Sustainable Development

Leading the Change in Community With Diffision of Innovation & Kotter’s Process

2010-03-11T16:18:00.000-08:00

Today in our sustainability and community relations class Dr. Kool showed our cohort two concepts which were diffusion of innovation and Kotters process. Ultimately, these two processes are used in order to promote change in the community which can be used for our projects for Colwood Council.

Diffusion can be defined as “a process in which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system”. The following picture depicts the breakdown of innovation and the parts of society that are involved in the process.

Innovators are a large minority of the innovation curve as they represent 2.5% of the total. Innovators are found to be educated and have multiple sources of information. Also these members have been shown to be susceptible to taking risks. Early adopters which are found to be 13.5% are an evolution of the innovators and can somewhat act on the innovators ideas.

Individuals that fall into the 34% of the population are the early majority group. People that fall into this group are respectable opinion leaders which serve as role models and are respected by their peers. This group typically consists of evangelists and missionaries as they possess the attributes necessary as mentioned. Overall the innovators, early adopters and late majority groups are innovators and have the drive necessary to establish and implement change.

The latter half of the diffusion curve consists of groups which are typically on the change “bandwagon”. The late majority group, which also constitutes for 34% as the early majority distinction is generally similar however they fall into the bandwagon generalization and do not exhibit change as much as the early majority would. The laggards can be synonymous with straggling behind the group and interact with peers. Laggards seldomly hold positions of leadership where they would express their opinions. As with the “straggler” mentality they typically will think longer about ideas and thus take more time to implement their thoughts.

In order to lead change, Kotter also created an eight step process which can be used also to become a leader in change. The eight step process includes:

· Establish and/or reflect a sense of urgency

· Create guiding coalition

· Developing a Vision and Strategy

· Communication for understanding and buy-in

· Empower broad based action

· Produce short-term wins

· Consolidate gains and produce more change

· Anchor new approaches in the culture and create a new culture

Establishing and reflecting a sense of urgency reflects whether or not there is a sense for change or whether or not society would move beyond the status quo. This step also realizes whether or not a vulnerability exists and if there is something wrong or a dissatisfaction with the existing status quo.

Creating a guided coalition inevitable makes the choice on what needs to be done and whom will be required to drive the project. Positive attributes for this will need to be considered as a motivator who is powerful or influential will need to be chosen that people will be willing to follow.

Once the project leader is chose a strategy will need to be developed based on the vision of the project. This is important as the strategy needs to have the vision of the overall short and long term goals in mind to effectively establish a strategy that will address the needs. Once the strategy is developed, it must be communicated effectively. How will this project be communicated to the community and how will it become engrained within the community? These are some questions to consider when analyzing the appropriate communication method that will be chose.

With communication comes the concept of empowerment. This allows how the actual enactment will take place and how it will answer the sense of urgency that has been detected from the audience. Also, if there are external persuasions and barriers the empowerment will hopefully surpass them and have the audience readily accept the idea. Perhaps rewards and incentives can be used to positively bribe the audience to the idea.

The change cannot be thought of on a long term scale and short term goals must be established. The short term goals must outline small objectives set so that when they are reached it can be reflected as a short term win. The objectives need to be effectively communicated to the audience to let them know that progress has taken place and that positive change is occurring. The gains and objectives that occur must not be taken lightly and victory cannot be declared to early as Kotter stated. These problems that were created took years to evolve and the processes that are used to change them will also take time to be successful. The continual evolvement of the growth occurring must happen in order to actually anchor the ideals into everyday society and culture. Change and behaviors can fail just as quick as they are changed. I am going to quote Kotter whom states it best by saying, “Until new behaviors are rooted in social norms and shared values, they are subject to degradations as soon as the pressure for change is removed”.

Change is continually occurring in the world we know today and it is important that if we are to influence for our own change, such as for Colwood, it must effectively be presented. Therefore, I believe that Kotters process for implementing change can be a beneficial tool for not just presenting but initiating change. Hopefully our group can incorporate this process in our wiki with the hopes of presenting an idea of change that is not just accepted with short term thoughts in mind by our audience but perhaps an elongated future in which it can readily persist.

Wiki, Tools of Change, and ADDIE

2010-03-05T21:48:00.000-08:00

This week our cohort was introduced to the concept of creating a Wiki which will present each individual groups ideas in the proper format. BJ Eib was the representative from Royal Roads whom explained the process that happens in creating a wiki as well as some tips that can be used for editing the wiki.

A wiki is a tool used to create a project that eventually takes the format of what you would see on Wikipedia. A beneficial aspect to a wiki is that a group of individuals can edit and replace information on it at their own schedule. The wiki can also be hyperlinked in order to join it to other information as it deems necessary or if it is related to the topic being described. The wiki is a fairly efficient formatting tool that can be especially useful if working in teams. Considering the large amount of team based exercises that we conduct in our course I believe the wiki concept could be expanded to much more projects and not just limited to the project for Dr. Kool.

Another project developing tool that we were introduced was www.toolsofchange.com. This resource also provided our group in developing our project of the RRU trail systems with community based social marketing in mind. The website revolved around a planning guide which included the areas of setting objectives, developing partners, getting informed, targeting the audience and also choosing the appropriate tools of change. Upon the completion of this “fill in the blank” style program, we had a much clearer idea of where our project was heading and what specifications we needed to address. The objective included what audience we were offering our idea to as well as what they would benefit from taking part in our idea, which would include personal health as well as enjoying a somewhat sheltered green space in Colwood. The getting informed section included questions relating to the resources used by the community as well as searching for other sources that would be providing the same service to the targeted audience. In order to effectively target the audience we were asked to decide on the targeted population as well as how we would reach out to this group to get them willingly adapt to our scenario. For the RRU trail maps, our audience is quite wide and ranges from young children to senior citizens. All groups can benefit from the trails here in both good health and learning about the vast ecology that exists in Hatley Park. The final tool of change involved choosing the appropriate tools in which would effectively execute our project with maximum success. This involved looking into appropriate incentives as well as effective agents of change for the targeted community. This was decided to take the form of brochures, media coverage such as newspapers, and putting appropriate audience specific signage on the trails.

Eventhough the tools of change provided us with a good perspective on where we were heading with the trail system project for Royal Roads we decided on following the ADDIE perspective that Dr. Kool shared with us in class. The five phases in the ADDIE system includes Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation. We as a group felt that this system would be more effective in providing a better structure for our Wiki as each section is fully dependent on the other and would create a better flow for our project. The section that I chose to undertake involved the actual implementation of our ideas for the trails. This includes installing signage that appeals to an older audience by providing interesting facts about the campus as well as historical knowledge of the area. This can include a description of the numerous buildings throughout Hatley Park and what they were once used for when the Dunsmiurs inhabited them. Also there will need to be a implementation of various methods in order to attract the community of Colwood to come to Royal Roads and experience the trails that they have to offer. That was one main problem that our group agreed on with how the things exist now. The trails are not promoted in any way to the public. I’m sure that many people in Colwood are unaware of the amazing green space that Royal Roads is housed on. This would be solved by implementing advertisements in the local newspaper and also offering complementary maps to visitors to the campus. The newspaper could feature such a feature as “trail of the week” providing information on the ecology, animals, and trail difficulty. These are just a few of the many ideas we have thought up with for the Royal Roads Trail systems and hopefully they can end up from being an idea to actual reality.

