ENVI1110 - Environment and Society

ENVI1110 - Environment and Society

Monday 10 -11 (Envt F) & Friday 2 - 3 (Chem LT A)Contemporary debates around human-environment interactions

Dr Andy Dougill (adougill@env.leeds.ac.uk)Complete green form with your views on environmental issues &

science / society roleDiscuss with your neighbour why you are here !!

Why I’m here !?Sense of connection with nature & environmental awareness generated through media / education in school years (as environmentalism became mainstream in 1980s)

Because I worked hard in first degree … & that has led to Environmental Research career assessing –

Land Degradation in Southern AfricaCommunity Forestry schemes in NepalClimate Change Adaptability of African mixed farming systemsUpland Management in the UK

& because I believe that educating the next generation on environmental issues & possible integrated solutions offers today’s poor, & all future generations, the best chance of sustainability / survival

Module Learning OutcomesKnowledge of theories & policy debates on human-environment interactions

Awareness of need for, & barriers to, interdisciplinary study of env. problems

Application of key theories & concepts to social, cultural & environmental case studies

Ability to synthesise views in a written form

Key Module IssuesHuman - Environmental Resource relations

Social, cultural and religious env perspectives

Environmentalism and environmental thought

Scientific controversies and misuse of science

Global and National policy frameworks

Sustainable development debates through African, Asian, Arctic & UK case studies

Learning Methods & Assessment

17 lectures and coursework essayReading linked to lectures to ensure link to contemporary sustainability debates & your learning!Assessment - 2 hour exam (75%) (Section A – answer 2 from 6 essay Q’s; Section B – 25 MCQ’s); 1,000 word essay by November 7th.Key to good marks (see marking guidelines) -

Understanding of issues and concepts – basic knowledge tested by MCQ’sApplication to case studiesReading beyond the lectures (deeper learning tested in essays)

Research Case StudiesUniversity ethos is one of research-led teaching!Environment staff here are split into 2 research institutes – Institute of Atmospheric Sciences (IAS) & Sustainability Research Institute (SRI)This module showcases SRI research (Atmosphere of Planet Earth does same for IAS) with input from 6 staff. Key research includes –

Nepali Community Forestry and BiodiversitySouthern African Land Degradation ResearchBorneo Conservation and Development ResearchChina’s Water Resource Management IssuesCanadian / US Research on First Nation Communities and Arctic ecosystemsUK Sustainable Development Issues (public, institutions & communities)

Learning Resources

Lecture outlines only, reading materials, web links and past exam questions all available in Nathan Bodington Room @ -

http://vle.leeds.ac.uk/site/nbodington/environ/level1/envi1110/

Individual lecture reading lists

Reading different perspectives beyond lectures essential

Contemporary Debate ExamplesJanuary 2000 – George W Bush becomes US President & reverses environmental regulations past by DemocratsSeptember 2000 – UN agrees Millennium Development GoalsWorld Summit on Sustainable Development - Johannesburg Sept 2002Drought and famine in Southern Africa – Malawi to South Africa harvests fail – April 2003GM nation debate in UK – June 2003Climate Change debates intensify as extreme weather events rage – e.g. wet UK summers, severe US hurricanesContinued failings to reach development agreements on trade –2005 UN Conference failed to formally agree on targets within Millennium Development Goals2006 - Battle for ‘Green Ground’ in UK politics

Contemporary Debate ExamplesKeep up-to-date via Newspapers or Web – Eco-Portal News Room available via NB Room –

Interdisciplinarity

Social Sciences

Earth Sciences

Life Sciences

Box = Sustainability Science – hard to achieve due to traditional subject boundaries

Sustainability Science – Reading Exercise 1

See Review article by Kates et al. (2002) provided as Core Reading Material from today’s lecture –

“Sustainability science is emerging that seeks to understand the fundamental character of the interactions between nature and society. Such an understanding must encompass the interaction of global processes with the ecological and social characteristics of particular places and societies”

See also - http://sustsci.aaas.org/

MUST be more than multi-disciplinarity!! Must be PARTICIPATORY and INTEGRATED

Sustainability Science - Kates et al., 2001

Few disagree with sustainability as an ideal, but uncertainty on practical criteria, i.e. can we measure sustainability ? Can social structures / capital be improved to guide nature & society interactions toward more sustainable trajectories?Can systems for monitoring environmental & social conditions be integrated for sustainability?How can research and decision support be better integrated into systems for adaptive management & societal learning ?

