stakeholders Administrators Faculty Operations & facilities managers Students Trustees Staff Higher Ed Associations Alumni Parents of students Communities Accreditation orgs. Future Employers Funders Professionals Future Generations World cultures Biosphere & all its species

American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment Voluntary effort ~ to Mayor’s Climate Agreement Organized by AASHE, Second Nature & ecoAmerica Commit to 3 actions –Plan within 2 years to achieve climate neutrality GHG Inventory Operations, Education & Research –Adoption of select emission reduction measures –Public reporting on plans and progress thru AASHE

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Sustainability Principles Increasing concentrations of substances extracted from the earth’s crust Increasing concentrations of substances produced by society Degradation by physical means In the sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing… and… human needs are met worldwide. The Natural Step guiding principles

What is Biomimicry? A science that studies nature's best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems. The core idea is that nature, imaginative by necessity, has already solved many of the problems we are grappling with. Animals, plants, and microbes are the consummate engineers. They have found what works, what is appropriate, and most important, what lasts here on Earth. 1 1 From: An Interview with Janine Benyus, 2003.

Material Inspirations Abalone mussel nacre (mother of pearl coating) Hard coatings-for windshields and bodies of solar cars, airplanes, anything that needs to be lightweight but fracture-resistant. A crystalline coating self-assembles in perfect precision atop protein templates. In the abalone, it's a 3-D masterpiece, tougher than anything we can manufacture! 1 1 From:

Natural Capitalism Dramatically increase productivity of natural resources Shift to biologically inspired production models Move to solutions-based business model –Value as flow of services, e.g., illumination not lightbulbs Reinvest in natural capital

End of Part II