The National Association of Scholars presents our fourth edition of the encyclopedia of sustainability (PDF). Our quarterly updated “sustainapedia” contains key names, terms, books, colleges and organizations that NAS has observed through our research of the sustainability movement in higher education.
The entries below were compiled from publicly available information, much of which has already been synthesized in NAS articles on sustainability. New entries and information since the third edition (April 2010) are highlighted in blue. This fourth edition includes a new section on K-12 groups and projects.
While this catalog does not include every main actor in the movement as a whole (we chose not to emphasize, for instance, “Climategate,” Michael Mann, Al Gore, the December 2009 Copenhagen Summit, or global warming awareness groups), it does include many of the main actors in the sector of activism aimed specifically at re-centering elementary and higher education around sustainability practice.
We created this encyclopedia partly as a service to ourselves to help us keep all the players straight, but mostly as a service to the community, as a practical resource for everyone interested in tracking and critiquing the sustainability movement. As we have learned more about the principal leaders of the movement, we have been continually updating the sustainapedia. We welcome suggestions for new entries and corrections of any inaccurate information (email us). Click here to download the encyclopedia in PDF format (with extra photos), or scroll down to read it on this page.
Sustainability in Higher Education, 4th Edition
An Encyclopedia of Names, Terms, Colleges, Organizations, and Books
Encyclopedia Contents:
Legislation
Individuals
Groups
Projects/Institutes
K-12 Groups and Projects
Media Colleges/Universities
Conferences
Terminology
Terms Coined by the NAS
Criticism
Books
Legislation
In July 2008, the HESA was passed as part of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008. It creates grants for colleges and universities for implementing sustainability practice and education on campus and “to integrate sustainability curricula in all programs of instruction, particularly in business, architecture, technology, manufacturing, engineering, and science programs.” It also calls for a summit on sustainability convened by the Secretary of Education no later than September 30, 2010.
Individuals
Economist who created the famous sustainability diagram (see “Triple Bottom Line” below)
NAS: “The Roots of Sustainability” by Glenn Ricketts. 01/19/10
Author, Boldly Sustainable (2009, published by the National Association of College and University Business Officers) with Andrea Putman
Senior Fellow, Second Nature
Staff Liaison, ACUPCC Academics Sub-Committee
Staff Liaison, ACUPCC Academics Sub-Committee
Berry, Thomas (1914-2009)
Ecotheologian, wrote about ethics, religion, and ecology
Repudiated Christianity and all Western thought and culture (i.e., wrote “bible” in lower case)
Author, Befriending the Earth, 1991; The Great Work: Our Way into the Future, 1999; and Evening Thoughts: Reflecting on Earth as Sacred Community, 2006.
“We have a moral sense of suicide, homicide, and genocide, but no moral sense of biocide or geocide, the killing of the life systems themselves and even the killing of the Earth.”
Author, “Reason and Reenchantment in Cultural Change: Sustainability in Higher Education.” Current Anthropology
Leads Piedmont Project at Emory University
NAS: “Enchanting Sustainability” by Peter Wood. 01/26/09
Leads Piedmont Project at Emory University
NAS: “Enchanting Sustainability” by Peter Wood. 01/26/09
Bookchin, Murray (1921-2006)
Author, “Ecology and Revolutionary Thought” (1964)
Author, The Philosophy of Social Ecology: Essays on Dialectical Naturalism
Founded Institute for Social Ecology in 1974
NAS: “The Sustainability Movement in the American University” by Peter Wood. 07/27/09
NAS: “The Roots of Sustainability” by Glenn Ricketts. 01/19/10
Author, The Philosophy of Social Ecology: Essays on Dialectical Naturalism
Founded Institute for Social Ecology in 1974
NAS: “The Sustainability Movement in the American University” by Peter Wood. 07/27/09
NAS: “The Roots of Sustainability” by Glenn Ricketts. 01/19/10
Carson, Rachel (1907-1964)
Author, Silent Spring, 1962, a bestseller about the harmfulness of pesticides
Silent Spring precipitated a national uproar and jumpstarted the environmental movement
NAS: “The Roots of Sustainability” by Glenn Ricketts. 01/19/10
Biologist
Protested nuclear testing
Eco-socialist
Author, The Closing Circle, 1971: “The evidence is overwhelming that the way in which we now live on Earth is driving its thin, life-supporting skin, and ourselves with it, to destruction.”
