In the last few days, some who oppose the University of Delaware’s proposed revival of the Residence Life program have been conferring on strategy. The program has been put forward this time cloaked in milder language. It would be, for example, “voluntary,” and its proponents are pushing hard the idea that it is primarily about teaching students to protect the environment. Those of us who have been immersed in the details of UD’s “old” program, which UD president Harker suspended last November after its coercive character and ideological agenda had come to light, have become sensitized to the Res Lifers’ verbal trickery and recognize that the new proposal could in practice turn out to be very similar to the one President Harker, under pressure, suspended.
But we are faced with an urgent question. How do we convince faculty members, students, parents, trustees, and others that there is something fishy in this seemingly benign program? On Monday, the UD Faculty Senate heard some strongly skeptical statements by faculty members and students who had their own suspicions about the new program. The Faculty Senate leadership, which apparently expected the proposal to be rubberstamped, was caught by surprise, and tabled the proposal until next week. Is there anything we can do in the meantime to sharpen the questions and rally more support for the skeptics?
Some of my colleagues have suggested that we supply those who are interested with citations to articles written by the proponents of the new program (and other programs like it) that reveal their ideological bias and political agenda. Moreover, since the key word in the proposal is “sustainability,” which suggests to those who are only beginning to tune in, that the program is primarily about the natural environment, we ought to ping statements that show what “sustainability studies” really entail.
I give below some excerpts from the links I have culled on "sustainability" that might be of some use for this purpose.
But I offer these excerpts with some misgivings. The UD Res Life proposal does indeed represent (or illustrate) a threat to the university, but it is not just the relatively narrow issue of ideology and political bias. As the excerpts show pretty clearly, the Res Life proposal arises from a new movement, and the movement's leaders believe that nothing less than the future of humanity is at stake. They see themselves called on to harness the enormous power and prestige of universities to save the world.
I do not believe the purpose of the university to save the world. I do not believe that the purpose of the university is to change the status quo or to preserve it; I do not believe that the purpose of the university is either to preserve tradition or to oppose it. Its purpose is to simply be a university. And would-be world saviors like these are a huge threat to it.
My guess is that the movement's leaders believe that their concerns are shared by enough faculty to succeed in academe. My hunch is also that they are probably right about this. They have given considerable attention to problems of organizing the academy for their purposes: the difficulties of creating studies and programs that are of necessity interdisciplinary; getting funding from the university and from federal agencies that often have much narrower perspectives. But I have not seen the movement’s leaders express worries that their agenda will be opposed within the academy on the grounds that it represents a bad ideology. They are confident that most faculty members will assent to their basic program, or at least see no pressing reason to oppose it. And they are probably right.
I have been arguing for some days that the real problem with this movement is that it purports to be educational in nature, but really isn't, unless one thinks that inspiring and mobilizing students to save the planet is educational.
There are sustainability programs inside academe that are indeed intellectually respectable and interesting. I think anyone who takes the trouble to investigate the matter will see a huge difference in tone and quality between the outpourings of the activists and alphabet soup higher ed organizations involved in this movement—ULSF, AASHE, HEASC, NACUBO, Second Nature, ACPA, and activists like Debra Rowe, Keith Edwards, and Anthony D. Cortese— and the writings and research produced by programs like The Berkeley Institute of the Environment, Harvard's Sustainability Science program, The Earth Institute at Columbia University, or ASU's School of Sustainability.
Thus I am much in favor of the idea of putting the question to faculty members not as a matter of whether they agree with the concept of “sustainability,” but whether they are willing to hand over to non-faculty employees of the university control of a sizable chunk of the curriculum. The Res Lifers are canny enough not to call their program a curriculum, but it is pretty clearly the functional equivalent of one. To put the question this way puts the proponents of the program on the horns of a dilemma. Do they think of themselves as educating students? If so, they are usurping the functions of faculty, no matter how they try to configure their effort. If they do not think of themselves as carrying out an educational function, then what the heck are they doing? And if it falls outside the scope of the educational/academic nature of the institution, why should it be allowed to exist within the institution? I do not believe that they have a compelling answer to this question.
I also want to note that, while this criticism may be very effective with faculty (at least I hope it will be), it is probably not the best argument to use in addressing taxpayers, concerned citizens, trustees, parents, and the like. The broader public tends to credit the idea that one of the purposes of the university is to create and develop better citizens, and is susceptible to the soft appeal of a program that claims to do that. Our task here is to show that diverting the education of students into a four-year program of indoctrinating students doesn’t really advance citizenship. In profound ways, it undermines citizenship by training students to be obedient followers of an ideology.
