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Sustainability literacy: what is is, why is it necessary, how do we get it?European Training Foundation, 23rd November 2010Turin, Italy
What I will try to do
Say what it is. A shared language for talking about sustainable development and sustainability literacy
Explain why we need it. What is unsustainable development? A ‘tame’ problem or a critical systems failure?
Talk about how to get it. Some ways for ETF to integrate sustainability into what they do.
Demystify SD. Make it easier to communicate.
Sustainability Literacy – what is it?
The same as any other sort of literacy
But not synonymous with environmental literacy
Practically we know what to do, it’s the psychology
of change that matters
How long have we got to get on track?
Sustainability literacy is gained the same way as any other sort of literacy
The need for change is understood and accepted
Knowledge and skills to behave differently are
developed
Right behaviour is recognized and, if appropriate,
rewarded
Natural factors cannot explain recent warming
Recent warming can only be simulated when human GHG emissions are included
IPCC 2007
Radiative Forcing of Climate 1750-2005
The impact of humans dominates current radiative forcings*
All available evidence shows that solar irradiance has a minor impact on global temperatures at present.
* more energy entering than leaving the troposphere
Uncertainty in Future Climate Change
IPCC 2007
Range of predicted
globalwarming by 2100
6.4oC
1.1oC
Different scenarios
Glacier retreat:
Nef Glacier, Patagonia
4 km recession since the 1930s
180m surface melting since 1870s
1870 glacier surface180 metres
1870 glacier surface
These trees are growing where the glacier was in the 19th century .
Sustainability is not synonymous with environment
Sustainability: a quality, something with the capacity to continue into the long term
Sustainable development: a path for human progress that has the capacity to continue into the long term
This means meeting our environmental, social and economic goals AT THE SAME TIME
The psychology of change matters – a lot
This is about people – their well-being now and in the
future. Use language carefully. All life on earth includes us.
We are not separate.
Cognitive dissonance: consume more; use fewer
resourcesAvoid clashes of values sets:
saves money = selfish, taps self-interestgood for everyone = caring, taps desire to belong, share
Fear of change feeds denial
New habits feed new behaviours
‘We don’t have habits, they have us’ Elizabeth Shove 2003
Want to do right thing, but can’t practically. The ‘facilitating conditions’ are not there
Practices have:material infrastructuremeaningscompetencies
Triandis’ Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour (1977)
Beliefs about
outcomes
Social factors
Attitude
Emotions
Evaluation of outcomes
Norms
Roles
Facilitating Conditions
Self-concept
Affect
Frequency of behaviour Habits
intention
Behaviour
From Here to Sustainability: how long have we got?
Sustainable Development
60 years to go?
We have to be on track within the next 10-15 years, so it is THIS generation that has to act decisively
2072
Sustainability
1972
The First Earth
SummitNow
Sustainability literacy: why do we need it
The world is full up. The crisis is of supply and
demand
Our species has taken the wrong development path
Some new directions for progress are emerging
A market or a leadership failure?
Growing demand side
human population UN data
1946 2.2 billion
1972 3.6 billion
2009 6.8 billion
2050 9.2 (10.7) billion
Shrinking supply side
“Normally, large, aggressive, predatory mammals are rare – humans have broken this rule” Colin Tudge, 2005
human human economy economy
takes takes 40+% 40+%
Loss of biomass and diversity
+ Mineral depletion
+ Waste overdose
+ Excess fossil fuel
use + persistent poverty, injustice & inequality
= damaging = damaging feedbackfeedback
Unsustainable development: Symptoms of a whole system failure
The laws of physics apply to us tooThere is no chain of being – just great networking
Big, fierce, predatory animals are rare
The safety catch of evolution is its slowness
Our spirit evolved with and throughout the rest of
life
What we’ve forgotten:
The compound error theory of history
Biogeo-chemical economy
real people
thehuman
economy
A. SmithJ. Hutton
Reconciliation economics
Biogeo-chemica
l econom
y
real people
thehuman
economy
A. SmithJ. Hutton
Reconciliation economics
New Directions are signalled: reconciliation economics
‘Greening’ of national accounts – World Bank and
others
The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity
Behavioural economics – the death of homo
oeconomicus?
Broader definitions of capital – natural, human and
social capital join infrastructure and finance New measures of economic success –
www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr
Sustainability literacy: how to get it?
