Sebastian CopelandSOS, Passengers of the Ice lady

Series: Antarctica: The Global WarningArchival Pigment Inkjet Print

36 x 55 cm2006

Gerlach Strait, Antarctica

Alternative indicators at macro and local/ community level are needed to bring greater legitimacy to CED practice, to increase access to resources, and to influence policy

 A Concept

A Process

A Way of Life

 Lives within limits

Understands interconnections

Ensures esquitable distribution of resources & opportunities

Meets basic resource needs

One of the most fundamental One of the most fundamental challenges in achieving a challenges in achieving a sustainable economy is asking the sustainable economy is asking the question more growth for what, of question more growth for what, of what and for whom at what price to what and for whom at what price to community, quality of life and the community, quality of life and the environmentenvironment..

-Pembina Institute-Pembina Institute

 Variety of Frameworks: Domain based, goal based, sectoral, issue based, causal, and combination.

Visioning process :Community vision, goals, and indicators.

Monitor:Key indicators.

NB: An indicator that can be supported by available data may be more practical than one that requires extensive data gathering.

Point to problematic areas, where links between economy, environment and society are weak

Help to monitor health so that negative trends are caught and dealt with before they become a problem

Are useful to measure complex conditions or those without direct measurement

Benoit Aquin - Winner Prix Pictet 2008Untitled 01Series: The Chinese 'Dust Bowl'Ink Jet Art Canvas, 70 x 107 cm2006Sanggen Dalai, Inner Mongolia, China

• Standards are just emerging• Data may not be available for the best and most

appropriate sustainability indicators• Developing a set of indicators for a sustainable community

requires balancing many different needs within that community • Deciding WHICH and HOW MANY indicators to keep can be

difficult• Many communities have to fit traditional data sources &

measures for indicators to their purpose

Edward BurtynskyFeng Jie #3 & #4 (diptych)Series: Three Gorges Dam ProjectDigital Chromogenic Colour Print101 x 152 cm (each)2002China

Click in blue box to start video

• Piecemeal • Views economy,

society, environment as SEPARATE

• Community problems viewed as isolated and independent from each other

• QUANTITATIVE - use numbers to show progress

• Assumes that resources are inexhaustible

Robert Polidori6328 North Miro StreetSeries: After The FloodFujicolour Crystal Archive Print122 x 183 cm2006New Orleans

The gross domestic product (GDP) measures the final market value of all goods and services. GDP per capita is often used as an indicator of standard of living.

The traditional approach reflects only the amount of economic activity, regardless of the effect of that activity on the community’s social and environmental health.

In contrast, the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) attempts to address criticisms by taking the same raw information supplied for GDP and then adjust for income distribution, add for the value of household and volunteer work, and subtract for crime and pollution

 

Economic indicators: number of jobs versus number of jobs that pay a living wage and include benefits

Environmental indicators: tons of solid waste generated versus percent of products produced that are durable, repairable or readily recyclable or compostable

Societal indicators: number of registered voters versus number of eligible voters who vote in elections

SROI = Social Return on InvestmentThe process involves:

- Identifying social value with stakeholders and the activities that will create that value- Defining indicators to know value creation has taken place and defining proxies for any indicators not easily monetised/quantified- Comparing value of change to cost of change.

Christian CravoAmazonia, Riomadeira, Series: Waters of Hope, Rivers of TearsGelatin Silver Print, 50 x 75 cm2004Amazon, Brazil

Livelihood = capabilities, assets & activities required for a means of living

Characteristics of sustainable livelihoods: -Resilient – can cope with, recover from stresses-Sustainable – maintain & improve livelihoods while maintaining & enhancing assets on which livelihoods depend-Equitable – more equal distribution of assets, capabilities & opportunities & an end to discrimination-Future-oriented -Environmentally conscious - don’t undermine natural resource base

Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA):  mainly applied in area of poverty reduction/elimination in poor countries; people-centered; used to achieve sustainable human development

Livelihoods outcomes:   increased income; increased well-being; reduced vulnerability; improved food security; more sustainable use of natural resources, etc

Edward BurtynskyNickel Tailings #36 Series: Tailings Chromogenic Colour Print 101 x 152 cm 1996 Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

Benoit Aquin - Winner Prix Pictet 2008 Artist statement

One of the greatest environmental disastersof our time: The Chinese 'Dust Bowl' isprobably the largest conversion of productiveland into sand anywhere in the world. Desertscover 18% of China today. Of those, 78% arenatural, while 22% were created by humans.

With unsustainable practices, to date, Chinesefarmers and herders have transformed about400,000 square kilometres of cropland andverdant prairie into new desert. The shepherdshave overgrazed the steppes, allowing theirsheep and goats to chew the grass all the waydown to its roots. The farmers, for their part,have over-exploited the arable land by openingfragile grasslands to cultivation and overpumpingrivers and aquifers in the oasesbordering the ancient deserts. As the deepaquifer under the North China Plain is depleted,the region is losing its last water reserve; its onlysafety cushion, stretching the capacity of theYellow River.

The soil, once it is barren, is swept up by thewind into dust storms, battering the capital,Beijing, and then moving on to Korea andJapan. The most massive of the yellow cloudsof dust make their way across the Pacific andreach North America. The loss of precioustopsoil for Chinese agriculture ends uppolluting both China’s cities and countrieshalfway around the world. The area of thedesert thus created is equivalent to more thanhalf the farmland in Canada. Three hundredmillion people are affected by dust storms inChina. One hundred and eighty million peopledepend on the Yellow River. Hundreds ofthousands of people have already beenrelocated and cities with ecological refugeeshave been created. The Chinese “Dust Bowl”is a fascinating subject. It is a compellingenvironmental manmade disaster andphotographically an interesting journey.When I embarked on this trip I was convincedthat I could make surreal images and at thesame time raise awareness. This is aboutscarce water resources, desertification andecological refugees in China.

Edward BurtynskyNickel Tailings #36 Series: Tailings Chromogenic Colour Print 101 x 152 cm 1996 Sudbury, Ontario, Canada