Sustainability Research Strategies“Sustainability science differs to a considerable degree in structure, methods & content from science as we know it” (Kates et al., 2001, p.641). It must -

Span range of diverse scales (e.g. globalisation & local farming practices)

Account for temporal inertia & urgency of problems

Deal with functional complexities of societal root causes of environmental problems

Recognise the wide range of outlooks on the use of ‘knowledge’ within both science and society

Need to ‘Rethink Science’

Institutions and InfrastructureNeed for sustainability science driven from public in both North and South, but needs improved research and institutional structures

Need to bridge digital divide & use internet to build interdisciplinary, inter-regional research, including capacity building in the South

What role for Environmentalists?

Have we reached limits of where env sciences can go?Public awareness achieved, but actions still needed by all to challenge worrying trends

Environmentalism now driven more by local societies (need for identities in globalised world) than by science

Needs to be more closely tied to Social Democracy groups to push agenda’s forward towards social & political change

Need to put ‘People, power & politics before conservation and CO2’

Conceptual BasisSociety - the social organisation and associated institutions that shape human behaviour

Culture, religion, education and policies all control

Global citizenship - a community that is both knowledgeable and has the tools to alter societies and economies towards greater sustainabilitySustainable development - hugely debated what this is and how to achieve it (below defn too broad)

‘Dvpt that meets the needs of present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (UNEP, 1987)See Kates et al. (2005) – What is sustainable development? Review available in NB Reading Room

Sustainability Science – Recent Thoughts

• Sustainable Development has 3 forms of practice currently focusing public & policy agenda’s:-

• Sustainable Livelihoods – local-scale & poverty eradication focused

• Global Solidarity movement – support of poor in dvpg world via “anti-globalisation” standpoint

• Corporate Responsibility movement – campaigns by NGO’s to change corporate behaviour

• Whilst many see SD as a “greenwash” it remains an open dynamic & evolving idea that can be adapted to a range of different situations & contexts

Sustainable Development Principles

Sustainability implies different things to different stakeholders Common guiding principles (O’Riordan, 2000) -

Protection of human life-support systemsUtilisation of resources to the point of precautionary replenishmentRight of future generations to resources that are of equal worth to those used today (i.e. to cost living according to natural burdens & social disruption – more in Env and Economy module on this!)

Environmental Stakeholders

Key stakeholder groups include -Individual citizens - developed world

developing world

Communities Community organisationsScientific community

Business

States / Government

UN role is to try and broker agreements between such diverse group - will this ever be possible !?

Can Summits serve catalytic role in changing society?

WSSD - Key MessagesStressed the 3 inseparable pillars of Sust Dvpt -

Economic well-beingSocial equity (widely contested)Environmental protection

“Protection of the environment and poverty reduction are inextricably linked” =>Greater social and economic focus than at Rio, 1992“Need to move beyond the political rhetoric, brackets and commas to real action via multilateralism and effective global governance” – Thabo Mbeki, 2002However, has any progress been made to this extent in last 4 years?

Reading Exercise 2 - Analysis of Contemporary Policy Debates

Handout provided with summary of UN Commitments in Millennium Development Goals and Johannesburg Declaration.An alternative view provided entitled “The Earth Charter” that leading environmentalists attempted (endorsed by 14,000 organisations representing millions of people), but failed to get nations to agree to at Johannesburg Conference

See - http://www.earthcharter.org/ Compare the two documents & outline differences for

next Monday (No lecture on Friday!!)

Key Readings

Reading Exercises 1 (Kates et al., 2002) and 2 (UN, 2002) available at front of lecture theatre.

In addition, it would be useful for you to refer to -

Kates, R.W., Parris, T.M. & Leiserowitz, A.A. (2005). What is Sustainable Development? Goals, Indicators, Values and Practice? Environment 47 (3), 9-21. (In NB Room)

O’Riordan, T. (2000). Environmental Science on the move. Chapter 1 of Environmental Science for Environmental Management. pp. 1-28. (Core module text book – Chapter 1)

http://www.earthcharter.org/