Get the diagnosis right
Accept there is no silver bullet
Develop habits of mind and adopt principles of
practice
Us pedagogic innovation as part of the story
Design some tools that are fit for purpose – and
share themRemember it is a social enterprise – we are all
sustainability entrepreneurs now!
There is lots of compatibility with rest of ETF agenda
Getting the diagnosis right
Being honest about the scale of the challenge – but recognising it is mission possible, if only just
Remembering that one size doesn’t fit all. Where you live and what you do makes a difference
Feelings of injustice must be addressed
I = P x C x TI Impact on environment P Number of People C Consumption T Technology or techniques of that consumption
The all important formula Holdren & Ehrlich,
1974
I = P x A x T in 2050?
Ekins & Jacobs (1995) adjusted
population density CO2e emissions
(millions) per sq/km tonnes/capita
Bangladesh 1644 1142 0.3
Egypt 77 77 3European Union (27) 495 118
10.7 Tajikstan 6.5 46 0.5
UK 60 248 11Ukraine 47 78 10.3USA 302 31 23.5
World 5.5
Demography and geography matter
WRI and UN
Reduction and equalityMacKay, 2009 www.withouthotair.com
80% reduction +Equality=1 tonne CO2e/person/per year
No silver bullet – just millions of right actions
84
42
01956 2006 2056 2106
adapted from Socolow & Pacola, 2004
STABILISATIONTRIANGLE
10-15 YEARS TO SHIFT TO STABILISATION TRAJECTORY
Business as usualGtCO2e+ Build natural capital
+ Build human capital
+ Build social capital
- Lower birth rates
- Use FEWER resources
+ Be ultra-efficient in what you do use
Now
Four habits of thoughtUnderstand world views – your own and othersSufficient knowledge about
Ethics and valuesPeople and communityScience and technologyEconomics
Forum for the Future: Leadership for Sustainable Development Masters Programme
Developing sustainability literacy: habits of mind and principles of practice
Four habits of thought
Resilience Am I adding or undermining ecological
resilience? Relationships Am I increasing or breaking down relationships?Reflection Have I considered and learn from past actions?Reverence Am I remembering nature is powerful and
largely beyond our comprehension?
Sara Parkin (2010) Positive Deviance: Sustainability leadership in a perverse world
Be ubuntoPractice positive devianceExercise compassionThink in systems, about resiliencePlan outcomes and strategiesDistil wisdom from data delugeMobilise imagination, in yourself and
others
Principles of practice:
Sara Parkin (2010) Positive Deviance: Sustainability leadership in a perverse world
“ The prescription … is to take sovereign responsibility to the local level. The defence against terrorism has to include rejection of it within the community where it hides. Carbon reduction and energy conservation require local targets to be set.”
Sir Jeremy Greenstock, States must act locally in a globalised world, FT 15 May 2008
Implementation is always local
‘The crisis is of implementation’ Kofi Annan,
WSSD, 2002
‘Infrastructure of responsibility’
Role of supra-local governance is to provide the ‘facilitating conditions’ and ensure the right infrastructure is in place
Tools that everyone can use
Pedagogic innovation
Tools that are fit for purpose – and adaptablee.g. Futures
Cradle to CradleFive capital analysis tool
Helping others to design their own, hastens uptake
Pedagogic innovation is part of the storyOne size does not fit all –design your own learning
journey; aim to be good enough
Experiential and group learning, reflection, action research
Broad knowledge, flexible skills, transferable literacies
Course design for sustainability literacy
government
boss
pollution
airneighbours
water colleagues
friendsfamily
food
bank
Land/landscapes
Professional associations
suppliers
internet
mediacar
Social groups
Public transport
regulators
clients
Pension fund
customers
Local park
shops
chemicals
forests
Five capital tool for implementing SD
Triple bottom line Sustainability Venn Diagram
Environment
EconomySociety
Environment
Society
Economy
Sustainable development
More accurate: but implementation still not clear
Economy works within values of societySociety sets ethical framework
Environment sets physical boundaries - the real bottom line
If we ruled the world, what resources would we have?