For faculty, the central issue is locus of control. Who is primarily responsible for educating students: the faculty or the administrative staff? And for the broader public, the central issue is citizenship. Are students better prepared for life in democratic society by being coerced into conformity or by learning to think for themselves?
I remain convinced that using the university to promote a particular view of citizenship, even if it is a public-spirited view, is mistaken. It is just a sweeter way of saying we should indoctrinate instead of educate. We must defend the university against any attempt to solve social problems by altering or expanding its academic and intellectual functions. I am opposed to all such things, whether they are liberal, conservative, or neither. That is, I am opposed to seeing citizen building, even were it presented in a totally benign and politically neutral form, as an independent, stand-alone mission or goal of the university. I believe that a university that sticks to its much narrower purpose and does a good job of it is likely to produce better citizens, but if that happens, it will be very much a collateral or indirect effect. Putting the universities into the hands of people like Kerr and Gilbert (or their counterparts in the conservative part of the political spectrum, if there are such) will turn out graduates that are not any better either as students/academicians or as citizens. In fact, the end product is very likely to be very inferior on both counts.
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Excerpts
Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education
http://www.aashe.org/dans/documents/InterdisicplinaryStudentProjectsforaSustainableFuture.doc
Introduction:
"This project about how to envision and help create a more humane and environmentally sound future was a very positive experience. I am glad I got to be part of it. It goes to show you that an education isn’t just about showing up to class and getting a grade. It is about applying what you have learned toward your everyday life. I was made more aware that I can actually make a difference in the world."
(Rowe 1999 pg. 3)
This quote is a part of a collection of anonymous students’ evaluations about a course project
concerning sustainability. Through this course project, which is highlighted later in this chapter, the student gained both some of the skills and the attitudes needed to be a positive
change agent for society.
In higher education, there is an accepted norm to produce analytical thinkers (Hilliard, 1989; Kuukendall, 1992), but there is not an equal commitment to teach the “change agent” skills required for positive societal changes. Many students and graduates feel overwhelmed
by our society’s environmental problems. They feel that the problems are so large and
complex they cannot do anything about it, and decide to give up and just take care of
themselves. Apathy and cynicism often become the dominant attitudes. Knowledge should
be empowering our students to help create a better society instead of making them passive.
How do we turn this around while teaching our traditional courses?
It is important that higher education institutions teach students to be more than “armchair
pontificators”. Armchair pontificators critique but do not have the motivation or skills to
help solve societal problems. “A genuine liberal arts education will foster a sense of
connectedness, implicatedness, and ecological citizenship, and will provide the competence
to act on such knowledge”(Orr 1992 p.101). Positive change agents become engaged in
creating solutions. They can:
• cope effectively with change,
• care about societal problems and solutions,
• envision and are willing to help create positive scenarios for the future,
• experience a strengthened political efficacy, and know how to effectively implement change
(Rowe, Bartleman, Khirallah, Smydra, Keith and Ponder, 1999).
Developing graduates who help implement a paradigm of sustainability is a crucial need for
society, yet educational curricula often do not adequately address this need (Cortese 1999).
[Learning about sustainability in this chapter refers to learning how to create both a more
humane as well as an environmentally sound future for society. Sustainability at its best is
about both an environmentally healthy future and a more equitable future (Ibid 1999).
Therefore, for a college or university to be considered to have included sustainability in the
curricula, this author looked for both an environmental literacy component and a social
responsibility/civic engagement component.] All students, as the consumers of the future,
need to know about environmental problems and how to help create an environmentally
healthy and more humane world. Recent national surveys show that most institutions of
higher education have done nothing to systematically provide this knowledge. In other
words, at most institutions of higher education, students can graduate with an undergraduate
degree and be both environmentally illiterate and unaware of resource distribution inequities
(McIntosh,Cacciola,Clermont, Keniry, 2001; Wolfe, 2001). Isn’t it time that sustainability
concepts such as environmental literacy and social responsibility/civic engagement become
an integral part of all higher education degrees?
Some institutions are responding to this need by making important changes in their
curricula and degree requirements, setting important precedents for other higher education
institutions. This chapter reviews some of the models and strategies used to incorporate
sustainability into higher education curricula. Reviewed approaches include: sustainability
concepts as part of the degree requirements, the infusion of the sustainability paradigm across
the curricula, development of interdepartmental minors, use of sustainability in other sectors
of the institution as the latent curricula, and integration into the mission statement. This
chapter also includes a discussion of whether to select from or combine the various models
and strategies, the needs for future research, a course curricular project about sustainability
that is easily implemented into a variety of disciplines by novice faculty, and additional
resources for the educator or researcher.
