ESS Topic 1 - Foundation

Perspective

How a particular situation is viewed and understood by an individual. It is based on a mix of personal and collective assumptions, values and beliefs.

How are perspectives shaped?

Sociocultural norms, scientific understandings, laws, religion, economic conditions, local and global events, and lived experience.

Values

Qualities or principles that people feel have worth and importance in life.

Values surveys

Surveys that can be used to investigate the perspectives shown by a particular social group towards environmental issues.

Worldviews

Broader lenses shared by groups of people through which they perceive, make sense of and act within their environment. They shape people’s values and perspectives through culture, philosophy, ideology, religion and politics

Environmental value system

A model that shows the inputs affecting our perspectives on environmental issues and the resulting outputs. They can be classified into 3 broad categories.

Ecocentrism

Sees the natural world as having pre-eminent importance and intrinsic value.

Anthropocentrism

Views humankind as being the central, most important element of existence.

Technocentrism

Believes all environmental issues can be resolved through technology.

Perspectives can change over time through…

Government or non-governmental organization, campaigns, or social and demographic change.

Systems

Sets of interacting or interdependent components organized to create a functional whole.

A systems approach is…

A holistic way of visualizing a complex set of interactions, and it can be applied to ecological or societal situations.

Storages

Where energy/matter can be stored.

Flows

Processes + pathways within a system along which energy and matter flow.

Inputs

Import of matter or energy across a boundary.

Outputs

Export of matter or energy across a boundary

Boundaries

Defines the limits of a system.

Transfer

Movement of matter/energy.

Transformation

Changes in matter, energy or state.

Open system

Exchange of matter and energy.

Closed system

Exchange of energy only.

The Earth system

The Earth is a single (closed) integrated system encompassing the biosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the geosphere, the atmosphere and the anthroposphere.

Negative feedback loops

Occur when the output of a process inhibits or reverses the operation of the same process in such a way as to reduce change. They are stabilizing as they counteract deviation.

Stable equilibrium

Open systems can exist in a stable equilibrium, which is a system with a tendency to return to the previous equilibrium after a disturbance.

Steady-state equilibrium

Open systems can also exist in a steady state equilibrium, which is a system in which flows still occur but inputs are balanced with outputs, and create an average equilibrium over time.

Positive feedback loops

Occur when a disturbance leads to an amplification of that disturbance, destabilizing the system and driving it away from its equilibrium. Positive feedback loops drive systems towards tipping points.

Tipping points

The minimum amount of change that will cause destabilization within a system. The system then shifts to a new equilibrium or stable state (regime shift).

Model

A simplified representation of reality; it can be used to understand how a system works and to predict how it will respond to change. It can be graphs, diagrams, equations, simulations, etc. 

Simplification of a model…

Involves approximation and, therefore, loss of accuracy.

Emergent properties

Interactions between components in systems can generate emergent properties; the components themselves do not have these properties (more than the sum of its parts).

Resilience

A system’s tendency to avoid tipping points and maintain stability; the capacity to resist damage and recover from, or adapt efficiently to, disturbance.

Diversity

Increased diversity in a system increases resilience.

Storage size

Increased storage size in a system increases resilience (e.g. relative stability of a puddle compared to a lake).

Human impact on resilience

Humans can affect the resilience of systems through reducing these storages and diversity.

Sustainability

The extent to which practices allow for the long-term viability of a system; the responsible maintenance of socio-ecological systems such that there is no diminishment of conditions for future generations.

Increased resilience…

generally leads to increased sustainability.

Three pillars of sustainability

Sustainability is comprised of environmental, social and economic pillars.

Environmental sustainability

The use and management of natural resources that allows replacement of the resources, and recovery and regeneration of ecosystems. It focuses on decreasing resource depletion and pollution, while increasing biodiversity.

Social sustainability

Focuses on creating the structures and systems, such as health, education, equity and community, that support human well-being

Economic sustainability

Focuses on creating the economic structures and systems to support production and consumption of goods and services that will support human needs into the future.