CAPITAL STOCKS of resources
NATURAL
HUMAN
SOCIAL
FINANCIAL
land, sea, air, rivers, ecological systems
money, stocks, bonds
health, knowledge, motivation, spiritual ease
governance, communities, families, institutions
tools, infrastructure, buildings MANUFACTURED
Forum for the Future
Healthy stocks = flow of benefits
NATURAL
HUMAN
SOCIAL
FINANCIAL
STOCK: land, sea, air, rivers, ecological systems FLOW: energy, food, water, climate, waste disposal
STOCK: money, stocks, bonds FLOW: means of valuing, owning, exchanging other 4
STOCK: health, knowledge, motivation, spiritual ease FLOW: energy, work, creativity, love, happiness
STOCK: governance, communities, families, institutions FLOW: security, justice, social inclusion
STOCK: tools, infrastructure, buildings FLOW: places to live, work, play; access to them
MANUFACTURED
CAPITAL STOCKS: of resources
FLOW: of benefits
Five Capitals: Analysis Grid
CAPITAL
In its business practices
In the products
or services
it provides
In the communities where it
has influence
FINANCE 1
6 11
MANUFACTURED 2
7 12
SOCIAL 3
8 13
HUMAN 4
9 14
NATURAL 5
10 15
What is your organisation doing to maintain or enhance
these stocks of capital?
What more could it do?
We are all social enterprises now
A business model that can work for all types and sizes of enterprises
Definitions need to be refreshed
Enterprisean undertaking; a bold or dangerous undertaking; a business concern (Chambers)
EntrepreneurOne who undertakes an undertaking (Chambers)
An economic agent who perceives market opportunities and assembles the factors of production to exploit them in a firm (Penguin D of Economics)
Innovation‘putting new products and or services on to the market or new means of producing them (Penguin Dictionary of Economics)
To make changes; (in Scots law) to substitute one obligation for another (Chambers)
Draft criteria for a sustainability enterprise/undertaking Red text is same for refreshed definition of social enterprise
Whether undertaken by an individual, or any group of individuals or organisations a sustainability enterprise:
1. has as objective(s) outcomes that either directly contribute to the stock of social, human and natural capital, or increases the capacity of others to do so (holistic and interconnected)
2. is mindful of others and its broader impact, so growth of capital or benefit in one area does not result in a diminishment of capital or benefit in others (systematic and transparent)
3. can explain gains (and any losses) in each capital area and provide evidence of how the enterprise will maximise gains, and minimise and/or restore any loss. (maximising benefit, minimising damage)
Continued …
4. can explain the strategy, structure, process and skills behind the design and implementation of the exercise (sharing experience, transferring learning)
5. knows and respects the scientific principles affecting the physical world and that of human behaviour change (scientific and people literacy)
6. is replacing, or will replace, some unsustainable activity, rather than adding a new product or activity to business or life as before (substituting good behaviour for bad)
7. whether undertaken voluntarily, or by a for- or not-for-profit exercise, reinvests any surplus financial or physical assets in either the original undertaking, or in other undertakings that meet sustainability beneficial outcomes (sustainability value added)
Draft Criteria for a sustainability enterprise/undertaking … cont
Compatibility with other ETF objectives and responsibilities
EU policy on sustainable development and climate change
Poverty reduction policies and programmes
Security - developing local resilience
‘Flexicurity’ – for individual, in changing job
markets
Entrepreneurialism essential – build on local
strengthsIs consistent with new economic thinking,
business practice
‘practical wisdom is a reasoned and true state of capacity to act with regard to the human good’’
Aristotle
Desired outcome – practical wisdom
Advice to Obama: global trends to 2025
The hallmarks of tomorrow’s world will be scarcity – of land, water,oil, food and ‘air-space’ (for greenhouse gases)
– Leaders and their ideas matter – Economic volatility introduces a major risk– Geopolitics rivalries trigger discontinuities more than does
technological change …
…and the greatest of these is leadership:
“leadership matters, no trend is immutable, and … timely and well-informed intervention can decrease the likelihood and severity of negative developments and increase the likelihood of positive ones”
The US National Intelligence Council, 2008
Positive Deviant:
A person who does the right thing for sustainability, despite being surrounded by the wrong institutional structures or processes and by stubbornly uncooperative people
Perverse:
Obstinately in the wrong; wrongheaded; against the evidence; turned aside from the truth (Chambers Dictionary)
a
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