___________________________________________________
http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/barnhill/ES_490/sustainability_definitions.html
Historically, the term “sustainable” arose among those with environmental concerns, and most of the literature and assessment instruments reflect this emphasis. However, it is increasingly recognized that sustainability cannot be achieved without addressing social justice issues. There can be no sustainable communities and institutions without social justice. So too is humane consideration toward the whole community of life an essential part of true sustainability. An academic institution committed to sustainability should help students understand the roots of today’s injustices and motivate them to seek justice and humaneness in full integration with understanding the roots of environmental degradation and modeling environmentally sustainable practices.
--John B. Cobb Jr., “Sustainability and the Liberal Arts” conference, 1998
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University of New Hampshire Office of Sustainability
http://www.sustainableunh.unh.edu/whatissustainability.html
UNH: WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY?
Why sustainability in higher education?
“What is the good life?”
*Colleges and universities are communities, and the community teaches.
*Colleges and universities can foster engaged citizenship.
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The Chronicle of Higher Education Live Discussion: The Sustainable University
http://chronicle.com/live/2006/10/cortese/
Anthony D. Cortese:
Sorry for the misinterpretation. My belief is that sustainability must be the goal of EVERYTHING that colleges and universities do. The social responsibility of higher education is to create the knowledeg and graduates for a thriving and civil society. It means to me that sustainability must be the context and goal of all learning and practice - seemlessly woven throughout the entire educational experience. This includes everything in the classroom tied to the operation of the campus and work with the local communties to improve from a health, social, economic and ecological standpoint. My belief is that we need a transformation of all education and practice that is so integrated that students will not even recognize that they are learnin something new. That to me is what we need to strive for. We must teach students that continuing to create and unhealthy, inequitable and unsustainable society is not in their best interest of that of other humans and other species.
Anthony D. Cortese:
Sustainability as we discuss it comes from the UN Commission on Environment and Development definition of sustainable development - meeting the needs of current generations without compromising meeting the needs of future generations. It is about meeting human needs now and in the future and in order to do that sustain the life support system. It is not just about protecting the environment. You can't have a stable society or protect the environment unless we have strong, secure and thriving communities, economic opportunity for all - not just the top 20% of the population. All four dimensions - health, social, economic and ecological - are needed to address sustainability. We don't have environmental problems, per se; we have negative environmental consequences of the way we have organized society from a political, social, economic and technological standpoint. Unless we find a way to meet people's basic needs and some of their wants (can't meet everyone's desires) we can never achieve environmental sustainability.
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FRANK H.T. RHODES: Sustainability: the Ultimate Liberal Art
http://chronicle.com/free/v53/i09/09b02401.htm
(Frank H.T. Rhodes is president emeritus of Cornell University.)
By "sustainability" I mean the effort to frame social and economic policy so as to preserve with minimum disturbance earth's bounty — its resources, inhabitants, and environments — for the benefit of both present and future generations. The old Native American proverb captures perfectly the spirit of this sustainability: We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.
What might such a foundation entail? Certainly some significant exposure to the appropriate sciences: geology, natural resources, ecology, and climatology. Certainly, too, some understanding of social interactionsociology, economics, and history. And also, surely, some extensive familiarity with the great issues and themes of human inquiry, self-reflection, and moral consideration that have guided human conduct and reflected human creativity — with the arts and the humanities, in other words. And to anchor everything in the present, some review of the practical arts of technical discovery and invention, especially in relation to the broad issues now confronting us.
"That's not much different from the traditional grab bag of the liberal arts," the cynics might respond. But, in fact, it would be different in the new focus, added coherence, and stark immediacy that it would provide. Sustainability, after all, is the ultimate liberal art (and science).
Mastery of such a sweeping range of topics is, to be sure, the work of a lifetime and more, but exposure to the issues and methodological approaches involved is not. It is, in fact, no more extensive in its reach or burdensome in its demands than the "old" liberal arts. How it should be framed, what it should contain, how it should be taught, and how it should be supplemented will be the questions that the governing faculty of each college and university should consider and decide for itself. There can and should be no single prescriptive approach. Experiment and variety will have much to teach us.