Proposed policy solutions to ecological problems
Ran for
4 laws of ecology:
1. Everything is connected to everything else.
2. Everything must go somewhere.
3. Nature knows best.
4. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
Founded the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems where he is a senior scientist
Time magazine called him "the Paul Revere of Ecology"
NAS: “The Roots of Sustainability” by Glenn Ricketts. 01/19/10
President, Second Nature
Developed the Talloires Declaration
Said that “humans are guided by a whole set of beliefs and values, and those come from culture, from religion, from social, economic and political structure. We need to change all of those.”
Said “My belief is that sustainability must be the goal of EVERYTHING that colleges and universities do.”
NAS: “How to Defeat the Res Lifers’ Nouveau Indoctrination Program” by Tom Wood 05/08/08
NAS: “A First Look at Second Nature” by Ashley Thorne. 08/01/09
Co-chair, ACUPCC steering committee
President, Arizona State University
NAS: “Does Environmentalism ‘Fit Squarely’ with Higher Ed’s Mission?” by Ashley Thorne. 06/01/09
Author, Thriving Beyond Sustainability: Pathways To A Resilient Society (2010)
Author, The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift
Author, The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift
NAS: “The Roots of Sustainability” by Glenn Ricketts. 01/19/10
Biology professor at Stanford University
Author, The Population Bomb, which wrongly predicted that “in the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death” due to overpopulation. Ehrlich famously lost a bet with the economist Julian L. Simon over the future prices of five commodities chosen by Ehrlich (copper, chromium, nickel, tin, and tungsten.) Ehrlich, believing that earth was running out of resources, bet that prices would rise from 1980 to 1990. He lost decisively.
Believes sustainability is an issue of population control
NAS: “What Good Are People?” by Ashley Thorne. 09/22/09
NAS: “The Roots of Sustainability” by Glenn Ricketts. 01/19/10
Author, The Population Bomb, which wrongly predicted that “in the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death” due to overpopulation. Ehrlich famously lost a bet with the economist Julian L. Simon over the future prices of five commodities chosen by Ehrlich (copper, chromium, nickel, tin, and tungsten.) Ehrlich, believing that earth was running out of resources, bet that prices would rise from 1980 to 1990. He lost decisively.
Believes sustainability is an issue of population control
NAS: “What Good Are People?” by Ashley Thorne. 09/22/09
NAS: “The Roots of Sustainability” by Glenn Ricketts. 01/19/10
President and Founder, Campaign for Environmental Literacy
Senior Fellow, Second Nature
“James Elder is a social entrepreneur who uncovers and exploits high leverage opportunities to increase the level of society’s environmental literacy.”
Co-founder of Second Nature with John Kerry
Heinz foundations fund Second Nature
NAS: “A First Look at Second Nature” by Ashley Thorne. 08/01/09NAS: “The Roots of Sustainability” by Glenn Ricketts. 01/19/10
Under secretary for U.S. postsecondary education in the Obama administration
Former member of ACUPCC steering committee, former Chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District
Spoke at 2009 ACUPCC climate summit
Author, Ecodemia: Campus Environmental Stewardship at the Turn of the 21st Century
On staff with the National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Project
Helped create the Higher Education Associations’ Sustainability Consortium (HEASC)
Director, University of Delaware Residence Life
Serves on ACPA’s sustainability taskforce
Presentation: Myth that sustainability is "mostly about the environment"
NAS: “Ideology @ UCLA Dorms” by Peter Wood. 03/06/08
NAS: “We’ll Be Watching” by Jan Blits and Linda Gottfredson. 05/27/08
NAS: “The Communitarian ResLife Movement” by Tom Wood. 07/18/08
NAS: “Sustainabullies” by Ashley Thorne. 02/12/09
NAS: “Proven Commitment to the Climate” by Ashley Thorne. 04/09/09
NAS: “The Sustainability Movement in the American University” by Peter Wood. 07/27/09
NAS: “Changing the Norms: Sustainability at Penn State” by Ashley Thorne. 12/14/09
