ESS Unit 1.1

Foundations of Environmental Systems and Societies

Contents

01. Environmental value systems

02. Systems and models

03. Energy and equilibria

04. Sustainability

05. Humans and pollution

ENVIRONMENTAL VALUESBUT BEFORE: ENVIRONMENT

a) Complex of physical, chemical, and biotic factors (such as climate, soil, and living things) that act upon an organism or an ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survivalb) Aggregate of social and cultural conditions that influence the life of an individual or community

What is the value of the environment?

a) Priceless?b) Economy orientation?

Value of the environment

On two levels:

• Intrinsic (Ethical, spiritual, etc.)

• Commodities (Goods and services)

What is a EVS?

Worldview or paradigm that shapes the way an indivudual, or group of people, percieves and evaluates environmental issues. Influeced by:

• Cultural contexts
• Religious factors
• Economic contexts
• Socio-political contexts

How people are concerned about the environment and their relationship

01. Environmental value systems

Significant idea 1

"Historical events, among other influences, affect the development of environmental value systems and environmental movements"

History of environmentalism

Agricultural revolution

Industrial revolution

Green revolution

Modern environmental movement

Recent events and summits

Neolithic/Agricultural revolution

• Shift from nomadic hunter/gather societies

• Humans start to shape the environment

• Increase in population

Industrial revolution

• But before....

Some environmental problems before industrial revolution

Tendency to romanticize everything before Industrial revolution but..

• Romans: Water and air pollution
• Plague and other diseases in Europe
• Soil conservation in China (2000 years ago)
• Spirulina conservation problem (Aztecs)

Industrial revolution

• Transitional period

• Mid 1700´s to mid 1800´s

• Urbanization, megalopolis

• Human labor to machine labor (fuel usage)

• Increase in the use of natural resources

• Begining of conservationists

Green Revolution

• 1940´s
• Industrial agriculture
• Pesticides/fertilizers/transgenic
• Increase of food production
• Increase of population and waste

Modern Environmental Movement

• 1960´s

• Rise of environmentalists

• Formal structure creation:

NGOs Government assesment Legislation Public awareness Earth Summits

History of environmentalism

Environmental milestones

1987

Bruntland report Sustainable development Balancing economic growth with environmental protection and long-term social well-being

1968

1975

University of Reading. Council for Environmental Education

Belgrade Seminar

1983

1970s

Brundtland Commission. World Commission on Environment and Development of the United Nations

UNESCO work Anthropocentric turns to ecocentric Change in paradigm

Gro Harlem Brundtland

Environmental milestones

2015

SDGs 2030 Agenda

1992

Earth Summit Río do Janeiro First commitments

2002

The Johannesburg Earth Summit

2000s

1990s

Agenda 21 Non-binding action (UN)

International Congress on Environmental Education (2007). World Environmental Education Congress, Canada (2009)

Play

Bhopal

Chernobyl

Rachel Carson

Examples:

Minamata

Detection of ozone hole

Kyoto protocol

Modern Environmental milestones/influences assignement

• Chose a milestone/influential event in modern history
• Search for the information
• Create a 2 minute presentation/video and take notes from the rest of your classmates.

Significant idea 2

• There is a wide spectrum of EVS.
• Each EVS has its own implications
• World views

EVS spectrum

ECOCENTRIC WORLDVIEW

• Ecology and nature are central to humanity
• Earth centered
• Importance of education
• Biorights
• Self restraint
• Less materialistic
• Extreme: Deep ecologists

ANTHROPOCENTRIC WORLDVIEW

• Human centered.
• Humans should manage the global system.
• Management: Taxes, regulation or legislation.
• Nature is there to benefit humankind (religious influence)

TECHNOCENTRIC

• Technological developments can provide solutions to environmental problems
• Environmental managers are technocentrists
• Extreme technocentrists: Cornucopians

EVS exercise 1

Question 1:

• An ecocentric viewpoint is Earth centered thus would support educating humans and encouraging change to reduce climate change in order to serve biodiversity on Earth.

• Anthropocentric view also supports policies to reduce climate change recognizing that we need a healthy Earth to survive ourselves. Biodiversity supports and enhances the pleasures of human life so we should do what we can to preserve it, furthermore, bees are key to pollination so we should do what we can to save them we need them for our food.

• Technocentric viewpoint is technology centered and might argue that robotic bees can substitute for regular bees especially in the role of pollination.

Question 2:

• An ecocentric viewpoint would argue that we should reduce human population or at least achieve a zero-growth rate because other living organisms are suffering. Our existence is not more important than theirs. Ecocentrics would support education and access to contraceptives to achieve this aim.

• Anthropocentrists would argue that humans have as much right, if not more, to Earth but that we should manage our resources so there is enough for everyone. One method to achieve that might be through genetically modified food which would result in higher yields and more food for more people.

• A technocentrist would agree with the anthropocentric viewpoint in that technology such as GMOs can feed all the people on Earth no matter how many people there are.

Answer the question creating relationships between your current EVS, the worldviews in the unit, the historical influences and your cultural heritage. "Who or what was the biggest influence on our current environmental awareness? "

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