Community Based Social Marketing

2010-03-02T20:45:00.000-08:00

Recently in class with Dr. Kool we were introduced to the concept of “Community Based Social Marketing” and how it can benefit our class. Ultimately community based social marketing can help in working on our wiki and ultimately presenting our ideas to Colwood council.

Community based marketing works on the premise and information is not enough to change behavior. I agree with this because just providing facts and “cut and dried” information will not be enough to inevitably change people’s thoughts. Social Marketing is a systematic procedure where marketing is adapted to achieve specific behavioral goals for a defined social goal. An important ideal to keep in mind though is that the audience for whom you are focusing on must be thoroughly analyzed and put at the center of every decision that must be made. There must be a defined action on what you want your audience to do and also an exchange with the audience to give up or change their behavior.

There are 10 questions to ask oneself while defining the outlines for the study. First of all, what is the social/environmental problem that is being addressed? This is beneficial because it provides a starting point and a baseline for starting the research. Also, what actions will best address the problem? The audience that is connected to this action must be targeted and what they want in exchange for the adoption of this new idea must be considered. Another question to ask is whether or not the audience will believe that what is put before them is true. If the audience does not follow your view and disregards it, then your project will fail. Potential competition must also be considered because they could possibly be offering something that is far more gratifying or valuable to the community. The community will have to be reached at a time and place that works for them and where they will be most vulnerable to take in the concept that is being presented. This intervention will also need to be examined in how often, from whom and how it can be integrated with other perceptions to maximize efficiency. Finally, the resources that are required for this must be questioned and whether or not other parties will need to be involved for success.

Once these initial 10 questions are addressed, the campaign undergoes 5 steps that will benefit and make the community marketing adapt to different outcomes or scenario changes. Possible barriers and benefits are to be investigated as they pertain to the project. This involves both internal and external goals which can include literature research, conducting a focus group and doing surveys in order to gather real data. Once the barriers are outlined, focus can become directed towards mitigating and avoiding them. This can come in the form of evaluating norms, persuasion techniques and possible incentives. An initial pilot plan becomes developed by revolving around the barriers as well as the benefits.

After this strategy has become developed then the pilot plan can be ran and tested in order to see how it works. This initial testing is vital as strategies can be compared to expected results and adjustment can occur if the need arises. The fourth step is the actual implementation of the project after necessary changes have been made. This can make the plan more worthwhile and a success because potential problems have been mitigated. A project that has been thoroughly analyzed will have a much higher rate of being a success when compared to a project that has not given appropriate attention to potential problematic sources.

Once the project has been implemented the final stage is to continue the process of monitoring and adapting to possible changes that can arise. Society is always changing as peoples thoughts, beliefs and morals are always evolving. Projects that involve the community must always be aware of these changes and how they need to adapt to them. The continual monitoring of these changes ensures that the project continues successfully and does not succumb from being unprepared.

I think that community based social marketing is a great concept and can be applied to our projects for Colwood. For our project, which revolves around the trail systems for Royal Roads we have already implemented some aspects of community based social marketing. We used this process to find out our targeted population as well as the initial pilot plan for our project. Using Dr. Kools community based social marketing methods can thoroughly investigate potential problems as well as boundaries that must be considered. Hopefully using these methods will create some great projects that Colwood council can use to help with their goal of reducing carbon emissions

Open Space

2010-02-24T23:08:00.000-08:00

Recently in our sustainability and community relations class we were given the opportunity to participate in an open space workshop in order to generate ideas for the overall goal of “What can I do to help Colwood” become more carbon neutral. This ultimately aided the class in brainstorming a number of ideas and concepts to help produce individual team wikis/presentations for the Colwood council.

The group that I eventually reached to becoming a member of revolved around improving the trail system at the Royal Roads campus and inevitably promoting the opportunity for users to bike/walk/jog these trails. It initially involved incorporating all the bike paths in the Colwood municipality but our group felt that the focus on Royal Roads Campus would be of more interest. The Royal Roads campus is a large part of Colwood and is largely shaded by the fact that the trails are not openly exposed to residents and visitors. Our group felt that the generation of a map using GPS and ArcGIS would provide the necessary resources for people to thoroughly enjoy this campus for all it has to offer. Signage was also an issue as we felt that the existing trail map was confusing and the fact that the trails have none in place. We also felt that perhaps a survey of Colwood residents would provide the data necessary to see how willing the community would be to these ideas and perhaps be the encouragement for taking this idea from paper to actual reality. In my mind, Royal Roads is a largely untapped sustainable resource and hopefully with our groups vision we can encourage people to enjoy the campus without the need to generate carbon emissions.

I felt that the open space workshop was a very valuable tool which opened up the creativity in individuals and help connect classmates with similar interests. The open space workshop allowed our class to freely move around as they please between all of the carbon neutral ideas that were generated. The two foot approach gave everybody the freedom to leave and enter groups as they please. In the end, the groups that were left were based on by chance and similar interests. The open space environment opened up the imagination of our cohort and in the end produced a number of ideas that can hopefully become implemented within the municipality of Colwood. The open space workshop I feel was very appropriate and perhaps the best tool that could have been used for this purpose. There were no limitations and nobody was held back from their ideas. Open space can be applied to a variety of situations and I feel that this example that took place within our cohort further exclaims that this can work and should be applied to other team building exercises. In conclusion, each individual idea was thoroughly discussed and changed throughout the 3 hour block of time that we were allowed to work on this. In the end of this, a refined and polished set of concepts existed which included each members individual thoughts.

Climate Change & Local Food

2010-02-15T08:31:00.000-08:00

Today in class we received presentations from Gene Miller, Jennifer Gerard, and Cindy Moyer to continue with our sustainability and community’s class. Gene brought a harsher outlook on climate change, sustainability and what we can expect. Personally it seemed surreal in a way; to hear negativity about these concepts whereas all the other presenters we have been exposed to seem to praise their own ideals into this big concept of sustainability. According to Gene, a full scale apocalypse is sitting at our doorsteps. Capitalism has created a situation where full scale growth is occurring at all levels of production, industry and resource use. These unsustainable practices have brought forward a scenario that people think we can escape from which is climate change. However, there is such a divided line between climate change and society that creates a never ending cycle for our planet. Some think climate change will not happen whereas others exclaim the presence of it. It has left our world in an unusual balance that seems like disaster will occur far before proper action has commenced. This disaster threshold will sneak upon us and will cause very drastic changes in which we may not have the ability to adapt to. A quote that Gene said sums climate change very appropriately; “The metabolism of our economy is on a collision course with the metabolism of our planet”. I don’t think it could be stated any better than this. Approximately 2 centuries of population and industrial expansion are causing major changes that our planet has never been exposed to before. Ecosystems are being disrupted and the exponential extraction of non-renewable resources has created a hell on earth for civilization. We are truly living up to another quote that Gene said which is “borrowing our planet from our grandchildren”.