Kerry. John
Co-founder of Second Nature with Teresa Heinz
NAS: “A First Look at Second Nature” by Ashley Thorne. 08/01/09
NAS: “The Roots of Sustainability” by Glenn Ricketts. 01/19/10
NAS: “The Roots of Sustainability” by Glenn Ricketts. 01/19/10
ACUPCC Program Director for Second Nature
Professor of Environmental Studies, Oberlin College
Author, Earth in Mind : On Education, the Environment, and the Human Prospect(2004)
Author, Earth in Mind : On Education, the Environment, and the Human Prospect(2004)
Author, Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse (2009)
NAS: “The Sustainability Movement in the American University” by Peter Wood. 07/27/09
NAS: “Swamped: Florida’s Earth Charter U” by Ashley Thorne. 01/06/2010
NAS: “The Roots of Sustainability” by Glenn Ricketts. 01/19/10
Higher Education co-chair of the U.S. Partnership of Education for Sustainable Development
Senior Fellow, Education for Sustainability at University Leaders for a Sustainable Future
Senior Fellow, Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education
Facilitator, Disciplinary Associations Network for Sustainability
Professor, renewable energies and energy management at Oakland Community College
Inside Higher Ed: “Sustainability’s Third Circle” by Peter Wood. 04/28/08
Said in a speech at the University of Connecticut 11/05/09 that the only way to ensure a sustainable future for the planet is through radical changes in education, the economy and government. Daily Campus
NAS: “Changing the Norms: Sustainability at Penn State” by Ashley Thorne. 12/14/09
Director, Earth Institute,
Professor, Sustainable Development,
Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Author, Common Wealth (Penguin, 2008)
Author, The End of Poverty (Penguin, 2005)
See “Sustainability: More Cash and a Softer Side” by Charlotte Allen, Minding the Campus, 05/10/2010
Founder and executive director, Creative Change Educational Solutions
Founding executive director, Education for Sustainability Western Network (EFS West), which became AASHE
Groups
“Envisioning a student affairs division that supports sustainability”
Helped found HEASC
Presidential Task Force on Sustainability (click for PPT presentation by Kathleen Kerr)
NAS: “Inside the ACPA Conference” by Peter Wood. 02/29/2008
NAS: “Hurray! We Got Noticed! ACPA’s Response to NAS Residence Life Statement” by Peter Wood and Ashley Thorne. 09/16/2008
Based in Washington, D.C.
Presidents can sign this contract to pledge to “accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the earth’s climate.”
Sponsored by Second Nature, AASHE, and eco-America
NAS: “Proven Commitment to the Climate” by Ashley Thorne. 04/09/2009
NAS: “Sustainability Education’s New Morality” by Ashley Thorne. 05/15/2009
NAS: “Does Environmentalism Fit Squarely with Higher Ed’s Mission?” by Ashley Thorne. 06/01/2009
NAS: “Tuesday Tuba” by Ashley Thorne 06/02/2009
NAS: “1% for Propaganda” by Ashley Thorne. 07/09/2009
NAS: “Unfit” by Peter Wood. 07/29/2009
NAS: “A First Look at Second Nature” by Ashley Thorne. 08/03/2009
NAS: “Thursday Theatrics” by Ashley Thorne. 08/13/2009
“AASHE is an association of colleges and universities that are working to create a sustainable future. Our mission is to empower higher education to lead the sustainability transformation.”
Formerly known as the Education for Sustainability Western Network (EFS West)
AASHE Digest 2008 A Review of Campus Sustainability News
NAS: “Proven Commitment to the Climate” by Ashley Thorne. 04/09/2009
NAS: “Swear It!” by Ashley Thorne. 04/29/2009
NAS: “Sustainability Education’s New Morality” by Ashley Thorne. 05/15/2009
NAS: “Thursday Vert-Degree” by Ashley Thorne. 06/25/2009
NAS: “Tuesday Tuba” by Ashley Thorne 06/02/2009
NAS: “1% for Propaganda” by Ashley Thorne. 07/09/2009
NAS: “The Sustainability Movement in the American University” by Peter Wood. 07/27/2009
NAS: “A First Look at Second Nature” by Ashley Thorne. 08/03/2009
Based in Lexington, Kentucky
“Our goal is to significantly increase the amount of federal funding dedicated to the EE [environmental education] community”
Operates under a fiscal agent, Public Interest Projects
Based in Washington, D.C.
