Transcript What does it mean for my future programming?

Sustainability:
What is it?
What does it mean
for my future
programming?
11-19-2008
Eastern District
All Faculty & Staff Meeting
Jay Moynihan UW-Extension CRD
Shawano County
Most common definition of sustainability:
"meets the needs of the present generation
without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.”
From “Our Common Future”, by the Brundtland Commission, aka UN World
Commission on the Environment and Development (1987)
Chair Gro Harlem Brundtland
But at its essence, “sustainability” is the process of going
from simply assuming that our children’s, children’s,
children; our species will be here a long time, to:
Planning & working on it
Yesterday’s solutions are
often today’s problems.
We are now
facing the
challenges of our
species’ success
The Perfect Storm
• Rapid
Climate Change
• “Peak Oil”/Energy Costs
•Fresh Water Scarcity
Culture
Economy
Natural
Capital &
Services
Adapted from a diagram by Jerry Hembd, UW-Extension Northern Center for Community Economic Development.
In nature there are no winners or losers.
There are only survivors.
“Pleistocene of South America” by D. Bogdanov
How do you play, when you
know that nature bats last?
An Overview of the Framework
1. The origin of The Natural Step.
2. What The Natural Step is.
3. The Science.
4. The Conditions.
5. Examples
6. References
Beginnings…
Karl-Henrik Robèrt, M.D., Ph.D was one of
Sweden’s leading cancer researchers.
Robèrt came to realize that there were basic
realities of the environmental problems of the
planet that were true for everyone, no matter
their political views.
Certain facts could be established, based on
current knowledge. He realized that if people
could agree upon something, it might result in
action.
http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC28/Robert.htm
He wrote a paper and sent it to
Sweden’s top scientists, seeking such
a consensus.
He asked them to correct the errors in
his paper. Twenty-two drafts later he
had consensus.
Robèrt consulted municipalities, businesses,
government departments, environmental
organizations, and the arts community.
He got the support of the King of Sweden.
The Natural Step was launched with
attendant television coverage and distribution
of educational material to every school and
household in Sweden.
In 1993, American entrepreneur
Paul Hawken (founder of Smith
& Hawken, among other
businesses), introduced the
United States audience to The
Natural Step in his book,
The Ecology of Commerce.
• A scientific conference at the Wingspread
Conference Center in Wisconsin approved
it in 1997.
• Hawken and other worked with a group
large corporations (Monsanto, Interface,
GE, Toyota, and others).
Övertorneå
• The development planner from
that small Swedish region,
Torbjorn Lahti headed up the
Eco-Municipality process,
which is based on TNS.
• He and Sarah James
published a book about it in
2004.
The Swedish municipalities
arrange tours to
learn about their process.
Folks in the Chequamegon Bay and Dane
County areas of Wisconsin come back
from a tour and get to work.
In northeast Wisconsin, “Eco-Municipalities”
currently include:
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•
Manitowoc
Menasha
Neenah
Sheboygan
What is The Natural Step?
It is not:
•A thing that tells you exactly what to do
• A new running shoe, laxative, or diet
It is:
• Based on established science
• An incremental, do what you can handle approach
• Scalable
TNS =
• 5 scientific points
{4 laws, 1 principle}
• That when considered together,
• Results in 4 “System Conditions”.
TNS Scientific Principles
1
Matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed.
1st law of thermodynamics
and the principle of conservation of matter.
Sooner or later, all matter that is introduced into
society will be released into natural systems.
TNS Scientific Principles
2
Matter and energy tend to disperse.
(2nd law of thermodynamics)
Entropy
TNS Scientific Principles
3
Material quality is characterized
by the concentration and structure of matter.
We never consume energy or matter--only its quality , (the
degree of order within energy and matter), purity and structure.
TNS Scientific Principles
4
Net increase in material quality on earth can only be
produced by sun-driven processes.
TNS Scientific Principles
Add together the 4 principles, and you get:
The cyclic principle
Waste must not systematically
accumulate in nature, and
reconstruction of material quality must
be at least as large as its dissipation.
What is The Natural Step?
From the science and the Cyclic Principle you can derive
Four Systems Conditions
• The conditions are what describes the key
characteristics of a sustainable society.
• They provide general goals to work towards for a
business or other organization.
• Progress towards them is determined by you. You
implement them to cut cost, open new revenue
streams, improve your quality of life or services, or
for other reasons you have.
Four Systems Conditions
1
Substances from the Earth's crust must not
systematically increase in the biosphere.
Fossil fuels, metals and other minerals should not be
extracted at a faster pace than their redeposit and
reintegration into the Earth's crust, or otherwise confined to
the production cycle.
Four Systems Conditions
2
Substances produced by society must not
systematically increase in the biosphere.
Substances must not be produced at a faster
pace than they can be broken down and
integrated into the cycles of nature or deposited
into the Earth's crust, or otherwise confined to the
production cycle.
Four Systems Conditions
3
The physical basis for the productivity of nature
must not be systematically deteriorated.
We cannot harvest or manipulate ecosystems in such a way
that productive capacity and diversity systematically diminish.
Four Systems Conditions
4
There must be fair and efficient use of
resources to meet human needs world wide.
Human needs must be met fairly
with the most resource efficient methods possible.
Interface, Inc.
World’s largest manufacturer
of modular and tile carpeting
http://www.interfaceinc.com/
Implemented TNS in the mid-1990’s
http://www.interfacesustainability.com/
The Natural Step
http://www.interfacesustainability.com/step.html
Chemicals found in Mother’s Breast Milk
Copyright 2004 The Natural Step
Cycles and smart shoppers
Can youth teach
about system
condition 1?
If you can use innertubes, how about a
methane digester for
the County Fair?
Methane digesters & electricity generators, Green Valley Dairy
FOMA(TM) N701iECO phone made of
PLA bioplastics reinforced with kenaf
fibres developed by NEC, UNITIKA
and NTTDoCoMo
© Paul Fowler
Ikea adopted The Natural Step in 1990
TNS Method Overview
Coming after me…..today
Resources on TNS
Extension Sustainability Team Capacity Center Website
http://www2.uwsuper.edu/sustainability/Eco-Municipality.htm
Books
The Natural Step: A Framework by Karl-Henrik Robert
The Natural Step Story: Seeding a Quiet Revolution by Karl-Henrik Robert
The Natural Step for Business: Wealth, Ecology and the Evolutionary
Corporation by Brian Nattrass & Mary Altomare
The Natural Step for Communities: How Cities and Towns Can Change to
Sustainable Practices
by Sarah James & Torbjorn Lahti
The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins & L. Hunter Lovins
Mid-Course Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise: The Interface Model
by Ray Anderson