Now to stray away from going on a rant about the doom and gloom scenario that Gene instilled upon us, we were then introduced to Jennifer Gerard. Jennifer is a representative for the West Shore Harvest group that resides on Vancouver Island. She brought another take to the food aspect and shared the techniques and methods that have been introduced by her group to communities. Initially, she shared a video with us regarding local foods and commercially produced food which motivated us to produce a “mind map” which we have been exposed to before as a cohort, but the topic to brainstorm was food security. Our class came up with a lot of different ideas on food security and they expanded from concepts such as government subsidizing, competition, and going local. I felt that this exercise was fitting and got us thinking with the proper mindset relating to her topic which revolved around locally produced food.

Jennifer’s organization brings forward many projects that are being introduced to the public in order to create a sense of connectedness with food as well as promote the concept of practicing in local foodstuffs. One concept was the gardening universe project that teaches individuals the concepts of being able to grow food in their backyard, provide the necessary supplies and act as a mentor to the person. Gardens in motion consists of a flatbed trailer that has housed on it many planters and displays showing local goods which travels to various events in the West Shore. This provides an interaction between communities as well as between children and food. The hands on contact and communication allow conversations to develop resulting in a connectedness between individuals. The fruit tree project allows community members that have fruit trees in their backyard to supply and provide the excess of them to local food banks. They also have a publication of a food guide that shows local markets, eateries, and restaurants that support locally produced food.

The last presenter was Cindy Moyer, whom works actively with the mayor of Colwood in order to develop food events with environmental awareness and community interaction in mind. The events that she explained I thought were great, not just for the food but the community involvement as well. One good example was the go local tomato challenge where community members are challenged to grow their own tomatoes and participate in a cook off. This was not just a competition between people to see who could grow the biggest tomato but it was much more. It involved various organizations around the municipality of Colwood such as Royal Roads University and Island culinary chefs. This event created a connection between the community at every level. By allowing members to interact with one another around the idea of locally produced food, this creates a hub of community awareness. Another example within an example I guess you could say was the cob oven used for the food challenges. This oven was created by a wide array of multi-generation groups, community members and first nations citizens. It benefitted the community because it housed an environment in which all entities of Colwood were allowed to interact with one another. Even just the simplicity of creating an object can create friendships and positivity that can further dissipate into the community. I like the idea of incorporating food and community which can be very beneficial in developing relationships to reach a common goal. Perhaps that these ideals with community interaction can be applied with and expand onto other concepts such as transportation, emissions, and energy use. If these principles can be adapted then possibly the goal of becoming carbon neutral for Colwood can become an evident reality.

Community Energy Association & Sustainable Transport

2010-02-06T20:08:00.000-08:00

To continue with sustainability and communities class we recieved a presentation from Laura Porcher whom is the manager for partnership development with the Community Energy Association (CEA). We also had a presentation from Todd Litman for the concept of sustainable transportation. The Community Energy Association was founded by the province of BC and is strongly linked to many other companies such as BC Hydro, transit and many other associations. I feel that the linkages with these companies are beneficial in order to fully implement their ideas into the communities. This revolves around making efficient and smart decisions with building and infrastructure design with regards to energy use and the release of emissions. The fact that at 2 degrees of temperature change can lead to the 30% loss of lifeforms is astonishing. Such statistics like this is influencing the government of BC to make cut back on carbon emissions. Such an example is to reduce emissions by 33% below the 2007 levels by 2020. In order to accomplish these tasks, there must be a connection between communities, energy and sustainability. The CEA has encouraged the CRD to make energy wise and conscious decisions in the areas of land use planning, energy efficiency of buildings, transportation efficiency and to diversify their energy supply. There needs to be engagement of residents and businesses in order to fully get these ideas from being an idea to actual reality. A concept that Laura shared was QUEST (Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow). Some ideas that seem very promising with QUEST is managing heat from applications and turn that into energy for further use. This can be accomplished by taking heat given off from processes, collecting it and using it to heat another building or to heat water. In order for this to accomplish and become reality there needs to be a public engagement process to get the community involved and excited about this concept. Local government will need to undertake social marketing tactics in order to build a culture that supports change from this energy hungry and wasteful society that seems to exist today. The public should be informed about the demands for change, become actively engaged in the process and allowed to collaborate with others.

The pillars of Community energy and Emissions planning involve land use, transportation, buildings, infrastructure and energy supply. Land use planning should involve a focused density of mixed use buildings. Mixed use buildings consist of both residential and commercial residents. These buildings encourage reducing the need to rely on a vehicle to drive to the store to buy goods. The land use planning should encourage transit and protect green space/agricultural land reserves. Transportation should be energy efficient and support rail, cycling, walking and using alternative fuels. Buildings can be either looked at from refurbishing an existing one or in the design of a new one. An example is district heating where one heat source provides the energy for a number of buildings. Existing buildings can become retrofitted with efficient energy products such as fixtures and lighting. Also establishing a green roof on a building can provide as an insulator in the winter and a cooling agent in the summer which saves on energy costs. The energy supply should have renewable resources and the idea of waste energy utilization imbedded in its design.

Many communities in BC have put forward energy and emissions procedures forward. Some examples are Whistler which has put forward waste heat district heating for the Olympics and Squamish has its own community energy action plan. There is a solar ready bylaw in Dawson Creek so that any new buildings have to be able to convert to solar power. Kelowna has a smart transit plan and Langford is a leed neighborhood. These are just a few examples of the communities in BC whom have put forward their own contributions to smart energy hopefully will influence others into doing the same.

The other speaker for the class was Todd Litman who presented on sustainable transportation. Todd made a lot of good points such as what do we view as paradise. Society today generates happiness by wealth, which can be presented by such material items like a nice car. Increased happiness by their material items is an economic trap. A good example that Todd shared was that when someone in a neighborhood buys a nice car naturally his/her neighbors will want to buy a nice car as well. These material things are basically a status symbol and people do not put the considerations into actually making energy wise decisions for green transportation.

There needs to be a paradigm shift in the growth and development for expanding and doing more improvement for transportation. Communities can fulfill the need for physical movement and accessibility in the creation of pedestrian friendly neighborhoods. Sidewalks can be curved to promote walkability and the use of wheeled luggage for pedestrians. This seems farfetched but the simplicity of this can promote walking and energy efficient transportation. There is a large transportation problem that exists today as it is creates a large amount of costs to a number of different areas. Traffic congestion leads to an excessive release of pollutants into the atmosphere and stress on the drivers. Road construction is expensive and ultimately costs consumers money through their taxes. Roads are also not very pedestrian friendly as there is limited space for walking and biking to occur. These problems need to be all taken into consideration with energy efficient transport and they are all a key component into the problem that vehicles are causing.