“Dedicated to education for a sustainable living”
“We provide information, inspiration, and support to the vital movement of K-12 educators, parents, and other members of the school community who are helping young people gain the knowledge, skills, and values essential to sustainable living.”
Project/Book: Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability
Based in Berkeley, California
“If their schools are green, children will learn to live that way.”
Helps K-12 schools become “green” by providing curriculum and guidance
Center for Respect of Life and Environment (CRLE)
Four program areas: the Greening of Academia, Religion and Ecology, the Earth Charter Initiative, and Sustainable Livelihoods and Sustainable Communities
“Promotes a humane and sustainable future forall members of the earth community.”
ULSF is part of CRLE
Venerates Thomas Berry (see above)
Funded by the William J. Clinton Foundation
Seeks to “create and advance solutions to the core issues driving climate change”
Provides curriculum “makeovers” to “cultivate deep instructional change” in elementary, higher, and adult education
“Our mission is to provide and promote innovative education that helps create a sustainable world: a healthy environment, a fair economy, and a just and equitable society for current and future generations.”
Based in Ypsilanti, Michigan
A network of associations (such as the AAA, APA, and APSA) that promote sustainability in various academic disciplines
“Through Earth Force young people get hands-on, real-world opportunities to practice civic skills, acquire and understand environmental knowledge, and develop the skills and motivation to become life-long leaders in addressing environmental issues. Earth Force achieves these results by training and supporting educators as they implement our unique six-step model for engaging young people.”
Co-sponsors the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment
EcoAmerica is an organization not specifically focused on higher education that espouses a startlingly frank program of attempting, by means of “psychographic research” and “engagement marketing,” to “shift personal and civic choices of environmentally agonistic Americans.” It is, in other words, devoted to propaganda and manipulation.
NAS: “The Sustainability Movement in the American University” by Peter Wood. 07/27/2009
An alliance that supports and strengthens the student and youth clean and just energy movement in
Sponsors “Define Our Decade” project, a campaign to get Congress to vote for “clean energy” towards the goal of having a “world powered by 100% clean electricity” by 2020.
Held climate change teach-ins on January 31, 2008 at over 1500 campuses
Barack Obama at FTN 2008 kick-off, Clemson University: “Focus the Nation is going to have the largest campus teach-in in United States history…This is an important issue, I want everybody to be involved with it, everybody to be paying attention.”
Based in Portland, Oregon
A social network for students to connect with other students from around the world on how to go green and reduce the effects of global warming
An informal network of higher education associations dedicated to advancing sustainability in the higher education system, coordinated by Second Nature
International Sustainable Campus Network
“The Sustainable Campus Network aims at enhancing universities' commitments to construct, redesign, and organize their campuses in an exemplary and sustainable way and to include the experiences in their education. The ISCN and its members commit to continuous improvement through learning and innovation on all aspects of sustainability on campus. Key goals in this respect are summarized in the ISCN Charter.”
Historically important leader of the campus sustainability movement
Founded by John Kerry and Teresa Heinz in 1993
“Second Nature's mission is to accelerate movement toward a sustainable future by serving and supporting senior college and university leaders in making healthy, just, and sustainable living the foundation of all learning and practice in higher education.”
Sponsors the ACUPCC
Based in Boston, Massachusetts
NAS: “1% for Propaganda” by Ashley Thorne. 07/09/09
NAS: “The Sustainability Movement in the American University” by Peter Wood. 07/27/2009
NAS: “Unfit” by Peter Wood. 07/29/09
NAS: “A First Look at Second Nature” by Ashley Thorne. 08/03/09
NAS: “Sustaina-Summits” by Peter Wood. 08/20/09
NAS: “The Roots of Sustainability” by Glenn Ricketts. 01/19/10
NAS: “The Roots of Sustainability” by Glenn Ricketts. 01/19/10
Decade for Education on Sustainable Development: “seeks to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning, in order to address the social, economic, cultural and environmental problems we face in the 21st century”
NAS: “UNESCO-topia: Sustainability’s Big Brother” by Peter Wood. 07/31/09
NAS: “Earth Day Thoughts on the Campus Sustainability Movement” by Peter Wood 04/22/10
NAS: “Earth Day Thoughts on the Campus Sustainability Movement” by Peter Wood 04/22/10
University Leaders for a Sustainable Future, the Association of (ULSF)
Created the Talloires Declaration
“ULSF supports sustainability as a critical focus of teaching, research, operations and outreach in higher education through publications, research, and assessment.”Is the higher education branch of the Center for Respect of Life and Environment (CRLE)
“The U.S. Partnership consists of individuals, organizations and institutions in the United States dedicated to education for sustainable development (ESD). It acts as a convener, catalyst, and communicator working across all sectors of American society.”
