Sustainability Exam 1

Place

a space which has been made meaningful, where a person can fulfill an aspect of their well-being

Space

an area without a specific use

Sense of place

emotional attachment that people have to a place

Example of place

concern from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe over the Dakota Access Pipeline because it cuts across ancestral land

_____ ____ _____

this effects a community’s feelings towards a project

Scale

concept in geography, 3 ways to conceptualize

conceptualized by size (magnitude or extent), hierarchy, and time

Why is scale important for sustainability

size - reflects the practical limits of sustainability

hierarchy - important for implementing sustainability and for resources

time - thinking about history and how that explains current environmental issues

Political ecology

a way of thinking that uses the environment and politics to understand human-environment interactions

7 key elements

7 key elements of political ecology

thinking across scale

marginalization

attention to social difference

power and discourse

chains of explanation

tracing the flow of value

“big tent” approach

Creek Point case study

mining operations in Brazil that took advantage of local people

high levels of corruption in government (rural landowners not seeing profits)

residents were displaced, led to deforestation of the Amazon

Brundtland definition of sustainability

meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

problem: doesn’t discuss indigenous definitions of sustainability, doesn’t allow for growth VAGUE

Resilience

the ability to bounce back from a change or stressor

Triple bottom line

aka 3 pillars of sustainability

ECONOMY, SOCIETY, ENVIRONMENT

introduced by John Elkington

Political ecology and TBL

TBL is based on economy, society, and environment

political ecology says that you can’t look at problems about environment without looking at politics

UN Sustainable Development Goals

deadline to achieve is 2030, 189 countries have signed on to them

no poverty, zero hunger, good health & wellbeing, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable & clean energy, decent work & economic growth, industry, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities, etc

Criticisms of SDGs

too vague and overly ambitious of UN

very little significant progress has been done

potential for exploitation of poor countries by rich countries

Chains of explanation

idea that multiple reasonings can account for a specific problem

Positives and negatives of increased pop growth

positive - increased labor force

negative - clearing land, pollution from construction, habitat destruction

Malthusian theory

fundamental theory used to explain relationship between pop and resource scarcity

3 elements of Malthusian theory

population grows geometrically while food production grows arithmetically

population doubling time = 25 years

natural checks (war, disease, famine, earthquakes) are nature’s ways of capping growth

Malthusian catastrophe

when population > food production

leads to famine, disease, floods

part of Malthusian theory

Neo-malthusians

people who hold the Malthusian view

Weakness of Malthusian theory

doubling time isn’t a thing at a global scale

population doesn’t really grow geometrically

other ways to cap population growth

people can use resources sustainably

Marx’s critique of Malthusian theory

resource scarcity not necessarily due to population growth, more about disproportionate consumption of resources

connected to wealth and development

REDD

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation

forest carbon initiative, protects part of the forest

climate mitigation tactic

How sustainability initiatives fail

partial success - intervention leading to smaller effect than anticipated

no net effect

backfire - intervention leads to negative consequences

temporal decline - intervention may work at first but long term will see negative effects

negative effect on non-targeted behaviors - intervention has other negative effects

REDD case study

main actors - Norwegian government and African Wildlife Foundation

actions - carbon storage, carbon credits, no hunting/timber harvesting, poverty reduction (through carbon credits), introduction of green revolution

outcomes - debate over efficacy, Norwegian government said it worked but independent researches see no ecological or social benefit

related to TBL - impacted society and economy, not really impacting environmental impact

Big tent

concept that political ecology is supposed to use

includes different perspectives and embraces epistemic justice (everyone is involved)

Structural innovations

type of innovation for sustainable development

changes in governance to support sustainability, setting goals, hiring staff specifically focused on sustainability

example - dedicated sustainability office at DU

Operational innovations

type of innovation for sustainable development

day to day activities meant to promote sustainable resource management

example - bike to work day at DU, urban gardens

DU’s 25 X 25 goals

DU’s sustainability goals

includes decreased water usage, becoming more bicycle friendly, reducing energy use

Whole-of-university approach

sustainability approach

involves campus operations, research, and curriculum

basically bringing more cross-disciplinary stuff

difficult because professors don’t get credit for co-teaching, quarter system makes this challenging, funding is difficult to get

Signs of sustainability success on campus

assessment of student knowledge

employees trained on passions in relation to sustainability

good understanding of TBL and SDGs

new buildings powered by renewables

zero waste in athletic activities

local food

non-potable water for lawns

purchasing by university looks at triple bottom line implications

Vulnerability

being susceptible to harm and lacking capacity to adapt

3 components

3 components of vulnerability

exposure - what is level of person’s exposure to environmental variability

sensitivity - how sensitive are they to climate change

adaptive capacity - what are the resources a community has to adapt to climate change

Climate adaptation

actions taken to withstand climate change and its impacts, usually short-term measures

Climate mitigation

action taken to prevent climate change from occurring

example - planting trees to store carbon

Null adaptation

adaptation with no overall impact (either positive or negative for intended issue)

can still be negative because it is a waste of time and resources

Maladaptation

when an adaptation measure leads to negative outcomes

when adaption backfires

opposite of sustainable adaptation

Types of maladaptation

rebounding vulnerability

shifting vulnerability

eroding sustainable development

Rebounding vulnerability

type of maladaptation

rebounds vulnerability to implementing actor

Shifting vulnerability

type of maladaptation

shifts vulnerability to other actors and sectors

Eroding sustainable development

type of maladaptation

impacts on common pool

MUST INCREASE GHG EMISSIONS

Fiji case study

seawall construction, ultimately failed because they ended up trapping seawater

gardens ruined from entrapment

damaged fishing nets

more negatively impacted those closest to seawall

Why maladaptation occurs

poor adaptation planning

adaption retrofitting - effort to get money for a project even if it is unrelated to climate

hasty responses to climate disasters

not using big tent approach

Guatemala case study

ICS (improved cookstoves) - numerous benefits (especially health and in terms of gender inequality), but not widely adopted (increasing population, stovetop efficacy, preference towards traditional methods of cooking

Distributive justice

equitable allocation of both the benefits and burdens of energy systems. In practice, this means ensuring that marginalized and low-income communities—who have often borne the brunt of pollution and energy poverty—have access to clean, affordable, and reliable energy

Recognition justice

acknowledging and respecting the diverse identities, experiences, and rights of all communities, especially those historically excluded from energy decision-making

Procedural justice

fairness in the processes that determine energy policies and projects. It requires transparent decision-making, inclusive participation, and the empowerment of communities to influence outcomes