Dear Wayne, I am sure it can be defined in various ways and it is possible to give it a more or less ecological, social or ethical twist.
What I came up with thinking of a "dry" scientific definition is: "Sustainability is what guarantees that life supporting systems keep functioning over time" Looking forward to comments and other definitions. Francesca ________________________________ From: Wayne Tyson <[email protected]> To: [email protected]; [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 11:17 PM Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Case studies: food & energy sustainability Honorable Forum and Francesca: Please define, in scientific terms, sustainability. Thanks, WT ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 2:15 AM Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Case studies: food & energy sustainability The Story of Stuff Project has put together and made avai Dear Shelly, The Story of Stuff Project has put together and made available for download some teaching material on sustainability that might give you some nice ideas (I think it's for high school but likely it can be adapted to higher education): http://www.facingthefuture.org/Curriculum/BuyUseToss/tabid/469/Default.aspx The movies series: http://storyofstuff..org/about.php Also the "No impact" project as put togheter some downoadable material for educators including lessons on food and energy: http://noimpactproject.org/educators-middle-high-school-environment-curriculum-html/ For success stories aroud the world (including the desert) I strongly suggest to look through the list of permaculture initiatives: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_permaculture_projects Or the tranistion town initiatives: http://www.transitionnetwork.org/ Surely when talking of energy students should get a good grasp on the peak oil concept and its consequences and for this the Post Carbon Institute should be resourceful: http://www.postcarbon.org/issue/13910-education As it would be any lesson available on youtube from Richard Heinberg, the Post Carbon Reader book might provide some good material: http://www.postcarbon.org/book/161233-the-post-carbon-reader Other resources specifically on diet and food: Big organizations reports on impact of diet: FAO 2006: http://www.fao.org/ag/magazine/0612sp1.htm UNEP 2010: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet Food energy consumption statistics: http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Aug97/livestock.hrs.htmlDocumentaries: Meat the thruth; Food Inc; Fast Food Nation; The world according to Monsanto; The future of food interview and others with Vandana Shiva; Books: The food revolution (John Robbins), Eating animals (Jonathan Safran Foer); For fisheries: The "End of the line documentary"; The Good Catch manual: http://www.seafoodchoices.com/whatwedo/TheGoodCatchManual.pdf.pdf; And when talking about sustainability and the big picture it would be essential to consider looking at material on new types of economy: http://steadystate.org/discover/video-audio-and-presentations/ http://steadystate.org/foreword-enough-is-enough/ http://www.neweconomics.org/about For bad case studies, after going through the above material, my guess is that there is no need for field trips, just ask the students to look around in their classroom or home, look in their fridge, switch on their tv, walk outside the door or go to a shopping mall! Kind regards Francesca ________________________________ From: David Inouye <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2011 2:29 PM Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Case studies: food & energy sustainability Dear Colleagues,This fall I will be teaching an undergraduate general education science course that will focus on sustainability, especially concentrating on how our daily choices of food and energy (procurement and use) affect people and the environment around the world.1) I am looking for papers (peer-reviewed would be excellent), book chapters, websites, (possibly movies), etc. - especially those that have a strong scientific background - that describe either the big picture or case studies. Students will read these for class discussion. (Are there any examples with positive results? There was a problem, it was addressed, now things are good/better).For example,Food:-In Peru, under the Bush administration, asparagus agriculture was begun and subsidized in order to provide a product to replace poppies for the drug trade. Unfortunately, asparagus uses much more water, and the aquifer is quickly being drained = unsustainable, but important for jobs.-Low worker protection standards in developing countries (ex. exposure to pesticides) = cheaper products for US consumers, but pollution & health issues on the farms.Energy:-Wind power = renewable, but problems for birds and bats and some bugs-Fracking = short-term incomes & job opportunities, but massive short- and long-term health and ecological problems2) I am looking for potential projects that students can do as a group of 4-5 students that will also address these same issues. For example, tracing food to its source (ex. buy all the products from local supermarket, follow it back, see how much energy is used, etc). Other ideas? My class is too large for field trips.If you have any ideas, please email them to me directly (or through ECOLOG if you prefer). I will be happy to make a list of the responses and post it to ECOLOG.Thank you,ShellyShelly Thomas, Ph.D.James Madison UniversityHarrisonburg, VA Shelly Thomas <[email protected]> ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1390 / Virus Database: 1518/3787 - Release Date: 07/25/11