VISION: Sustainable development fully integrated into education and learning in the United States.
MISSION: Leverage the UN Decade to foster education for sustainable development in the United States.
Projects/Institutes
Sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation
“the Campus Ecology program has been helping individuals and campuses address sustainability and climate change since 1989.”
“It takes a big step to make a smaller footprint.”
NAS: “Woven Into the Fabric...No Comment” by Ashley Thorne. 07/10/09
A Second Nature initiative to advance green building in higher education
Celebrated in October by over 300 colleges and universities
Sponsored by the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), which Colleges can pay to participate in a live webcast
First CSD was in 2003: “The contributions of Anthony D. Cortese, president of Second Nature, were key in the conception and development of the first Campus Sustainability Day.”
NAS: “Happy Campus Sustainability Day” by Ashley Thorne. 10/21/09
Assigns grades to hundreds of colleges by assessing performance in sustainability categories (does not include teaching, research, or other academic aspects concerning sustainability)
A campaign sponsored by the Energy Action Coalition to get Congress to vote for “clean energy” towards the goal of having a “world powered by 100% clean electricity” by 2020
Marketed to college students
The Earth Charter is a United Nations document. It was the brainchild of the 1987 Brundtland Commission (which officially defined sustainable development) and was written in 1994 by Mikhail Gorbachev and the Secretary-General of the UN’s Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit
Strong. Today it is regarded as the consensus statement of principles on sustainability and world peace. Organizations representing millions of people, including several dozen American universities, have endorsed it.
Strong. Today it is regarded as the consensus statement of principles on sustainability and world peace. Organizations representing millions of people, including several dozen American universities, have endorsed it.
“My hope is that this charter will be a kind of Ten Commandments, a ‘Sermon on the Mount,’ that provides a guide for human behavior toward the environment in the next century and beyond," Mikhail Gorbachev stated in a 1997 interview with the Los Angeles Times.
Read the Charter
NAS: “Swamped: Florida’s Earth Charter U” by Ashley Thorne. 01/06/2010
NAS: “ ” by Ashley Thorne. 02/10/10
NAS: "Ark of Hope for the Earth Charter...No Comment" by Ashley Thorne. 04/07/2010
Read the Charter
NAS: “Swamped: Florida’s Earth Charter U” by Ashley Thorne. 01/06/2010
NAS: “ ” by Ashley Thorne. 02/10/10
NAS: "Ark of Hope for the Earth Charter...No Comment" by Ashley Thorne. 04/07/2010
Suggestions for environmental activism on campus, including asking the president to sign the Presidents Climate Commitment
Aims to help “achieve sustainable development primarily by expanding the world’s understanding of Earth as one integrated system” through research and education
Directed by Jeffrey Sachs
George Soros serves on the Board of Advisors
Yale
Publishes books and articles, organizes conferences, is creating a film on the environment and its relationship to major religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Indigenous Traditions, Islam, Judaism, and Shinto
Mission is to “identify the ethical dimensions by which the religions of the world can respond to the growing environmental crisis”
Inspired by ecotheologian Thomas Berry (see above)
“Ecolonomics is a vision that sees business, government, and education working together to achieve a prosperous, sustainable future.”
“Because ecology means business”
“Established in 1974 and incorporated in 1981, the ISE is an independent institution of higher education dedicated to the study of social ecology, an interdisciplinary field drawing on philosophy, political and social theory, anthropology, history, economics, the natural sciences, and feminism...As an educational and activist organization, the ISE is committed to the social and ecological transformation of society.”
Based in Plainfield, Vermont
Based in Plainfield, Vermont
Emory University
Faculty workshops, curriculum development
NAS: “Enchanting Sustainability” by Peter Wood. 01/26/09
North Arizona University
The Project is “an interdisciplinary faculty group effort to incorporate environmental sustainability issues into university courses”
Created by AASHE, STARS is “a voluntary, self-reporting framework for gauging relative progress toward sustainability for colleges and universities.”