Sustainable development

Development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (social equity, economic stability and ecological integrity).

Ecosystem collapse

Occurs when there is an unsustainable use of natural resources.

GDP

The Gross Domestic Product is the total value of goods and services produced and sold by a country; but it often neglects natural systems and may lead to unsustainable development (Green GDP measures environmental costs and subtracts these from GDP).

Sustainability indicators

Quantitative measures of biodiversity, pollution, human population, climate change, material and carbon footprints, and others. These indicators can be applied on a range of scales, from local to global.

Ecological footprint

The area of land and water required to sustainably provide all resources and absorb all the waste for a specific population. If these footprints are greater than the area or resources available to the population, this indicates unsustainability.

Carbon + water footprint

Carbon footprint measures the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (in tonnes). The water footprint measures water use (in cubic metres per year).

Biocapacity

The capacity of a given biologically productive area to generate an ongoing supply of renewable resources and to absorb its resulting wastes. Unsustainability occurs if the area’s ecological footprint exceeds its biocapacity.

Citizen science

When citizens help scientists to collect data; it plays a role in monitoring Earth systems and whether resources are being used sustainably

Environmental justice

The right of all people to live in a pollution-free environment, and to have equitable access to natural resources, regardless of issues such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, nationality, etc.

Inequalities…

In income, race, gender and cultural identity within and between different societies lead to disparities in access to water, food and energy.

Sustainability + environmental justice can be applied from individual to global systems

This ranges from individual, business, community, city, country and global levels.

Different models that measure sustainability

There are a range of frameworks and models that support our understanding of sustainability, each with uses and limitations. The four most common are: SDGs, the Planetary Boundaries model, the Doughnut Economics model, and the circular economy model.

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

A set of social and environmental goals and targets to guide action on sustainability and environmental justice.

Uses: Setting of a common ground for policymaking; relating to both developed and developing countries; galvanizing the international community into addressing economic and social inequality.

Limitations: Goals not going far enough; goals being top down and bureaucratic; tending to ignore local contexts; lacking in supportive data.

Planetary Boundaries model

Quantifies the limits of Earth’s 9 major regulating systems to determine the “safe operating zone” of human activity. Predicts that crossing those limits increases the risk of abrupt and irreversible changes to Earth systems.

Uses: Identifies science-based limits to human disturbance of Earth systems; highlights the need to focus on more than climate change; stresses the urgent need for action to protect Earth systems.

Limitations: Focuses only on ecological systems and does not consider human needs; the model is a work in progress; the focus on global boundaries may not be useful in local contexts.

Doughnut Economics model

Combines the social foundation (SDGs) with the ecological ceiling (Planetary Boundaries). Together, they represent the minimum conditions for an economy that is ecologically safe and socially just—thus, the doughnut is the “safe and just space for humanity”. Mostly, humanity falls short of the social foundation, while overshooting most of the planetary boundaries. The goal is to move into the doughnut and create a regenerative and distributive economy.

Uses: Includes both ecological and social elements, supports the concept of environmental justice; is being used at different scales to support action on sustainability.

Limitations: The model is a work in progress; it advocates broad principles of regenerative and distributive practice but does not propose specific policies; has a potential Western bias.

Circular Economy model

A circular economy is an economic model that aims to eliminate all waste and pollution, circulate products and materials, and regenerate nature. There are two branches of a circular economy: the biological cycle and the technical cycle.

Uses: Regeneration of natural systems; reduction of greenhouse emissions; improvement of local food networks; reduction of waste by extending product life cycle; changed consumer habits.

Limitations: Lack of environmental awareness by consumers and companies; lack of regulations enforcing recycling of products; some waste is not recyclable; lack of finance.

Circular economy example

The REFOOD program in Portugal is an example of a circular economy because it attempts to recycle and extend the lifespan of food products. It collects food waste from partnered companies and turns it into animal feed/fertiliser (or even meals if the food is safe) in order to be reused.