STEP 2: DETERMINE THE PURPOSE OF THE ADSTEP 3: DETERMINE THE ASSUMPTIONS THE AD MAKES AND THE MESSAGE IT SENDSIntroductionSyllabusUnit 5: Ecological DesignProposed First Year Seminar: Toward SustainabilityBeth CallaghanEVS300 Spring 2004 - 1 - Last printed 1/14/19Introduction The Brundtland Commission, in a 1987 report to the United Nations, defined sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The world of today is dramatically impacted by humans and their lifestyles (Orr 2002, Glasser 2004). Most of our environmental problems are a direct but unintended consequence of our failure to understand the dynamics of the natural world and our place in it. We may be fast approaching the point at which the global ecosystem cannot recover from the impacts of our actions (Orr 1994, 2002). Climate change, a loss of biodiversity and human health costs are attributable to those actions. There is a fundamental disconnect between our professed desire for environmental protections and our active pursuit of economic development (Orr 1994, 2002; Glasser 2004). In practice, sustainability is a concept that must bean overriding principle underlying any specific goal, whether it is economic, political, social or cultural (White 2002) and it is only by choosing sustainability as our guiding principle that we will be able to do anything more than chase after a patchwork of attempted fixes that do little more than waste time and further energy. In much of our reading this semester, the issue of sustainability and the roles education and educational institutions play in it has come up again and again. McNeill (2000) implies that as things stand now we must find a way for sustainability to have political and economic impact thatwill compete with “more jobs, higher tax revenues and stronger militaries?” (355). Unfortunately, political and economic impacts like more or better jobs, higher tax revenues and - 2 - Last printed 1/14/19the like are short-term, specific goals that under the current economic paradigm do not fit a long-term goal of sustainability. What we need is a permanent solution that incorporates human enterprise into the function of the global ecosystem rather than continually trying to bend natural systems to our will (Orr 2002, Corcoran and Wals, 2004). Lombourg (2001) argues that we have the technology and talent to develop further technology to combat any environmental problems that arise from our actions. There are two problems with that approach. First, the reality is that many environmental problems already existthat we have been unable to solve. Second, it is not from a lack of physical technological solutions that the environment is suffering, but rather from ignoring behavioral solutions. The key to implementing behavioral solutions is education and a foundation in ecological literacy (Cone and Hayes 1984, Orr 2002). The only way to make the shift to implementing behavioral solutions is to transform the dominant paradigm that says economic growth at any cost. To accomplishing this shift will require education, education that changes behavior. Producing students who are capable of solving the problems we currently face is not enough; we must alter our actions so that we do not create the problems in the first place. That said, any shift in paradigm is often a slow, even glacial, process. This is in part because the shift must begin at the beginning, in education, before those being educated are launched into the world where economics and politics rule to the exclusion of all else (Orr, 1992, 1994). Unlike political entities, educational institutions not only have less to gain from short-term successes (like more jobs, increased investment by corporations) but also act as microcosmsof society in general and thus may be the only hope for an eventual conversion to sustainability - 3 - Last printed 1/14/19(Glasser 2004). It is only by educating the next generation that a true shift will occur that will allow the day-to-day short term demands of sustaining the world’s population to be based on sustainable principles. While there are many routes an educational institution can take on the path to a culture of sustainability, the growing consensus among the academic and scientific community is that any path to sustainability must have certain essential components in place. Courses are important, the commitment to sustainability must be central at ideological, operational and curricular levels (White, unpublished report; Corcoran and Wals 2004). The strength of the power of example cannot be negated. The culture of the educational institution impacts students’ learning; if that culture reflects the philosophies inherent in those environmental courses, students and the community as a whole will incorporate those principles of sustainability into their actions (Cone and Hayes 1984, Orr 1994, Corcoran and Wals 2004). This means mission statements that guide operations, curricular and faculty hiring and promotional decisions. It requires institution of sustainable practices at all operational levels. Richard White in his unpublished 2002 report, “Sustainability at Smith College” lists the following specific steps which coincide with many of the essential components recommended by sustainability advocates for educational institutions desiring to achieve truly sustainable campuses:- Establish a single policy committee to coordinate and advocate efforts toward campus sustainability- Endorsement of the Tailloires Declaration of the Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future; - Participation in the Clean Air-Cool Planet college and university partnership for climate protection; - 4 - Last printed 1/14/19- definition of a new position of a sustainability coordinator to work with the sustainability committee in developing and implementing a sustainability master plan;- establishment of a Center for Sustainability at Smith College;- adoption of specific initiatives for sustainability including an explicit mandate for best technological practice in new construction and renovation; establishment of a revolving fund to facilitate implementation of capital projects that yield long-term cost savings; and commitment of work-study funds to support ongoing