STARS is a points system that measures institutions’ sustainability initiatives in Education & Research; Operations; and Planning, Administration & Engagement.
NAS: “Dancing with the Stars” by Ashley Thorne. 09/28/09
The international precursor to the ACUPCC, created in 1990 in Talloires, France, at a meeting convened by Tufts University President Jean Mayer
Anthony Cortese has been a key promoter
College and university presidents from around the world met together and signed the declaration, pledging that their universities would, among other actions, “Create an Institutional Culture of Sustainability,” “Educate for Environmentally Responsible Citizenship,” and “Foster Environmental Literacy For All.”
It has been signed by over 400 institutions worldwide.
An online magazine published by the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, containing opinion, analysis, reporting and debate on global environmental issues.
K-12 Groups and Projects
“Critical Thinking. Global Perspective. Informed Action.”
Provides sustainability curriculum resources to teachers
Based in Seattle, Washington
“A movement that activates & enlists kids to lead their families in measuring & reducing environmental impact at home & ‘challenge’ their parents to share savings with kids.”
A campaign that encourages kids to “grade their parents” and demand pay for their services.
NAS: “Indoctrinate Our Kids and Green My Parents” by Ashley Thorne. 04/27/10
A membership organization with nearly 2,000 member schools where teachers are implementing sustainability education into the curriculum. Video
NYC DOE Sustainability Initiative
The New York City Department of Education’s effort to make schools more environmentally friendly and to teach students energy conservation, recycling, and ecology. The initiative is funded by grant and stimulus money.
4 Guiding Principles: Nature is our teacher, Sustainability is a community practice, The real world is the optimal learning environment, and Sustainable living is rooted in a deep knowledge of place
Offers schooling for sustainability seminars, website, and book (same title)
Media
2009 James Cameron film depicting a sustainable world
A documentary film on the “World Water Crisis” and the privatization of water
An online, peer-reviewed journal for academics and practitioners to share, critique, and promote research, practices, and initiatives that foster the integration of economic, ecological, and social-cultural dimensions of sustainability within formal and non-formal educational contexts.
A 20-minute video on the life cycle of material goods, shown in elementary schools and businesses all over the world
Criticizes Americans for “exploiting” natural resources to make goods
The American Family Association says that the video is anti-consumer, and even anti-American because the video implies that Americans are
greedy, selfish, cruel to the third world, and "use more than our share."
greedy, selfish, cruel to the third world, and "use more than our share."Glenn Beck, host of the Glenn Beck TV program, characterized the video as an "anti-capitalist tale that unfortunately has virtually no facts correct."
A bimonthly journal published in collaboration with AASHE that covers sustainability in higher education
NAS: “An Elbow in the Ribs: Prof-Prodding Toward Sustainability” by Ashley Thorne. 02/17/10
Colleges/Universities
The following are institutions about which NAS has written regarding sustainability. Click the name to read the NAS article:
Conferences
Convened by the United Nations in 1983
Brundtland report Our Common Future defined sustainability/sustainable development:
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Gave birth to the Earth Charter
NAS: “The Sustainability Movement in the American University” by Peter Wood. 07/27/2009
NAS: “The Roots of Sustainability” by Glenn Ricketts. 01/19/10
Annual conference for ACUPCC signers, sponsors, and friends
2010 summit in Denver 10/12-10-13, R. James Woolsey keynote speaker
2009 summit in Chicago 08/13-08/14, Bill Clinton keynote speaker
Convened by the United Nations in 1992
Gave birth to the Kyoto Protocol
NAS: “The Sustainability Movement in the American University” by Peter Wood. 07/27/2009
NAS: “A First Look at Second Nature” by Ashley Thorne. 08/03/2009
Held by NACUBO, March 21-23, 2010 at the University of Maryland
Sponsored by California State University, Chico and Butte Community College
2009 conference held 11/05-11/08
NAS: “The Chico Romance” by Ashley Thorne. 11/06/09
Terminology
The United Nations blueprint for sustainability in the twenty-first century
CAP
Climate Action Plan, as required by the ACUPCC
Ecolonomics
Ecology + Economics, a term coined in 1993 by Dennis Weaver
EFS
Education for Sustainability
ESD
Education for Sustainable Development
ESG
Environmental, Social, Governance (often used in terms of investments)
Triple-Bottom Line
Describes the three parts of sustainability
People, Planet, Profit
Society, Environment, Economy
Usually illustrated with a Venn Diagram depicted by Edward Barbier (see image at right); also symbolized by holding up three fingers
NAS: “The Communitarian ResLife Movement: Part 2” by Tom Wood. 08/18/08
NAS: “Peace Plus One” by Ashley Thorne. 10/13/09
Terms Coined by the National Association of Scholars
Justice + Sustainability
Sustainability is almost invariably paired with the word just or justice. This is why sustainability is an all-encompassing schema that calls for the restructuring of society; it is not the same as environmentalism.
