Transcript The 4 Capital Approach: A Framework for Thinking about

The 4 Capital Approach:
A Framework for Thinking
about Sustainable
Community Development
Announcements
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Name tags and photos
Books at 20% discount in my office
Be on time to guest lectures!
Reflections are to handed in via Web-CT
Course related e-mails to me must begin with CDAE 102
in the subject line, or they will be ignored
• First 2 assignments due
• Meeting rooms for discussion groups will be assigned
according to project groups, and posted on Web CT. If
more than 9 people have signed up for a project on a
discussion board, then you should also sign up for your
2nd choice.
What’s required to build a
sustainable community?
• A physical setting with clean air, clean water,
stable climate, raw materials, etc.
• Basic physical infrastructure
• An economy– a way to produce what we need to
survive
• Social relations, trust, norms of behavior, etc.
– Equity
• An educated population capable of running the
economy, maintaining the infrastructure, etc.
• Technology
• Good government
The 4 legged table
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Economy
Environment
Equity
Education
The 4 Capitals
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Natural capital= environment
Built capital= economy
Human capital= education
Social capital= equity
What about good government?
• Healthy communities require all of these
What is capital?
• Piles of money?
• Produced means of production?
• Stock or fund that yields a flow of goods
and services into the future.
What is the relationship between
capital and sustainability?
• What is a sustainable use of financial
capital, e.g. a trust fund?
• What is sustainable use of built capital?
• Of natural capital?
• Sustainability means living off the interest
How do we develop sustainable
communities?
• How do you develop a business?
• We need to invest in the different capitals
• Each of the capitals is fundamentally
different
Built capital
• Physical Infrastructure
• Business, industry, etc.
• Traditional subject matter of economics
Built capital
• What happens when we use built capital?
– It wears out, but is not used up
– It does not become part of what is produced
• Who owns it?
– Sweat equity
• Where does built capital come from?
• What is sustainable use?
– Depreciation = investment
Natural Capital
• The types of natural capital
– Land, water, atmosphere
– Raw materials, ecosystem structure
– Ecosystem services, or ecosystem function
– Waste absorption capacity
• Who owns it?
• Who should own it?
Natural Capital
• What happens when we use these?
– Land: not used up, but can be degraded
– Raw materials: used up, transformed into something
else
– Ecosystem services: not used up or worn out, still
there for others
– Waste absorption capacity: worn out
• What is sustainable use?
– Ecological carrying capacity
• How do we invest?
The special relationship between
built and natural capitals
• The laws of thermodynamics
– All built capital depends on raw materials provided by
nature
– All built capital generates waste
• Investment in built capital generally requires
disinvestment in natural capital
– Depletion of raw materials
– Resource depletion and loss of ecosystem services
– Waste emissions and loss of ecosystem services
Human capital
• Human knowledge
• Technology
• Labor
Human capital
• What happens when we use it?
• Who owns it? Who should own it?
• What is sustainable use?
– Knowledge and technology vs. labor
– Never more than one generation away from
ignorance
• How do we invest in it?
Social capital
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Humans are social animals
Trust between people
Norms that guide our behavior
Networks of communication
Organizations, structures and social
relations that increase abilities to satisfy
our needs
• Do we include government here?
Social capital
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Who owns it?
What’s its relationship with equity?
What happens when we use it?
What happens when we don’t use it?
How do we invest in it?
What is sustainable use?
– Social caring capacity
How do we decide which capital to
invest in?
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What are the desired ends?
The law of diminishing marginal returns
What are the opportunity costs?
Equimarginal principle of optimization
Which capital offers the highest returns at
the margin?
Other themes in the course
Systems thinking
• 4 capitals/ 4 Es
• Inherent complexity
– How do the pieces interact?
• Study of a rapidly evolving system
– What are the forces (feedback loops) driving
system evolution?
Transdisciplinarity
• In the university there are disciplines, in
the real world there are problems
• Communication and understanding
across disciplines is essential
• Communication with sectors outside of
academia is essential: government, civic
institutions, business
Avoiding Academic Autism
• What is Autism? A disorder characterized
by:
– abnormal subjectivity
– marked deficits in communication and social
interaction
– marked withdrawal from reality
– abnormal behavior, such as… excessive
attachment to certain objects
Objective truth seeking vs. action
oriented research
• Traditional role is neutral scientist,
unbiased objective research
• Sustainability demands solutions now. We
need to do research that matters and we
need to communicate and apply its
results.
Focus on Synthesis…
• Communication across disciplines
• Integrating different perspectives
• Policy implications
… and Communication
• Communicate to those who act on
information
• Format appropriate to goal