But we should agree on one matter: The broad range of questions that sustainability raises have no single set of answers. We have yet to develop solutions. The topic is full of approximations, assumptions, projections, extrapolations, and ambiguities. Moreover, we should avoid simple stances because, to a greater degree than most other subjects, sustainability is open to indoctrination and partisan scholarship. Although it may be possible, it is difficult to be a partisan advocate in, say, chemistry or classics. It is probably less difficult in climate change or energy policy.
And beyond the complexities of sustainability as such, there lies the larger question of sustainability for what purpose. For sustainability will be best understood within the larger framework of values, meaning, and purpose — just as "solutions" are best considered within the context of the global society. That is why the wisdom that the traditional liberal arts provide is such a vital part of any such new curriculum.
Such a new approach to liberal arts, science, and sustainability will demand much of its students; it will demand even more of faculty members. But it will have one distinct potential benefit: If it is taught as an exercise in exploration and discovery, it may form the basis for a new kind of global map — a policy blueprint — that would allow us to set a common course for all the people of our rare, beautiful, and benevolent planet.
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University Leaders for a Sustainable Future
http://www.ulsf.org/pdf/Teaching_sustainability_with_EC.pdf
While a growing number of faculty at colleges and universities are attempting to teach
about sustainability, the obstacles are considerable: First, our understanding of the
meaning of sustainability continues to be problematic. Educators and others struggle with
vague and conflicting definitions.1 Second, education for sustainable development poses a
serious challenge to traditional higher education. It is fundamentally interdisciplinary,
requiring integrated thinkers and decision makers who can engage in teaching and research
to forge a sustainable future. Most colleges and universities, however, are still deeply
embedded in the narrow disciplinary paradigm, and faculty members lack the training or
resources to teach sustainability in their fields. A paradigm shift in higher education is
needed. 2
The question increasingly is, can we awaken people to the urgency of the global challenges
we face, and mobilize the political will to create a sustainable future before ecological and
social disasters make this impossible? The Earth Charter has emerged as a potent force for
change in the way we think about Earth and ourselves. Completed in 2000, the Earth
Charter is a declaration of fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable, and
The Earth Charter as an Educational Tool
The Earth Charter can assist in guiding our response to these critical challenges. Beyond
knowledge, there is an urgent need to move toward a sustainable way of life. [My emphasis: TW] For faculty members and students alike, the Earth Charter provides:
a comprehensive and validated description of the necessary and sufficient conditions
for sustainable development; a statement of specific principles that can serve as guides for actions that are sustainable and ethical; and a call-to-action to move toward a culture of collaboration for ensuring respect for life, ecological integrity, social and economic justice, and a culture of peace.
In August/September 2001, members of the Advisory Committee participated in an online
discussion forum to consider the philosophy and methodology of the use of the Earth
Charter in education. The conversation included perspectives on the role of the Earth
Charter in “values education.” In a recent summary of conclusions and recommendations
from that forum, Brendan Mackey, the Chair and Director of the Earth Charter Education
Program, writes:
Values education is an often-contested theme in education due to legitimate
concerns about “which values” and “whose values” are being promoted. These
concerns can be accommodated so long as the values represent core values that are
life-affirming, promote human dignity, advance environmental protection and social
and economic justice, and respect cultural and ecological diversity and integrity.
The Earth Charter can validly lay claim to represent such a core set of values,
particularly given the participatory and multicultural process that underpinned the
drafting of the document. Given this, the Earth Charter provides critical content for
development of curricula with the educational aim of teaching values and principles
for sustainable living. 5In order to build a sustainable global community, the nations of the world must renew their commitment to the United Nations, fulfill their obligations under existing international
agreements, and support the implementation of Earth Charter principles with an international legally binding instrument on environment and development.Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace, and the joyful celebration of life.
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http://www.ulsf.org/pdf/Critical_dimensions_SHE.pdf
The following excerpts from the Talloires Declaration describe critical aspects of the
presidents' vision of sustainability through higher education:
We the presidents, rectors, and vice chancellors of universities from all regions
of the world, are deeply concerned about the unprecedented scale and speed of
environmental pollution and degradation and the depletion of natural
resources. Pollution, toxic wastes, and depletion of the ozone layer threaten the
survival of humans and thousands of other living species, the integrity of the
earth and its biodiversity, the security of nations, and the heritage of future
generations.
We believe that urgent actions are needed to address these fundamental
problems and reverse the trends. University heads must provide the leadership,
so that their institutions respond to this urgent challenge.
We, therefore, agree to take the following actions…
Critical Dimensions of Sustainability in Higher Education
...