Todd created a good argument for transportation and the need for more sustainable transportation. However some of the concepts seem very distant and the general population is not going to sacrifice driving. Don’t get me wrong, cycling and promoting physical activity while reducing the impact on the environment is a good thing. But to fully not rely on a vehicle is a very hard task for most of the general population. I do know it is possible as many from our class do not have a vehicle and cycle everywhere. However how will this case be won with a busy mother of 3 kids whom has to juggle work, taking the children to activities, and all that comes with parenting. Is it safe to say that she will bike them around or put them all on a bus in order to save the environment? I think that society nowadays think for themselves and do what is most efficient for them. So therefore there will continue to be vehicles on the road. I think that the real push should be for alternative energy sources for vehicles, but I don’t see this happening for a long time. I feel that the reliance on fossil fuels has become a part of everyday life and in order to change this we must continue to educate the public. As with all the sustainability issues existing today, there needs to be the continual exposure to the concerns and what needs to be done to combat them. Then there may be hope with a change commencing on the community level.

2010-01-28T21:53:00.000-08:00

What is Colwood

To continue with our sustainability and community relations class we received a presentation from Mayor Dave Saunders and Councillor Judith Cullington from the Town Of Colwood. The presentation that was shown to us was very informative and enlightened me about Colwood and what it is trying to do not just to become a transition town but a pioneer in order to influence other surrounding municipalities.

Colwood is quite unique as it has many distinctive components that allow it to “stand out in a crowd”. Culturally the town is very distinct as it has present on it the oldest First Nations property on the entire Vancouver Island. The region also home to a large abundance of the garry oak which is an endangered tree in North America. There is also a population of the sharp tailed snake which is also endangered present here. The municipality is also home to 3 historical sites which include Fort Rodd Hill, Fisgaard Lighthouse and Hatley Park. Personally, I expect all towns to have somewhat of a cultural and unique background but Colwood really impressed me with the diversity it contains. Not just by the above mentioned reasons but also the contributors in the community today. As I live right on Sooke road, I drive every day past the Westshore Teaching Center. Just from passing by and occasionally glancing at it, I assumed that this center was an ordinary training center where people could upgrade and take classes. Little did I know that it implements so much more than that for students. The center provides services for underprivileged learners by teaching them valuable life lessons and positive morals. They allow the students to plant a garden, harvest and sell the produce. This teaches them real-life business decisions and skills in the carpentry trade as they build greenhouses and flower boxes. I now look at this center a lot different now. Its not as if I looked negatively at it in the first place, but really you never can judge a book by its cover and I think a lot of these instances exist in Colwood. There is a lot more than meets the eye!

Dave and Judith also shared their vision for Colwood and where they see it heading. Due to the large residential base that it holds (92%), this makes funding for such projects very difficult but at the same time rewarding because of the hard work and effort that has to be put in to make the projects a reality. There plans include for Colwood to become the first green city and making it a leader in promoting sustainability. Many new and exciting developments are occurring in the municipality that embraces the environment. They are in progress of trying to incorporate such technology as geothermal heat, solar panels and water saving devices within the community. Colwood is known as a green learning city and it creates a large opportunity for individual groups within the municipality. This vision is creating active job opportunities for residents and supporting businesses. The businesses are encouraged to share and demonstrate their technologies with others which increases tourism into the area by attracting possible clientele. Colwood has extensive collaboration with Royal Roads University which is equally beneficial for both parties. The students use Colwood as a real life project as it has saved 60,000 to 120,000 dollars for the municipality. The community benefits because it is saving money by applying these scenarios for students to solve which gives them consultant quality results at a non-existent price. The campus also benefits because it is a real life learning situation. The project is not just based out of a fictional scenario from a book. Its outcome will be actively looked at and possibly put into action by Colwood and that creates a much greater sense of accomplishment for the students.

One thing that left a great impression on me was the mayor’s opinion on sewage. Considering our team last semester did a research project on Victoria and the sewage treatment hurdles that it is facing, I can say that there are many opinions on it and it seems like a never ending battle. Dave Saunders views sewage as if it is money. We are actively pumping it out into the ocean when it could be harnessed and the energy that could be generated for it could be used as a power source. A great example of this was the Boydel test that is a sustainable technology that the mayor wishes to incorporate. Sewage is electrified and the coagulation creates methane gas which can be harnessed and used as a prospective energy source. The biosolids that collect can be then further compressed which then gives it the characteristics of coal with a much reduced pollutant generation. These biosolid bricks can be used by consumers as a fuel source in cement kilns as well as in greenhouses. This example exemplifies sustainability to the fullest and I think if it can be actively implemented in Colwood, well then I truly believe that this municipality can become exactly what the council hopes. This optimism is to become a true green city and an influence for other municipalities in the area to admire.

Community Engagement and Research

2010-01-23T10:25:00.000-08:00

To continue on with our sustainability and community relations class, we were introduced to two other concepts for getting the community aware and also recognizing what the community needs with regards to sustainability. The two concepts discussed were community engagement and community research, which pretty much go hand in hand. One program for the engagement of the community was the CRD Climate Action Program. Sarah Webb, who was a representative for the CRD introduced our class to the Climate Action Program that exists in the Victoria area and its overall goals. The CRD works with all facets such as local government, non-profit organizations, public/private sector and citizens in order to reduce climate change. The main goals of the organization include supporting the government in developing climate action plans and increasing public awareness of climate change. This is implemented through the “Engage, Reduce, and Prepare” outline. There must be an ongoing engagement with groups as well as large scale and coordinated reductions. This makes sense, because in order for the project to be successful everyone must become involved. The engagement can occur on many levels such as public meetings, surveys, workshops, events and one of my favorite is a “green drinks” concept where representatives of various entities in the environmental field chew the fat and discuss anything that comes to mind over a couple of “beverages”. The third concept, which is prepare involves assessing the risks associated with climate change and preparing for a cultural shift in the way society thinks. It may be that we are too far ahead with climate change and irreversibility is not possible. Therefore, prepare and assessing the possible risks is essential.

We were also introduced to Colwoods reduction goals for emissions by Jordan Webb, an independent environmental consultant. The goal is to cut Colwoods emissions in half in ten years, which Is 2/3rds responsible from transportation. Jordan further explained the process in realizing the sources and mitigating them. Such transportation initiatives that can be done is working with employers to perhaps invest in carpooling employees, promoting the population to ride the bus, encourage walking and encourage people to buy smaller efficient vehicles. The other 1/3 is from building emissions which can be reduced greatly from retrofitting buildings to put into practice energy efficient components. Land use planning is also a major cause that should be looked at more closely. Even though the city is ultimately responsible for the development of land, individuals can encourage sustainable land use planning. Plots of land should be designed to reduce the need for cars and built to incorporate this with the surrounding properties. The previous explained methods for reducing the carbon emissions in Colwood can be incorporated into Sarah’s “Engage, Reduce, and Prepare” concept. The examples explained by Jordan can be introduced to the public via Sarahs engagement examples which were explained earlier. The two are very dependent on one another for the overall goal, which is to tackle climate change.

