Hey! It went well! What a relief! I think that I have survived the first phase of academic scrutiny. I am still on my way to becoming an academic. All that is left of the
semester is two exams and a bibliography! Hurray!
PCSDP
Providence College Sustainable Development PlanI am writing my thesis on Sustainable Development as you all know. The title is a joke--I do not have one yet. SD is a field which seems to be more prone than most to the use (and abuse) of acronyms. I have divided the work into three main parts which flow form a macro overview to a micro application. The first section will be a review of the voices and movements, the second a detailed look at various institutions and groups who have applied SD principles, and the third section will propose for Providence College an implementation plan. My task then is not adding anything new to scholarship, but providing Providence with a well researched proposition of how we as an institution can become more sustainable.
A. Context for Sustainable DevelopmentThis first section is again a broad overview of the idea of sustainable development. It is both a literature review as well as a contextualization of the various discourses which are taking place. SD is a very big topic both in content as well as global spread. There are as many ideas about what it is as their are fields talking about it. SD will differ depending on whether the speaker is an economist, environmentalist, or theologian. The goal of this section then is to review the categories of action and thought which have arisen, how they define SD, what they are currently doing and what is being negotiated.
a. Definitions
It is very difficult to know whether definitions should precede or follow the history of the movement as they have arisen form specific contexts. Because the discourses about what SD is definitions vary a great deal.
i. Brundtland DefinitionThe definition given from the
Brundtland commission very commonly serves as a broad notion, "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" While this gives an idea of what SD is but it is too vague to be useful for application. Needs change not only across cultural boundaries, but also within groups over time.
ii. Economic
iii. Environmental
I have chosen to look particularly at the economic and environmental ideas about sustainability. There are of course more voices, but these two seem to be in the most conflict. The
Brundtland definition arose in the context of
neo-liberal theory, and largely defends needs as rights based. Economic definitions of SD are concerned about who owns what and how these needs are going to be distributed. Environmental definitions on the other hand make a distinction between "general needs" and needs from "critical natural resources." SD becomes a discussion about how to live sustainably given the context of all of life on the planet.
b. Historical overviewIn this section I will be looking at the skeleton of SD. While there are
aprox. 8 gazillion plans, organizations, committees, task forces etc. I will focus primarily on the central texts of the movement.
i. 1972 The Limits to Growth
1972 is the date of the publication of Limits to Growth. This is one of the first studies to systematically analyze human impact on the globe. It is based on a commuter model of the world which looks calculates the various scenarios projected to happen in the future given certain variables. It has been revised and updated, most recently in 2004. I include it as one of the first documents to begin talking about economic and environmental sustainability.
ii. 1987 Our Common FutureIt wasn't until 1983 that a UN commission was begun to address current trajectory in
overconsumption. In 1987 they produced a document, Our Common Future, which gives the definition and begins to address the need to implement policy.
iii. 1992 Agenda 211992 is the date of the Rio Summit which saw the production of Agenda 21, another landmark document which specifies action to be taken on Global, national and local levels.
iv. 2002 Johannesburg
Ten years later there was a World Summit held in Johannesburg which produced a plan of implementation. I may or may not include Copenhagen. Climate Change is relevant to SD, but really just one aspect of it.
c. Current International InitiativesThis section looks at the way these documents from the world summit have been applied in various international contexts. I am mostly interested here in the UK, France, and US as these are especially relevant as comparisons to Canada.
i. UK
ii. US
iii. France
d. Current national and provincial
This section looks specifically at the ways Canada as a nation and Manitoba has implemented SD. Of particular interest is that the headquarters for The International Institute for Sustainable Development is located in Winnipeg.
i. Governmental policy and initiatives
ii. Organizations
1. IISD
e. Religious thought
Because Prov is a Christian institution, I believe it is necessary also to locate our institution within the other current religious dialogue surrounding SD. While the main theory and policy is developed by secular institutions, a great amount of thought and action are being led by faith based institutions and communities. I will give a historical and cultural overview of ecological approaches, and then focus on Christian thought particularly.
i. Historical and Cultural overview
ii. Christian Thought
1. Gottlieb, Wright, Elliot
B. Management Systems
This is the second stage of my thesis which looks at the specific ways three types of communities have implemented SD. Originally I was going to look at communities and universities in a variety of contexts I have decided to focus nationally for the most part, with two exceptions. The first is a selection of Christian communities which in their own way live out both sustainable lives and tie it into their faith. The second one is a small Christian liberal arts college I found in the states with seems to be very similar to Prov in size and geographic location (out in the middle of nowhere). I have chosen three different groups to analyze, cities, communities and universities. Each of these are relevant to Prov for different reasons.
a. CitiesCities are perhaps the least relevant to Providence college as a practical example to model ourselves around. However, as Prov moves into sustainable living, it will require cooperation with local authorities and collaboration on initiatives.
i. Steinbach
ii. Winnipeg
iii. Other
b. CommunitiesBecause Providence sees itself as a community as well as an academic institution, I will spend some time looking at ways sustainable communities organize themselves. While these are vastly different to Prov in their communal goals I will look at the way the structure the roles as a community rather than an organization. I include
WWOOFing because they are an unstable community as we are, with students coming through.
i. Intentional communities
1. Eco-Villiages
2. WWOOFing communities
ii. Christian Communities
c. UniversitiesSD as applied by other universities is obviously the most relevant to Prov.
UOB is a leading Canadian Uni for SD—they are a large institution and well funded. University of Winnipeg has implemented a European based SD system which was developed by the International Standards Organization. They have adapted the standards to fit their own context, and I will be looking specifically to see if this is something Prov could do. This puts the university on a global standard for SD rather than a provincial or national one.
i. University of British Columbia
ii. University of Winnipeg
1. ISO
iii. Illinois Wesleyan University
D. Providence ApplicationI have the least amount to say about this area as it is dependent on what I discover in the first two areas. The three main areas, however, is an assessment of how sustainable Prov is, a review of the areas and methods required to develop key areas in the College, and lastly a tentative plan for this development.
a. Assessment
b. Strategic areas for development
i. Energy
ii. Materials
iii. Air
iv. Water
v. Academic
vi. Transportation
vii. Practices
c. Strategic plan