3. A major shift from the current academic paradigm lies in a conscious reflection of the role
of the institution in its social and ecological systems. Students learn about the institutional
values and practices in this context. For example, all students would understand:
a. how the campus functions in the ecosystem (e.g. its sources of food, water, energy,
endpoint of waste and garbage) and its contribution to a sustainable economy.
b. how the institution views and treats its employees (such as student, staff, faculty
involvement in decision-making, their status and benefits, etc.).
c. the basic values and core assumptions present in the content and methods of the
academic disciplines.
4. Since research and teaching are the fundamental purposes of academic institutions,
knowledge of sustainability is a critical concern in the hiring, tenure and promotion
systems. We would expect the institution to:
a. reward faculty members’ contributions to sustainability in scholarship, teaching, or
campus and community activities.
b. provide significant staff and faculty development opportunities to enhance
understanding, teaching and research in sustainability.
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Second Nature
Second Nature was founded in Boston in 1993 by a small group of forward-thinking leaders that included Dr. Anthony D. Cortese, Senator John F. Kerry (D-MA), Teresa Heinz Kerry, Bruce Droste, and others. This group sought to establish an organization dedicated to bringing about the change in society that is vital to the success and livelihood of every current and future living being: a change for a just and sustainable future. [This could be the life motto of Kathleen Kerr and her ilk; that is who and what they are--change agents, NOT educators.--TW]
___________________________________________________
http://www.secondnature.org/efs/efs_part_two.htm
Part Two : Higher Education's Role in the Transition to a Just and Sustainable Future
Higher Education plays a profound and pivotal, but often overlooked, role in making this vision of a sustainable future a reality. It prepares most of the professionals who develop, lead, manage, teach, work in and influence society's institutions, including K-12 education. Besides training future teachers, higher education strongly influences the learning framework of K-12 education. Higher Education plays a critical role in creating and disseminating the knowledge, skills and values for society. It has unique academic freedom and the critical mass and diversity of skill to develop new ideas; to comment on society and its challenges; and to engage in bold experimentation in sustainable living.
___________________________________________________
http://www.secondnature.org/efs/efs_part_one.htm
Imagine that we have stabilized the population at a level that is within the carrying capacity of the Earth's ecosystems because we have increased the education, as well as the social and economic status, of women. All current and future generations are able to pursue meaningful work and have the opportunity to realize their full human potential both personally and socially. Imagine that through our "dreaming" and "doing," we have reduced resource consumption and waste in the developed world so that there is opportunity in the developing world to be healthy and have a decent quality of life. Imagine that communities are strong and vibrant because they celebrate cultural diversity, are designed to encourage collaboration and participation in governance and emphasize the quality of life over the consumption of stuff. Think what it could be like if globalization is humanized to support democracy, human rights and economic opportunity for everyone.
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http://www.myacpa.org/task-force/sustainability/docs/Change_Agent_Skills_and_Resources.pdf
Change Agent Abilities Required to Help Create a Sustainable Future
© ACPA – College Student Educators International (http://www.myacpa.org/) in collaboration with the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development (www.uspartnership.org )
May be reproduced for educational purposes with credit given
Change Agent Abilities:
The following is a listing of change agent abilities compiled from numerous sources. For ease of use, these sources have all been acknowledged at the end of this document.
Change agents are:
· Resilient
· Optimistic
· Tenacious
· Committed
· Passionate
· Patient
· Emotionally intelligent
· Assertive
· Persuasive
· Empathetic
· Authentic
· Ethical
· Self-Aware
· Competent
· Curious
They can:
· Communicate ideas clearly, concisely, and precisely both orally and in writing
· Listen to others and incorporate their ideas and perspectives
· Accommodate individual differences (cultural, socioeconomic, global, etc.) in your decisions and actions and be able to negotiate across these differences.
· Engage in self-assessment, self-reflection, and analysis
· Reflect on what is happening to make meaning, gain perspective and understanding
· Engage in civil discourse and debate
· Mediate and resolve conflicts
· Analyze power, structures of inequality, and social systems that govern individual and communal life
· Recognize the global implications of their actions
· Span boundaries
· Challenge the status quo effectively when appropriate
· Creatively and collaboratively solve problems using critical thinking skills; search for “families” of solutions for complex multi-faceted issues
· Collaborate, network, develop alliances and coalitions, build teams
· Involve others, inspire and excite participants, engender support and commitment
· See the big picture and the larger goal and understand the need for systemic change
· Adjust to the diverse and changing needs of both individuals and society as a whole
· Set realistic and clearly defined goals and objectives
· Be both a leader and a follower, as necessary
· Analyze and influence group dynamics
· Make ethical decisions which incorporate responsibility to self, community, and society
· Help envision, articulate and create positive scenarios for the future of society
· See the paths, small steps, for changes needed for a more sustainable future, convert it into a tasklist and timeline, and follow through effectively
· Tolerate ambiguity and cope effectively with change
They have:
· Insights into the functioning and interconnectedness of systems
· A commitment to finding solutions to societal problems
· Political efficacy, a belief that what they think and do civically and politically matters
· Integrity
· Courage
· An understanding of “organic” change
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American Association of Colleges and Universities
Presentation given by Debra Rowe during the Shared Futures Faculty Institute at Smith College, July 23, 2006.
