praxis of sustainability plan of session issues of sustainability historical context contemporary...
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Praxis of Sustainability
Plan of sessionIssues of sustainability
Historical contextContemporary issues
Praxis of sustainabilityCapital assets
Delimiting terms
Sustainability: contested term both a means and an
end in itself implies spatial and
temporal perspectives and contexts
not the same as sustainable development or ecologically sustainable development
these are subsets of this broader principle of sustainability
Praxis: episteme (theoretical
understanding), techne (technical
application) and phronesis (practical
wisdom, intuition and imagination)
interdependent and mutually constitutive
first two privileged praxis is about
integrating the three in everything we do
Fault lines or spectra of sustainability
degree of environmental protection degree of intergenerational equity approach to participation breadth of subject area strong and weak variants
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:
the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and
the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs.
Thus the goals of economic and social development must be defined in terms of sustainability in all countries—developed or developing, market-oriented or centrally planned [where development is defined as a progressive transformation of economy and society—that is the satisfaction of human needs and aspirations].
Sustainable systems of community life might look something like this:
They ensure human flourishing by furnishing those goods and services that ensure survival, opportunities for participation, and a good life
They preserve and foster forms of community wellbeing
They preserve and foster ecosystem viability They do not see the linkages between human
and non-human nature
A praxis of sustainability might be expected to
unify theory, technique and practice to bring critical understanding to problems of the ecological age
encompass ethical and political life offering a practical-moral perspective of ecological crises
foster ecological consciousness avoid uncritical acceptance of ecological ideas and totalizing
blueprints pursue adaptive change be about ecological restructuring not ecological modernization be characterized by an integrated balance of resilience,
flexibility, robustness
Sustainability’s imperatives
Sustainability implications Innovative thinking and practice Organizational innovation Innovations in governance
Attractions Focuses on full range of assets Facilitates innovation
Barriers to Sustainability Thinking and Practice
Tendency to individual self-interest Lack of long-term planning ability Reductionist thinking Inability to ensure continuity of initiatives
over/beyond their lifespan Limits to knowledge and ability Fallibility of human judgment and decision-
making Uncertainty about the future
Physical•buildings & infrastructure•communications•energy systems•transportation
Financial•savings•credit •pensions and remittances•welfare payments •grants and subsidies
Human•health, skills and nutrition•education and knowledge•access to services
Social capital•relations of trust and reciprocity•common rules and norms•networks and groups
Natural•natural resources-food,water, wood/fibre•ecosystems services-soil, fisheries, water, biological processes, wildlife habitat, waste assimilation•beauty of nature-recreation/leisure, aesthetic value
Capital Assets
Natural capital
Natural Capital is nature’s goods and services (the bounties of a living earth and the mechanisms by which these are kept in balance), and their accumulation relies on high levels of ecological literacy in citizens South Sydney City Council Greenhouse Effect Policy
Statement Concern for natural asset –
integration with other assets
Financial capital
Financial capital includes systems of savings, affordable credit, adequate pensions, welfare payments, grants and subsidies, and relies on local self-reliance, and a strong ethical stance about the equitable distribution of the assets Maidstone Borough Council
Ethical investment
Physical capital
Physical capital consists of transport and communication systems, buildings and other infrastructure and, being the material expression of the operation of the other assets, relies on their integration in planning, construction and maintenance phases Windsor Court, North Hobart Tasmanian Government (Housing
Tasmania)
Social capital
Social capital comprises social rules, relations of trust and reciprocity, and social exchanges that facilitate co-operation, networks and connectedness, and relies on high levels of active citizenship and participation in governance Greater Nottingham’s Local Transport Plan
Citizen panels
Human capital
Human capital embraces individuals’ knowledge, health, skills and capacities, and it relies on the appropriate development of these assets through education and training, health services, and strong and inclusive leadership South Sydney’s Local Food Policy
Ecological literacy
Ecological knowledge and sensitivity - understanding ecological processes and environmental facts; knowing what constitutes environmentally benign or detrimental actions; recognizing healthy landscapes;
Moral maturity - an ability to act from a concern for the well-being of others rather than mostly acting from self-interest
Critical/evaluative faculties - capacities to ask questions about the rightness of particular proposals, especially about possible outcomes, risks, and their justification
Capital Assets Approach:Benefits
Assets and Sustainability Objectives
Optimizing use of scarce resources Maintaining flow of benefits
Integration across functions
Building bridges
Building knowledge
Building funds
Building healthy
environs
Building networks
Integrating assetsIntegrating assets
Asset Accumulation and Depletion
Sustainable systems accumulate Unsustainable systems deplete Quality of life and sustainability
through investment to accumulate assets
financial
human
natural
physical
social
Processes — Policies — Institutions
Desirable outcomese.g. food, jobs, well-being, economic growth, clean
and safe environments
Undesirable outcomese.g. unemployment, land and water degradation,
social dislocation
Asset depletionAsset accumulation
Asset accumulation or depletionAsset accumulation or depletion
Summary
Sustainability’s imperatives – innovations Barriers to sustainability thinking and practice Capital assets approach
Individual assets Examples of local government programs focusing
on these The centrality of ecological and civic literacy Benefits of the approach Integration of assets – building bridges Accumulation and depletion and their effects