Global Sustainability and Innovation

To introduce students to the general idea of SUSTAINABILITY.
To examine how sustainable decisions every day affect our resources and their future availability.
To examine basic concepts of natural resources and their conservation.
To introduce students to the idea of ENERGY and examine various sources of energy, both conventional and non-conventional.
To establish a relationship between sustainability and population growth.
To examine the business aspects of sustainability.
To establish that a business case can be made for sustainability in terms of profitability of operations.
To examine and establish the central role played by technology and technological innovations in furthering the human cause.
To use technology to make human civilization sustainable.

Sustainability means to:
- Meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
- Improve the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems.
- Address the abundance of scientific evidence that humanity is living unsustainably whereby returning human use of natural resources to within sustainable limits will require a major collective effort.
Dimensions of sustainability are often categorized as environmental, social, and economic, known as the three pillars of sustainability.

To survive on planet Earth, humans must live within its measurable biophysical constraints.

Pillars of Sustainability:
- Environment: Attention to natural ecosystems and managing human impact on them.
- Social: Focus on the well-being of people, ensuring inclusion and value of all community members.
- Economic: Consideration of the economic systems and their effect on resource use and sustainability.

Characteristics include:
1. Common characteristics of people or descriptions of collectivities.
2. Attitudes, orientations, or behaviors that consider the interests of others.
3. Interactions between individuals or groups.
4. Group membership or inclusion within a community.

Natural Environment Components:
1. Complete ecological units functioning as natural systems without massive human intervention, e.g., ecosystems containing vegetation, animals, microorganisms, soil, rocks, and atmosphere.
2. Distinction between natural environment and built environment (areas influenced by human activities).
Examples of Natural Environments:
- The Amazon Rainforest in Brazil
- The Swiss Alps

Definition of Economy:
- The realized economic system of an area, encompassing production, exchange, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Characteristics of Economies:
1. Study of economic types and systems, influenced by factors such as technology, history, social organization, geography, natural resources, and ecology.

Primary Sector: Extraction and production of raw materials (e.g., corn, coal, wood, iron). Example workers include coal miners and fishermen.
Secondary Sector: Transformation of raw materials into goods (e.g., manufacturing). Example workers include builders and dressmakers.
Tertiary Sector: Provision of services to consumers and businesses (e.g., banking, baby-sitting). Example workers include shopkeepers and accountants.
Quaternary Sector: Research and development that leads to product creation from natural resources. Education is sometimes included in this sector. Example includes companies researching alternative uses for wood.

An international declaration emphasizing:
- Building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century.
- Foundational values include respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and promoting peace.
Goal of the Charter: To collaborate on forming a sustainable society, declaring responsibility for each other, the greater community of life, and future generations.

Sustainability is analyzed on various scales, encompassing:
- Total carrying capacity of planet Earth.
- Sustainability of economic sectors, ecosystems, countries, municipalities, neighborhoods, individual lives, goods and services, lifestyles, and behavior patterns.

Key Principles Include:
- Intergenerational Equity: Ensuring future generations have the same environmental potential as the current ones.
- Decoupling Economic Growth: Managing growth to be less resource-intensive and polluting.
- Integration of All Pillars: Combining environmental, social, and economic considerations in sustainability policies.
- Environmental Adaptability: Enhancing the adaptive capacity of environmental systems.
- Preventing Long-term Ecosystem Damage: Avoiding severe impacts on ecosystems and human health.
- Distributional Equity: Ensuring fair environmental costs are avoided, particularly for vulnerable populations.
- Global Responsibility: Recognizing and acting on environmental impacts that occur beyond our jurisdiction.
- Education & Grassroots Involvement: Empowering communities to investigate problems and develop solutions.

Key Components of Consumption:
1. Population Numbers: Total number of people.
2. Levels of Affluence: The average consumption levels per person.
3. Impact per Unit of Resource Use: Determined by the technology in use.
Impact Equation: $I = P \times A \times T$ Where:
- $I$ = Environmental impact
- $P$ = Population
- $A$ = Affluence
- $T$ = Technology

Stages of the Water Cycle:
- Water storage in ice and snow
- Water storage in the atmosphere (vapor)
- Processes include condensation, precipitation, and evapotranspiration
- Water movement through streams, infiltration into ground storage, and evaporation from surfaces
Water Cycle Storage: Includes oceans, ponds, and groundwater sources.