http://www.hivcampuseducation.org/SharedFutures/documents/AACUSmithGenEd7-06.ppt
Title: Creating a Better Future: Higher Education and Sustainable Development Leadership
Debra Rowe, Ph.D.,
President, U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development: www.uspartnership.org
Co-coordinator, Higher Education Associations
Sustainability Consortium – www.heasc.net
Slide 17, Dominant Inaccurate Human Beliefs: Which ones do you have to eliminate?
Humans dominant species separate from environment
Resources free and inexhaustible
Technology the answer
Earth can assimilate all wastes
All human needs can be met by human means
Individual success independent of health of communities, cultures and ecosystems>>
Slide 24, Goals:
All students engaged as effective change agents in our sustainability challenges.
From apathy to caring involvement.
Students need to know that their daily decisions affect the quality of life of people around the globe.
Slide 26, The campus as a living lab for sustainability practices and skill building:
Provides the models and opportunities for practicing the changing of behaviors
Slide 27, Key places to place sustainability and institutionalize it:
Student Life
Residential Living
Infused throughout curricula
First Year Experience
Gen Ed Core
Curricula Review
Community Partnerships
Workforce Development
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http://www.myacpa.org/task-force/sustainability/docs/HEASC_Presentation.ppt
ACPA’s Presidential Task Force on Sustainability January 10, 2007
Kathleen Gardner, Co-Chair of the Task Force; and Associate Director of Residence Life,
Southern Illinois U-Edwardsville
Kathleen G. Kerr, Member of the Task Force; and Director of Residence Life,
University of Delaware
Slide 6, Student Learning Outcomes
Each student will be able to define sustainability
Each student will be able to explain how sustainability relates to their lives and their values, and how their actions impact issues of sustainability.
Each student will be able to utilize their knowledge of sustainability to change their daily habits and consumer mentality.
Each student will be able to explain how systems are interrelated.
Slide 7, Student Learning Outcomes (cont.)
Each student will learn change agent skills.
Each student will learn how to apply concepts of sustainability to their campus and community by engaging in the challenges and solutions of sustainability on their campus.
Each student will learn how to apply concepts of sustainability globally by engaging in the challenges and the solutions of sustainability in a world context.
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http://www.myacpa.org/task-force/sustainability/docs/TFSJ%20Sustainability.ppt
Sustainable Development: Towards Healthy Environments, Economic Strength, and Social Justice
Keith E. Edwards, Macalester College
Kathleen G. Kerr, University of Delaware
Tools for Social Justice Conference
November 13, 2006
Kansas City, MO
Slide 8:
Which of these myths do you believe?
Sustainability is mostly about the environment.
Sustainability is just another issue, like international studies or computer literacy.
Sustainability is secondary to the university's core mission and function.
Sustainability will almost always cost the university more money.
Sustainability is primarily a scientific and technical problem.
Slide 9:
Social Justice Aspects of Sustainable Development
Environmental Racism
Fair Trade
Living Wage
Domestic Partnerships
Corporate Responsibility
Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Gender Equity
Water Rights
Slide 27 & 28, Student Learning Outcomes (same as slides 6 & 7 of ACPA’s Presidential Task Force on Sustainability January 10, 2007):
Each student will be able to define sustainability
Each student will be able to explain how sustainability relates to their lives and their values, and how their actions impact issues of sustainability.
Each student will be able to utilize their knowledge of sustainability to change their daily habits and consumer mentality.
Each student will be able to define sustainability.
Each student will be able to explain how systems are interrelated.
Each student will learn change agent skills.
Each student will learn how to apply concepts of sustainability to their campus and community by engaging in the challenges and solutions of sustainability on their campus.
Each student will learn how to apply concepts of sustainability globally by engaging in the challenges and the solutions of sustainability in a world context.
