Sustainability: How do we move from rhetoric to reality?

1. Sustainability: How do we move from rhetoric to reality?

2. principles

3. principles policy

4. principles policy practice

5. principles policy praxis

6. To be useful, principles of sustainability must: • be easily understood • be applicable in many contexts • be transferrable across scales • translate well from fundamental values into applied policy and practical action • identify possibilities for radical transformative change AND • positive incremental change

7. Some earlyPrinciples of Sustainability in the literature: • Our Common Future (WCED 1987) • Principles defining sustainable development (OSEM 1989) • Defining a sustainable society (Robinson et al . 1990,1996) • Agenda 21 (1992) • Six principles of sustainable development (ORTEE 1992) • Guideposts for a sustainable future (Nickerson 1993) • Framework for Sustainable Development (CIDA 1994) • The Natural Step (Robert et al . 1994) • Sustainability Principles (ORTEE 1994), etc.

8. Recent compilation of Principles of Sustainability http://iisd1.iisd.ca/sd/principle.asp -IISD (Winnipeg)

9. One example: Guideposts for Sustainability(after Nickerson, 1993)Activities are sustainable when they: 1. Use materials in continuous cycles. 2. Use continuously reliable sources of energy. 3. Encourage desirable human traits (equity; creativity; communication; coordination; appreciation; intellectual and spiritual development).

10. Guideposts for SustainabilityActivities are not sustainable when they: 4. Require continual inputs of non-renewable resources. 5. Use renewable resources faster than their rate of renewal. 6. Cause cumulative degradation of the environment. 7. Require resources in quantities that could never be available for people everywhere. 8. Lead to the extinction of other life forms.

11. policy • …a course or general plan of action to be adopted by a government, party, person, etc. • - Concise Oxford Dictionary • …a selected, planned line of conduct in the light of which individual decisions are made and coordination achieved • - Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary

12. policy description analysis linkages implications alternatives formulation

13. the policy making processsimplified...

14. policy making • Ask yourself 3 questions regarding the policy issue: • where are we now? • where do we want to be? • how do we get from where we are to where we want to be?

15. policy making • where are we now? ...what is the existing real-world situation and policy climate surrounding the issue?

16. policy making • where do we want to be? ...describe the desirable real-world situation, policy goals and objectives surrounding the issue

17. policy making • how do we get from where we are to where we want to be? …details and implementation steps for the new policy, accounting for real-world opportunities and obstacles

18. policy making must consider: - values and ideologies - jurisdictional realities - biophysical / ecological constraints - economic, social, political contraints - patterns of human behaviour etc.!

19. a policy example Bottled water at Brock • Sold in vending machines campus-wide

20. policy making • Growing global concern about the waste and impacts of plastic bottle packaging

21. policy making • Growing global concern about the waste and impacts of plastic bottle packaging • Many governments, institutions, organizations and municipalities have banned the sale of bottled water in their jurisdictions (see Council of Canadians list) • E.g., Niagara College (see Niagara at Large article) http://niagaraatlarge.com/2012/08/29/niagara-college-bans-sale-of-bottled-water-on-campus/

22. Why not at Brock?

23. policy making • Context: The Story of Bottled Water (2010) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0 Production partners: Corporate Accountability International, Environmental Working Group, Food & Water Watch, Pacific Institute, and Polaris Institute References: http://storyofstuff.org/pdfs/StoryOfBottledWater_pdfs.zip

25. Why not at Brock? values and ideologies • Brock has an official Sustainability Coordination Committee • in principle, Brock University administration upholds the values and ideology of sustainability

26. Why not at Brock? jurisdictional realities • BUSU has jurisdiction over its own property and leased premises (e.g., Student Centre, General Brock Store) • Brock University controls and contracts out food services on the rest of campus • RFPs go out every few years • profits are shared

27. Why not at Brock? jurisdictional realities • Successful food service contract bidder (currently Sodexho) gets a corporate monopoly on all food service • Sodexho may have subcontracts with some brands (e.g., Tim Horton’s), but they still control what food is available

28. Why not at Brock? jurisdictional realities • Brock is a Pepsi university

29. Why not at Brock? jurisdictional realities • Brock and Sodexho have an exclusive multi-year vending contract with Pepsi, in exchange for a substantial corporate donation • AquaFina water is a Pepsi brand

30. Why not at Brock?

31. Why not at Brock? biophysical / ecological constraints • biophysical / ecological situation would be improved if bottled water were banned at Brock

32. Why not at Brock? economic, social, political constraints • Sale of bottled water is lucrative • Sodexho corporate policy does not support ban on bottled water • Sodexho management questions the validity of environmental concerns • Terms of current contract do not allow easy intervention by Brock administration

33. Why not at Brock? patterns of human behaviour • Bottled water is convenient -> Brock community continues to buy it despite cost Gasoline: currently ~ $1.31 per litre Aquafina water: currently ~ $4.00 per litre

34. Why not at Brock? patterns of human behaviour • Perceptions of poor tap water quality persist, despite evidence to contrary • Alternatives are not easily available -> where is the nearest drinking fountain or water bottle filling station?

35. Why not at Brock? Do your part!

36. policy analysis

37. policy analysis 3-stage approach • Stage 1: Description • Stage 2: Analysis and Linkages • Stage 3: Implications and Alternatives

38. Stage 1: Description • Who is the policy written by? • Who is the policy written for? • When was it proposed? • Who could / should implement the policy? Do they have the power (constitutional, economic, moral, etc.) to do so? • What are the policy’s goals and objectives? • What are the specific policy suggestions?

39. Stage 2: Analysis and Linkages • What is new about the policy? • Is it aligned with a particular set of values, or a particular ideology? • What connections are there between this policy and other policies in the same area? • What good and bad policy precedents are there (using logical, empirical, or ethical evaluations)? more...

40. Stage 2: Analysis and Linkages • What subsequent policy / legislative / political / practical changes have there been since this policy was proposed? • Are the goals and objectives appropriate? If so, by what standards? If not, why not? • Will the proposed mechanisms work? Is there a plausible route from principles through policy to practice? • Are there any ways to ensure accountability for achieveing goals and objectives?

41. Stage 3: Implications and Alternatives • What are the implications (resultant effects) of this policy, in all areas? • What policy alternatives could you propose which would improve upon the existing policy? • policy making