Community based research is another intertwining concept that relates to community engagement and the overall goal of reducing emissions. Maeve Lydon introduced us to the research that was being compiled at the University of Victoria which was is being used to develop methods that would work effectively in engaging and ultimately creating sustainable communities. The research is fairly thorough and is conducted at all levels including local knowledge, community groups, and aboriginal consultation. In order to create a community-university relationship, there must be collaboration between the university and all aspects of the community, such as umbrella groups. This research can then become applied to create such products as green maps, which are a concept that shows green living, nature and cultural resources that exist within a community. Hopefully this can eventually be applied to Colwood as we further analyze and do our own research in community engagement. A green map could become a valuable component of the recommendations that we will have for Colwood in becoming a sustainable community. To wrap up this blog, community based research and engagement are very dependent on one another and two key components on how and why sustainable communities should be created.

Transition Towns and Cittaslow

2010-01-14T18:51:00.000-08:00

Transition Towns and Cittaslow Movement

Today in class I was first introduced to the Transition Town and Slow Movement concepts. In a way they are adaptable and tightly interwound with sustainability in mind. The first speaker was Michelle Colussi from the Victoria Region Transition Initiative. In her presentation, Michelle spoke to us about the transition town concept and how it is being spread around the Victoria area. The transition town concept works to engage communities on not being dependant on fossil fuels and being resilient to the readily changing world that exists before us. There are 3 evident situations occurring including economic instability and inequity, extreme resource depletion and global warming. The economic instability and inequity is creating more debt, costs and poverty to society. The inhumane resource depletion is producing a decline in the forest/fishery sectors and increasing fuel prices with the peak oil concept. Global warming is creating ever evolving impacts on food production, water resources, infrastructure and transportation. The image that stood out the most in my mind was the slide showing how people adapted to change 65 years ago and what is expected 65 years from now. The early settlers were very self sufficient and made resources last. And now today, we see a doom and gloom scenario where everything is directed towards disaster and we are waiting for it to occur before we do anything about it. I think the transition town movement can be a success if there is a constant effort put forward and a continual exposure to the general population of the concept. I think the main problem is that society is not educated enough and I think there main exposure method which is holding public seminars and conferences is the best way to put it in the face of the population and get the ball rolling.

The next presenter was Mara Jernigan, a chef whom introduced the Cittaslow movement to the Victoria Area. The Cittaslow movement operates based on the concepts of Europe and how the town centers were built to last and constructed for pedestrians which create interaction and community well being. These market squares are ran by locals and sell local ingredients and supplies to the community. This is far different from the western world where we have multiple corporate box stores which line the roads and provide unlimited amounts of parking for consumers to get in and get out quickly. The nearby community of Cowichan is promoting the idea of Cittaslow within their own businesses and has put through an application to Italy with the hopes of becoming Canada’s first Cittaslow. The local bakery in Cowichan has been converted to produce local goods with slow food such as red fife wheat. The front entrance of the store has been also transformed to encourage pedestrian interaction by altering the parking pattern and installing bike racks and larger sidewalks. They are keeping their values traditional and not allowing developers to establish quick money schemes by opening another Tim Hortons or Mcdonalds in their community. I feel that the Cittaslow movement is very unique and keeps communities “at home” with their culture and surroundings. Hopefully this trend is contagious and becomes an evident reality and disperses outward in Vancouver Island. As with the transition town concept, I feel like people need to be educated on Cittaslow as well. I have never heard of slow movement before but I definitely think it could become reality if people were exposed to it and explained on how it could benefit their own community and increase social capital within it.

Hope Or Despair

2009-12-06T09:48:00.000-08:00

I believe that sustainable development can exemplify both hope and despair. Throughout the class there have been some great examples of sustainability and communities which truly represent this to the fullest extent. I have hope for sustainability because I see a growing trend in it just from the everyday examples I see. For example, I was watching the local news the other night and a story came on about the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and how they were making a goal of being the “greenest” Olympics yet. This was being implemented by a series of sustainability initiatives regarding going greener, providing accessibility and integrating sustainability into the operations for the Olympics. I have kind of kept my mind tunneled with regards to what sustainability can be applied to but ultimately it can be applied to anything, and it is great to see this being incorporated into situations that I would not even consider. Sustainability is on the rise and I am seeing it more and more even in everyday life, which is great. However, a lot more can be done though in order to make sustainability a long term plan for the entire planet this is where I have a sense of despair.

Politicians and the economy are holding us back from the true sustainability that can exist in the world today. The narrow mindedness and clashing between politicians and the whole topic of sustainability are what is preventing this from being a revolution and turning the planet around for the better. All of these projects and developments can continue with their own plans to sustainability but however they must comply with the current system of bull headed politicians while being surrounded by the over consumption of everything by typically the majority of the population. Also, there are far to many opposing views and battling theories on what should/shouldn’t be done. A key example in Chris Turners Geography Of Hope is the simplistic story of the Lorax and the once-ler and how the deforestation of the truffula trees eventually lead to the collapse of the entire community. There is a clash between the lorax, whom believes that the trees are there to stay and are not meant to be harvested and turned into thneeds and the once-ler, whom is like every other businessman and is looking to make a profit. However the third variable in this story is the consumers of the thneeds. Silly I know, but it is a big revolving cycle. The once-ler has overproduced and used up all of this resource due to the overconsumption of the thneeds. This example, simple as it may seem, can be basically applied to the world today. There is to many opposing views and not an overall goal in place in which everyone can adhere do. Another example that I feel like I should mention is how David Suzuki requested a simple meeting with Stephen Harper in order to discuss a sustainability plan in which Harper blatantly refused. More fuel for my fire I guess, not everyone is on the same page!

In conclusion, I do have hope for sustainability but yet I feel despair at the same time. There are some major gains I feel within the small scale of things and there are lots of examples that can show this locally such as developments like dockside green and even how the Olympics have integrated sustainability into their operations. However, it goes back to the big picture and how things are not advancing in this large scale. Politicians, the profit hungry businessman, and the overconsumption of everything is whats hurting us. If these large scale factors can find a common ground with the much smaller environmentalists then perhaps sustainability can truly exist and turn into an actual reality.

My Stuff And Consumption Habits

2009-12-05T18:03:00.000-08:00

My Stuff And Consumption Habits

The sermon conducted by William McDonough titled the design, ecology, ethics and the making of things opened up my eyes on how things are manufactured and do not necessarily reflect sustainability whatsoever. He states in the sermon that we must honor the earth for which it gives us all things that society needs to survive. The things that are made must not only rise from the ground but return to it, soil to soil, water to water so in which everything that is received from the earth can be given back freely without causing any harm. I believe that this is a good moral to stand by however it is not done whatsoever with regards to the massive “consume and throw away” morals in which we live in today. A prime example is the big corporation box stores such as Wal-mart etc etc. The entire baseline that stores like this run on is to provide the cheapest product and prices to the consumer to buy and have to throw away within a very short time scale. Therefore they will go back repeatedly in order to keep buying these cheap products while the old gets thrown in the trash only to reach a landfill. This is a never ending cycle, especially with certain types of products. Electronics comes to my mind, generally because with most things such as ipods and computers, within a short time they become obsolete and not worth a penny to anybody.

My stuff and consumption habits are generally that of which would not be desired by William McDonough. I like to have nice things, am always influenced by trends and “the next new thing” out there. I have a large array of old electronics and clothes which usually end up being thrown out or placed into storage to sit where they will probably never be used again. Also, now that I am a full time student and not making my own income I have also resorted more to heading to Walmart to buy these cheap consumerables. I would make more conscious decisions if I had the income to do so, like buy something for a bit more that I knew would last a lot longer and also items that are more environmentally friendly, but right now I have been kind of forced to buy based on quantity, not quality.

