Sustainable Natural Resource Management

Globalization: Challenges and Opportunities for Science and Technology Education for

Sustainable Development

Karl Karmsen

UNESCO-UNU International Conference, 23-24 August 2006, Yokohama, Japan

Key words:

> Globalization

> Challenges & Opportunities

> Science & Technology

> Education

> Sustainable Development

Contents

1. Definition

2. The context

3. Sustainable NRM

4. Processes in soil-plant-atmosphere systems

5. Globalization

1. Sustainability: Definition

Sustainable development

=

development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to

meet their own needs

Brundlandt Report, 1987

2. Sustainability:

The Context

Environment

Limits to Economic

Growth

BiodiversitySocial & Political Issues

(..) Our religion is the traditions of our ancestors - the dreams of our old men, given them in solemn hours of the night by the Great Spirit; and the visions of our sachems, and is written in the hearts of our people. (..). Our dead never forget this beautiful world that gave them being. They still love its verdant valleys, its murmuring rivers, its magnificent mountains, sequestered vales and verdant lined lakes and bays, (..)

Chief Seattle's Speech of 1854 (Version 1)Dr. Henry A. Smith, Seattle Sunday Star, Oct. 29, 1887)

Environment

Environment

Concern about the environment in Europe started about 20 years after WW-2, that is, the post-war generation

Radioactive fallout (atmospheric atomic bomb explosions: USA & ex-USSR)

Heavy metal contamination: Cadmium (itai-itai disease) and Lead (Minamata Bay)

Organic micro-pollutants, pesticides, Phosphorus, Nitrogen, acid deposition, etc

Emission of gases that cause climate change & gases that break down the ozone layer

Environ-ment

Biodiversity

Eutrophication of surface water (N & P): fish

Acid deposition (NH3, NOx, SOx): forests

Use of biocides: disappearance of plant and animal species (frogs, storks, birds of prey)

Habitat destruction, e.g., deforestation: disappearance of plant and animal species

“Over-fishing” of seas and oceans: disappearance of fish species

Limits to Economic

Growth

• Industrialization

• Population growth

• Malnutrition

• Non-renewable resources

• Environment

Club of Rome, Limits to Growth, 1972

Social & Political Issues

• Cold war

• Decolonization process

• Racial emancipation (USA)

• Emancipation of women

• Democratization: from the state level to the workplace (e.g., universities, factories)

• Mass media & ICT: Television, Internet, Cell Phones

• Globalization: Economy, Information

3. Sustainable Management of

Natural Resources

Define the system in terms of its components and metricized parameters:

• Soil: chemical, physical, biological parameters

• Ground- and surface water: chemical, biological parameters

• Air: chemical parameters

• Above- and below-ground biodiversity & ecosystems: biological parameters

>> Define functions and services !!

Functions:

Culture or production function

• Filter or buffer function

• Ecological functions

Services:

Provide clean water, refugium for biota, food of good quality, recreation, etc

Measure individual parameters, functions, services, metrics; quantify them and compare against set criteria.

How do the individual parameters change over time? Portfolio picture.

How does the management system affect the resource base? Renewable & non-renewable resources.

Is the management system economically viable? Culturally and socially acceptable? Policy environment? Institutions?

Is the management system sustainable ?

4. Processes in Soil-Plant-

Atmosphere Systems

Soil-Plant-Atmosphere System

Soil-Plant-Atmosphere System

?

Processes in Soil as a Black Box

Processes in Soil Systems

Processes in Soil

Occur in the Rhizosphere of Growing

Crops

Simplified Food Web in a Soil

Processes in Soil-Plant-Atmosphere Systems

The Soil-Plant-Atmosphere System in the Landscape

Sustainability:Dynamic quality: processes (x,t)

Dynamic concept: relates to processes, not to static parameters

Processes are functions of time (t) and space (x,y.z)

Time scale + Space scale are important

Up-scaling& extrapolation: Agro-Ecological Zoning, simulation modeling, [dynamic] systems analysis

Time = t Time = t + Δt

5. Globalization

Globalization (1)

Relates primarily to economic relations: multinational companies move their production units to countries with low wages and little or no social or environmental legislation (or enforce-ment of any existing legislation).

In a political and cultural sense, globalization has been perceived as spreading “western” values and consolidating global power structures

The “anti-globalization” movement and NGO’s may have contributed more to conservation of the environment and biodiversity than the globalization per se

Globalization (2)

Science and technology always have been international cq global, but this has been facilitated by improved travel facilities worldwide and the upsurge in information and communication technologies, facilitating increased access to knowledge and technology

Some countries in SE and E Asia seem to have benefited significantly of the opportunities provided by economic globalization. More recently, China and India seem to be solidly on the path of economic development, their growth being clearly linked to economic globalization.

Globalization (3)

The poorest countries do not seem to benefit much from economic globalization (other than providing cheap labour), their environment may be further degraded by polluting industries, and only the urban elite seems to benefit from the ICT and other positives of globalization. Nevertheless, some countries (e.g., Ghana) have realized sustained economic growth over the past decade and it remains to be seen whether this development model can deal effectively with rural poverty and underdevelopment

An Artist’s View of

Processes in Soil

THANK YOU

Soil Functions

The Soil-Plant-Atmosphere System in the Landscape

Filter Function

Production Function

Ecological Functions

REFERENCE STATE

Filter Function

Production Function

Ecological Functions

INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE

Nutrient Balance

influx

efflux

accumulation

depletionsource - sink

Nutrient Balance

THANKYOU