People who use coercion, peer pressure, or intimidation to persuade others to alter their behavior in favor of sustainability
Sustainability advocates who want to create utopia on earth, no matter the cost to mankind
Criticism
Academic Questions, vol. 23, no. 1
Publication of the National Association of Scholars, special issue on sustainability
Articles by Glenn Ricketts,
Operation Green Out
Led by Holly Swanson, author of Set Up and Sold Out: Find Out What Green Really Means
NAS: “A First Look at Second Nature” by Ashley Thorne. 08/03/09
NAS: “An Interview with Holly Swanson” by Ashley Thorne. 10/15/09
Williams, Austin
Author, Enemies of Progress: The Dangers of Sustainability
NAS: “Wartime Thrift” by Ashley Thorne. 06/04/08
Wood, David
Chairman, Harris Ranch Beef Company
Wrote a letter to California Polytechnic University with concerns about Cal Poly’s focus on sustainability
NAS: “Sustainability Skepticism Has Arrived” by Ashley Thorne. 10/23/2009
Books
This extensive bibliography, compiled by NAS’s John Irving, is a work in progress. It includes both books on sustainability’s place in higher education and books more broadly focused on environmentalism and climate change, many of which are used in the college classroom to teach sustainability. The listings in bold are books on which the NAS has commented.
Aber, John, Tom Kelly, and Bruce Mallory, eds., The Sustainable Learning Community: One University's Journey to the Future, Lebanon, NH: University of New Hampshire Press, 2009
Ackerman, Frank, Why Do We Recycle? Washington, DC: Island Press, 1997
Adelson, Glenn James Engell, Brent Ranalli, and K.P. Van Anglen, eds., Environment: An Interdisciplinary Anthology. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008
Alley, Richard, The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and Our Future, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002
Anderson, Ray, Mid-Course Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise: The Interface Model, Atlanta, GA: Peregrinzilla Press, 1999
Astin, Helen and Alexander Astin, Leadership Reconsidered: Engaging Higher Education in Social Change. Battle Creek, MI: W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 2000
Bardaglio, Peter and Andrea Putnam, Boldly Sustainable: Hope and Opportunity for Higher Education in the Age of Climate Change, Washington: DC: National Association of College and University Business Officers, 2009
Barlett, Peggy R., and Geoffrey W. Chase, Sustainability on Campus: Stories and Strategies for Change, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004
Beckerman, Wilfred. A Poverty of Reason: Sustainable Development and Economic Growth,
Begg, Kathryn, Frans van der Woerd, and David Levy, The Business of Climate Change: Corporate Responses to Kyoto, Sheffield, UK; Greenleaf, 2005
Berry, Thomas, The Great Work: Our Way into the Future, New York: Bell Tower, 1999
Blatt, Harvey, America's Environmental Report Card: Are We Making the Grade? Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004
Blewitt, John and Cedric Cullingford, Sustainability Curriculum (The): The Challenge for Higher Education, London, UK: Earthscan, 2004
Bookchin, Murray, The Philosophy of Social Ecology: Essays on Dialectical Naturalism, New York: Black Rose, 1990
Brower, Michael and Warren Leon, The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices, New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999
Brown, Lester R, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization. Rev. ed., New York: W.W. Norton, 2008
Burton, Ian, Elizabeth Malone, and Saleemul Huq, Adaptation Frameworks for Climate Change: Developing Strategies, Policies, and Measures, New York: United Nations Development Programme/Cambridge University Press, 2005
Carmody, John, Stephen Selkowitz, and Lisa Heschong, Residential Windows, New York: Norton, 1996
Carson, Rachel, The Edge of the Sea, New York: Mariner Books, imp. Houghton Mifflin, 1998
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