However, I am just one person in a large world full of consumers whom probably do not think about the effects of buying these cheap items. The norm of the society nowadays is to buy the things that are the cheapest so that they will have more money to spend on other stuff, seems like a no brainer to me. However, the problem with this scenario is that the products that are made with the environment in mind, out of non-toxic materials and built to last generally cost a lot more. Therefore these products do not sell nearly as well as their counterpart and this cycle continues on.

In order for things to change, a total shift in society needs to happen and quite frankly, I don’t see this happening. People are more concerned with making their dollars stretch to the absolute maximum and purchasing these cheap/disposable items seems to be the most feasible solution for your everyday consumer.

Synthesis Of Presentations

2009-11-29T09:28:00.000-08:00

Recently, our class presented a variety of presentations based from Chris Turners Geography of Hope. Each chapter from the book emphasized a different area with regards to sustainability and ultimately a key piece to the puzzle in making a sustainable planet. Each individual team got assigned an appropriate chapter and topic and had to present on them. The areas that were assigned involved energy, transport, urban planning, green buildings, international development, smart design, making change, economics and sustainable communities. Generally, each of these topics had their own aspects to sustainability however the topics did overlap a lot onto others. After hearing the presentations, I felt like each area of sustainability was not necessarily dependent on another but involved key concepts from other topics. A good example of this is the theme that we presented on, which was urban planning.

Urban planning involves many other areas to sustainability that were presented on by the other groups. For example, the buildings that are built into new developments can be designed to be LEED certified, which branches out onto the smart design aspect of sustainability. The buildings can also be designed to implement many “green” processes and applications such as green roofs, solar panels, or possible wind power to take it off the power grid which would branch out to the green design and energy categories. Older buildings can be retrofitted with new and improved processes and energy efficient materials/appliances which also incorporates green design and energy.

Another key to urban planning is to reduce the need for transportation and promote the use of sustainable transport such as taking transit, carpooling, riding a bike or walking. Sustainable transport can increase the social capital and interaction within a community and create positive interactions and more time being around the community and not isolated in a vehicle by yourself.

Urban planning also is related to the development of a sustainable community. Urban planning is a framework that starts off the process in a sense by creating a community that revolves around mixed use, keeping money within the community(sustainable economics), and designing with sustainable living in mind. By having this initial infrastructure created in a community, the development of a sustainable community becomes a lot easier to maintain. Urban planning supports and is a vital constituent of a sustainable community.

All concepts presented from the class presentations were all individual components which related to sustainability. Even though they reflected on different aspects, I especially noticed that our topic consisted of examples that were used in the other presentations and overlapped significantly. Our topic, which was urban planning, reflected many examples that were touched on by the other groups such as energy, transport, green buildings and smart design.

A Local Example Of Sustainability

2009-11-22T15:51:00.000-08:00

After viewing all the presentations as well as working on our own, which involved urban planning and sustainability, one local example really jumped out at me as it seemed to emphasize sustainability to the fullest. This example of sustainability was Dockside Green.

Dockside Green is a new and revolutionary development which is located near the downtown Victoria Harbour. There are many different features of this development that exhibit sustainability as the overall goal of dockside green is to contribute environmental efficiency into any area in which they can. They also further contribute to sustainability by creating dockside green as a closed loop system, which in theory uses waste from one source to fuel another. The buildings have also been designed to conform to a mixed use platform where they serve multiple purposes such as businesses and homes, thus keeping things contained within the area and contributing to less travel for individuals. Another key concept to dockside green is incorporating the triple bottom line into their development. This in turn creates a healthy community within dockside green while supporting economic/social aspects and minimizing the impact to the environment.

The power generation at dockside green uses a biomass system which is where wastes that are generated by the community are reused in a sense for heating purposes. This is an example of cradle to cradle as the waste generated by the occupants of dockside green is taken and used for another purpose, instead of being expelled into the ocean. The buildings also have many energy efficient techniques such as energy efficient appliances, compact fluorescent lighting and meters located in each of the rooms which monitor power use.

Another area that dockside green has made sustainable is transportation. Dockside green has invested into a car share program where one car is available for every 90 residents. There is also a mini transit system that will take people to key areas downtown and also bring them back. BC transit routes have also been incorporated into dockside green. There is also numerous artistic bicycle racks located throughout the community which promotes biking. The galloping goose trail runs through dockside which provides a suitable pathway for pedestrians to travel by bike throughout the city. Dockside green has been developed to be very pedestrian friendly and eliminate the use of vehicles in the area.

Another area of sustainability for dockside green is the building materials used. The environmentally friendly building materials used come from methods that use sustainable practices. The carpets used within the buildings are environmentally friendly and 100% recyclable. Also, there is bamboo flooring and cabinets used in the development which grows much faster and is not needed to be fully harvested when compared to traditional hard wood. The wood frames are made from triton wood, which is harvested locally in BC. A goal of the construction of dockside green is to reuse/recycle 90% of all construction wastes instead of throwing it away or burning it.

Dockside green has supported a mixed use in the development of their community. Buildings have been created to have both residential and commercial use. Also the development has applied to various incomes and ages in order to result in a more balanced community which all types of residents can live in. The community design of dockside green has been intended to encourage outdoor activities, interaction with neighbours and the overall support of local businesses. This can create a positive social capital that benefits sustainability.

Overall, Dockside green has focused sustainability into all aspects of the development. Whether it is the overall cradle-to-cradle power generation for the site, implementing environmentally friendly building materials or incorporating energy efficient design into their buildings, they all contribute. Transportation has been revolved around community interaction while promoting more “green” solutions such as walking, biking and carpooling. Also, the mixed use design of the buildings is a major factor which contributes to supporting local businesses, minimizing the needs for travelling by car, and increasing the social capital and interaction within the community. This platform created by dockside is a great example of sustainability within a community and I feel that when future developments are in the planning stage, they should take these principles into consideration which will create more tightly bound communities (socially and economically) while benefitting the environment at the same time.

My Social Capital and What Affects It

2009-11-19T15:42:00.000-08:00

Social Capital is a fairly broad term that can be looked at in many different ways and also be defined in many different ways. According to “Social Capital: The Missing Link”, the definitions of social capital have evolved and changed throughout time. Also, it has become recognized that social capital is the missing link with regards to fully determining the process of economic growth. I guess until recently, economic growth was thought to have only consisted of natural capital, physical or produced capital and human capital. However, now that I think more about it, social capital does have a large influence on economic growth. Some of the examples in class revolving around economic growth can further show this.

Generally in society, there has been a decline in social capital. The commitment to voluntary organizations is on the decline and people are not as involved in this as they were in the earlier 19th century. Generally, it has been shown that states having high social capital generally have a more productive and prosperous society and economy. This can be correlated by how educational performance is higher in states that have a higher social capital. Also areas such as poverty and crime are generally less in areas of higher social capital. But why is this?

