College notes Sustainability Challenges (GEO1-2410) An Introduction to Sustainability, ISBN: 9781138698307
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Course
Sustainability Challenges (GEO12410)
Institution
Universiteit Utrecht (UU)
Book
An Introduction to Sustainability
Notes of the course Sustainability challenges. The notes include summaries of lectures, extensive Q&A sessions, summaries of the book and my answers to the questions asked in the book.
Samenvatting 'an introduction to sustainability' van Martin Mulligan
Lecture notes of sustainability challenges
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Universiteit Utrecht (UU)
Global Sustainability Science
Sustainability Challenges (GEO12410)
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Introduction
07 September 2020 10:41
Part 1: theory, state-of-the-art: exam 5th october
Part 2: practice; group project: group paper + final presentation; Utrecht 2040 game
Weekly workshops Academic writing and presenting: essay, group paper + final presentations
Keep in track of the learning goals to prepare well for the exam
Assessment and grading in course manual
Watch: severn suzuki speaking at rio in 1992
Notes by Z. Floren
Study year 2020-2021
Sustainability Challenges Page 1
,Causes of sustainability challenges
07 September 2020 10:48
Sustainability science = probes interactions between global, social, and human systems, the complex mechanisms that lead to
degradation of these systems, and concomitant risks to human well-being
Concomitant = "a phenomenon that naturally accompanies or follows something"
Environmental Science = an interdisciplinary study of how humans interact with the living and non-living parts of their environment.
Goals:
○ To learn how nature works
○ To understand how we interact with the environment
○ To find ways to deal with environmental problems and to live more sustainably
Question: why is the environment also known as our natural capital?
Evidence: the environment consists of both natural resources as ecosystem services
Conclusion: the environment is our natural capital, because it consists of the natural resources and ecosystem services that keep humans
and other species alive, and that support human economies
Natural resources = anything (materials, energy, etc.) obtained from the environment to meet human needs and wants
Question: what are the main natural resources?
Evidence:
Inexhaustible Solar energy, wind energy, Come directly from the sun and will exist as long as the sun does
resources geothermal energy
Renewable Trees, topsoil, fresh water, Indefinitely available, because they can renew themselves within a human
resources biodiversity, clean air timescale
Non-renewable Fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural Are generally found between the earth’s crusts. They get renewed on a
resources gas), iron, copper, minerals geological timescale (so over thousands of years). By using them we are
depleting them
Conclusion: the main natural resources are inexhaustible resources, renewable resources, and non-renewable resources
Question: why is it important to know the renewal-rate of the renewable resources?
Conclusion: we can estimate the rate in which we can use a renewable resource without depleting it if we know its renewal rate
Question: what is the main difference between a renewable and a non-renewable resource?
Conclusion: the renewal-rate of a renewable resource is within a human life, so we can consider the resource as indefinitely available. The
non-renewable resources get renewed on a geological timescale, so by using them we are depleting them per definition
Ecosystem services = natural services provided by healthy ecosystems that support life and human economies at no monetary cost for us
Question: what are the different types of ecosystem services:
Conclusion:
Provisioning ecosystem services = the products provided by ecosystems
Regulating ecosystem services
Cultural ecosystem services
Supporting ecosystem services = essential for the other 3 types of ecosystem services, don't have a direct impact on humans
Sustainability Challenges Page 2
,Supporting ecosystem services = essential for the other 3 types of ecosystem services, don't have a direct impact on humans
Question: why are ecosystem services important
Evidence: there are 5 constituents of well-being:
1.) Basic material
2.) Security
3.) Health
4.) Good social relations
5.) Freedom of choice and action (can only be achieved are the first 4 constituents of well-being are acquired)
Conclusion: ecosystem services contribute to our well-being
Maslow's hierarchy of needs; self-actualization and confidence can only be achieved when the human needs on the lower levels are met
Question: what is the difference between an anthropogenic perspective and an intrinsic value of nature perspective on research?
Conclusion: according to the anthropogenic perspective research is only important, because it provides information about ecosystem
services for us. So it is in our benefit. According to the intrinsic value of nature perspective research of species, biodiversity, etc. is
important just because they exist, irrespective of what value they have for humans.
The DPSIR Framework =
Sustainability Challenges Page 3
, All sustainability problems start with the driving forces within a society (the individual and societal needs, which result in human
activities such as recreation, agriculture, transportation, etc.)
These human activities cause pressures on the environment. There are three types of pressure:
1.) Excessive use of resources
2.) Pollution
3.) Change in land use
These pressures change the State of the Environment (the physical, chemical, and biologic condition of environmental systems or
ecosystems)
A change in the SoE results in impacts, changes in the quality of ecosystems, which can have a negative impact on ecosystem
services which can result in a decrease of human well-being
When the impacts are large enough, it can cause responses by society to the environmental situation
Important drivers:
○ Demographics; every person on earth needs food and fresh water, causing a friction between environment and society
○ Economic processes (consumption, production, trade, etc.); we are in a state of hyper-consumption
○ Scientific and technical innovation; technical innovations can help us become more sustainable, but some industries aren’t
interested in investing in sustainability
○ Distribution pattern processes; the development of the HDI shows the clear division of the HDI globally
○ Cultural, social, political and institutional
Question: why is the DPSIRT Framework useful for analysing and wanting to understand sustainability?
Conclusion: when you want to understand a sustainability problem, it is essential to investigate all the relevant driving forces, pressures,
states of the environment, impacts and responses that are relevant to the problem and try to understand the main cause-effect-
relationships that can be influenced in the end
Sustainable development = development that meets the need of present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs
The dimensions of sustainable development are:
1) Space and time
2) Triple P (people, planet, profit)
Sustainability Challenges Page 4
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