Social capital can take place in such forms as bonding, bridging and vertical types. The bonding between families and friends within a community gives safety and security. People are in higher spirits when they share a bond with others and when this is present, more can be accomplished. By bridging the connections between networks in high social capital areas, change will readily occur and happen at a faster rate. The drive to accomplish tasks is there with a high social capital. By having these vital connections, the benefits of teamwork within the community increase, thus resulting in greater productivity which drives economic growth.

Now that I have gone completely off of topic, I will now get into the real deal for this blog post, which is my social capital and what affects it. My social capital is pretty basic at this point in my life. Work has been put on the backburner as well as any organizational networks such as being part of a sports team. Basically, my social capital consists of family, friends and school. All of these are connected and can be dependent on one another. In one sense, these networks can be negatively affected from one another. One example is the amount of time spent on school which is time taken away from the other important parts of my social capital. However, this can also be positive due to the fact that friends and family can be there for support and a shoulder to lean on when times get tough. This crossing over of networks provides a stability in a sense. When one part of my social capital becomes stressful, the others are there for support and backup. My social capital can also be affected on a much larger scale due to things such as the economy, government, the world around me and such communication networking tools such as the internet. These are networks that I am also a part of and can influence me by what happens to them and if changes are made within them. I feel that social capital has a large amount of influence on whether or not a society can be sustainable. The general ideal on this is the higher amount of social capital, the more positive relationships exist within a community network. By this occurring, a more positive outlook on things can lead to further development within a community in the form of collective action. This can be directly related to the sustainability of a community or on a much larger scale, a society.

Sustainability of RRU

2009-11-07T19:10:00.000-08:00

Upon reading the sustainability plan of Royal Roads University, I gathered that it is very diverse and covers many areas regarding climate change, reducing waste, as well as implementing systems that would improve the sustainability of Royal Roads University. Key initiatives of the plan include reducing the GHG emissions by 50% by 2020, become climate neutral by 2010, Go off the power grid, and to identify the best practices in order to become a leader in sustainability. Earlier this week, we were introduced to a few representatives of Royal Roads University whom shared their inputs on the sustainability of RRU and what their groups were doing in order to accomplish this. One of these representatives was the supervisor of the Royal Roads custodial services. I was amazed at how one aspect such as janitorial/garbage services could put forward so many sustainable ideas. The custodial service at RRU really takes pride in what they do and how they can benefit the environment. There are no harmful chemicals or disinfectants used on campus and all cleaning is done using microfiber cloths and water. I was skeptical at first with this cleaning method but microfiber cloths absorb all bacteria in contact and are then washed using a specialized washing machine which sterilizes the cloths and makes no need for the use of detergents. Also, the microfiber cloths have a life of 500+ washes, which is by far much more sustainable then using paper towel to clean the hundreds of desks in the campus. Also, the paper towel which is generated from bathrooms, kitchen, etc is recycled and turned into compost instead of being diverted to a landfill. A full scale recycling program was put into effect and the money generated from refundable bottles was used as donations for scholarships as well as to various charities such as the united way.

Another part of RRU with regards to sustainability is the Habitat Café. They have also put forward many different ways in order to be sustainable and environmental friendly. The wastes are not left for the consumer to sort but instead are sorted in the back of the kitchen in order to eliminate the addition of unnecessary wastes which would not belong in the compost. The majority of the cups and cutlery are made up of biodegradable materials such as corn plastics and corn lined cups. Different incentives have been also discussed with regards to reducing the amount of coffee cup sleeves disposed of. Such an incentive that was introduced was to bring in a coffee sleeve to enter in for a draw. The kitchen also uses cage free eggs and prawns were eliminated from the menu due to this not being an ocean wise choice.

Steve Grundy also talked to our class with regards to the sustainability plan of RRU. He commented on the solutions for meeting as well as how progress was being made to do this. I felt that the overall success of meeting the criteria for the sustainability plan seemed very difficult. The major problem was generating the funding needed to put through a plan and that the solutions discovered were slowly eliminated due to the infeasibility of them. Solar power proved to not be very efficient due to the high amount of carbon present in the photovoltaic cells used. Wind power and wave power were also eliminated because there are not enough of either present on the campus to provide the necessary amount for efficient generation. Another solution was the anaerobic digestion of wood wastes which produced methane. The methane generated would be burned and the heat could be used as the source of power. However, this method also seems infeasible because the large amount of wastes needed for this project. A viable collection program would have to be introduced and the public would have to be on board for it to be successful.

All in all, I feel that Royal Roads University is putting forward many different and great ideas which demonstrate sustainability to the fullest. The janitorial and kitchen staffs have put forward many ideas and have put these programs into full force. This can aid in the overall sustainability plan of RRU and help it become a reality. However, I feel doubtful that the campus can meet all initiatives lined out in the sustainability plan. It can be done, but like all things, a source of money is needed to put this through. Also, the many different ideas discussed with regards to finding an alternative source for power generation have all been slowly eliminated from the list due to either the feasibility or funding needed for the project. RRU has put forward many green initiatives and is by far exceeding any other university that I have heard of trying to do this. However to be fully sustainable and meet the targets outlined in the sustainability plan for the campus, many factors must be solved which regretfully appear to be without a solution at this time.

How Can I Tell What Is Sustainable

2009-11-07T19:08:00.000-08:00

Sustainability can present itself in many shapes and forms. The characteristics or sustainability are quite vast however they all can be categorized and all have one major goal present at the end. Sustainability consists of many separate parts and subparts which all must work together in order to fulfill sustainable development. It must address the needs of the environment, social, and economic aspects. These aspects must have an equilibrium present with the negative feedback loops that sustainability presents. One example of this is how the cod stocks on the east coast have been over fished which has lead to the sustainability of these stocks to no longer exist. The threshold has been surpassed and a tipping point has occurred. The overfishing of these areas without allowing the proper time for recovery to occur has caused the collapse of this fishing industry. This example would not fit into my view as being sustainable.

Sustainability is a complex system. Sustainability is being challenged every day by humans and society. The fact of sustainability seems to be quite an unreachable feat due to the many factors that can halt it in its tracks. Mainly the overdeveloped countries seem to have unsustainable attributes attached to them. The increase in pollution, the unsustainable use of resources as well as the closed minded attitude regarding climate change can lead to a further unsustainable situation.

Sustainability to me involves a much simpler system. After reading the introductory chapter in the geography of hope, I was introduced to Samso, a tiny island nestled in the most populous regions of Denmark. This smaller and less evolved community reflected on the simpler things in life such as selling fruit, growing potatoes and of course drinking beer. This island was nestled away from outside influences and evolved and created its own destiny, which was becoming a revolutionary renewable energy dependent community. However, I am kind of contradicting myself. The island did boast a largely fossil fuel dependency initially, but they had the will and determination to make the change and make the island no longer dependent on fossil fuels. This happened in the short time span of 10 years and the island cut down its CO2 emissions substantially (140% drop). Typically, I thought sustainability would greatly affect the area and make living more difficult. However, Chris Turner explained it best by saying that the island still functioned just as well as it did before. Cattle still roamed in the fields, boats still bobbed on the waters. All the functional aspects were the same as they were before. If anything, sustainability created more opportunity by putting Samso in the limelight and showing the world of what determination and willpower can accomplish. Samso is a prime example that sustainability can occur and can be successful. It truly opened up my eyes to the concept of what is sustainable and how more overdeveloped and “money hungry” countries should step back and take a look at how a much more simpler and straight forward approach can tackle a major problem in which we face today. Samso cannot take all the credit for their accomplishments. The entire Danish government should be saluted in order for seeing a problem and taking the initiative to solve it. Just reading about how they invited all the dozens of islands to take part in this process and also provide some funding for the process is unbelievable. I have a hard time seeing this occur in the western world in which we live in. I feel though that this method proved to be successful and that other countries should look at this as an opportunity to do the same.

The Cost Of Inaction

2009-10-27T06:36:00.000-07:00

Climate change is a very urgent global challenge which can affect the concept of sustainable development greatly. The rising release in greenhouse gases are leading to drastic weather changes such as hurricanes, heat waves and floods. These weather events affect the basic resources in which society needs in order to fulfill sustainable development (water, food, health and the environment). So basically, sustainable development and climate change are related. Climate change is directly affecting the success of sustainable development as a whole.

A large and global plan should be put into effect in order to tackle climate change. According to the Stern Review, A global effort which can span the next 10-20 years will have a large effect on the rate of climate change occurring. If no action is made, the effects of climate change can be expressed as losing 5% of global gdp each year. If the situation is more critical this can escalate up to 20%. However by us acting and implementing processes to tackle climate change, this can be limited to only a 1% gdp per year. Taking action is by far the better choice. If nothing is done with regards to climate change, we will continue to dig our own grave.

I feel that a meager 1% of the gdp per year in order to try and control a situation that can affect the entire global population is quite minimal. The cost of us doing nothing is by far a worse situation. Society’s priorities are by far out of sync with climate change. For example, the global priorities slide which we were shown in class made me really look at and evaluate if people and governments spending habits are taking sustainable development into affect. For example, the spending in Europe on ice cream in 1998 was a staggering 11 billion US dollars; where as the military spending on a global basis was 780 billion dollars. This is absolutely ridiculous when the cost to provide the basic necessities in which society would need to function is far less. To provide basic health care and nutrition for all would cost 13 billion US dollars. Our priorities are not realistic. Money is being spent foolishly on wants, not needs. This is not sustainable development.

The Stern report made a very good argument on how climate change can be tackled and in what ways it can be accomplished. However, this must be done on a global basis. All countries must be willing to participate. An international framework must be set that should include key areas including emissions trading, technology cooperation, action to reduce deforestation and adaptation. Emissions trading can help promote reductions in emissions by governments putting a cap on how much carbon emissions can be released. This should be made a regulatory law, therefore companies will have to follow suit and obey, resulting in a decrease of greenhouse gases released. An increase of funding will also need to be put into the research and development of new low-carbon technology. An international effort of R&D will make it occur faster and these technologies can be put into production quicker. Deforestation, a large player in climate change should be reduced as it is basically taking away a resource that is a large carbon capturer. And finally adaptation by developed countries providing assistance overseas and fully factoring in climate change with development policies.

I feel that the Stern Review makes a lot of good points and overall is what we need to do in order to curb climate change. However, I have a strong doubt with the whole “global participation” factor. A lot of time and effort would have to be made in order to get every country involved. There would also be a lot of opposing ideas and not everyone would agree with the framework for reducing climate change presented. Under developed countries will not have the funding in order to do their part and will have to rely on more developed countries for support. The more prosperous countries may not be willing to assist and thus will create more conflict. Also, if a plan is presented and all the countries participate, what will be the success rate of the countries staying faithful to it? An example that comes to mind is regarding the Kyoto Protocol and the USA. George Bush withdrew the Unites States from the Kyoto Protocol due to the fact that it would be detrimental to the economy of the United States. Another reason was because the protocol was exempt from developing countries. Due to the situation our planet is in right now, climate change must be addressed. By this happening, sustainable development will prosper. However I feel that there are a lot of negative variables that can affect this from moving forward. The cost of inaction on a global basis will be detrimental to the economy, society and the environment. However, I do not see a full scale plan being put into effect any time soon due to the many opposing views that countries and organizations have with the action that should be taken. Past efforts put forward have had a degree of success but have not been able to withstand one key variable, which is time.

First Blog Post - What Is Sustainable Development To Me

2009-10-12T20:53:00.000-07:00

What Is Sustainable Development?

Sustainable development to me means that development of the earth and society are kept balanced with regards to the use and replenishing of non-renewable/renewable resources. By this occurring, future generations will have the opportunity to use these resources to meet their own needs. Resources need to be used for everything as it is basically impossible to create a product without relying on a resource present on this planet. The key concept to this though is to being able to make sure that the resource used is accounted for and/or used in a way that can maximize the lifespan of it. An example of this is the use of trees for creating plywood that would be used for building construction. The organization/company responsible for the use of the natural resource should be held accountable to make sure that the portion that they used would be replenished. So, the company would plant trees in order to sustain the amount they used for the creation of the plywood. By doing this, sustainable development would occur. What is used is replaced so that future generations can have the opportunity to use it and continue the cycle.

If this actually was the case and everything that was used was taken in account for and made sure to be replaced back into the earth, everything would run remarkably smooth. There would never be a shortage of a renewable resource, a non-renewable resources existence would be maximized and made to last as long as possible, and technology as a whole would develop and evolve. The world would advance readily and develop for future generations while maintaining a balance of the resources used.

To me, this scenario seems farfetched. Companies and corporations as a whole do not follow the term “sustainable development”. The majority are looking at making the most profit by doing as little as possible. A good example of this is major oil companies, whom make many promises that they will do many great things for the areas in which they work in and the communities that surround these areas. Millions and millions of dollars are spent this way, which is good and helps out the communities greatly. However, this is “sugar-coating” the actual reality of the situation. They are not seeing the whole picture. Oil production has hit peak oil, which is where production has exceeded known reserves found. This should set off an alarm and make the companies reevaluate their protocols. By seeing this startling reality, I feel that these oil giants should maybe reflect more on how they can minimize the need of oil and try to research and find a different resource that could be used in place of oil. By doing this, the future of their company would be more secure as well as oil production would be slowed down which would make the resource last a lot longer for future generations. All the blame cannot be put on the companies however. It is a large cycle that revolves around the supply and demand of oil. Many companies are dependent on oil for their products to work or be made. Society in general is taking this non-renewable resource for all it has to offer and is not slowing down and re-evaluating what can happen once all of this resource has been used up.

This blog post has ended up to be revolving largely around oil and oil production. I didn’t really intend to finish it like that, however I feel that the use of oil is a major concern and needs to be changed. Society, government as well as oil companies should look at ways in order to minimize the need for this resource. It is a non-renewable resource and at the rate it is being extracted and consumed is not following my idea of sustainable development. If this does not get re-evaluated, future generations will not have the opportunity to use this resource to further better themselves and advance technologically within their own generation.