These days, whenever I introduce myself, I say I’m a professor, a freelance writer, and a volunteer on a non-commercial organic farm and goat dairy. Although this last identity is not a typical academic endeavor, learning how to garden and farm was a conscious and deliberate choice that came out of several considerations.
These days, whenever I introduce myself, I say I’m a professor, a freelance writer, and a volunteer on a non-commercial organic farm and goat dairy. Although this last identity is not a typical academic endeavor, learning how to garden and farm was a conscious and deliberate choice that came out of several considerations.
We are a species with a short history–perhaps at most 500,000 years. Our natural way of living–hunting and gathering–has been superseded by agriculture only in the past 10,000 years. And, our industrial way of life might be said to have begun a little over 200 years ago. And, yet we imagine that the least tested of our human systems of adaptation is somehow the most robust.
We are a species with a short history–perhaps at most 500,000 years. Our natural way of living–hunting and gathering–has been superseded by agriculture only in the past 10,000 years. And, our industrial way of life might be said to have begun a little over 200 years ago. And, yet we imagine that the least tested of our human systems of adaptation is somehow the most robust.
Achieving sustainability hinges on how effectively advocates can portray an attractive future based on stable resource consumption and highlight existing subcultural practices that, if properly scaled, can form the basis of such a future.
(Selections from an in-depth academic aricle by a professor of psychology - a paper rich in insight and possibilities. Maybe preaching and dire warnings are not the optimum ways to encourage sustainable lifestyles?)
Achieving sustainability hinges on how effectively advocates can portray an attractive future based on stable resource consumption and highlight existing subcultural practices that, if properly scaled, can form the basis of such a future.
(Selections from an in-depth academic aricle by a professor of psychology - a paper rich in insight and possibilities. Maybe preaching and dire warnings are not the optimum ways to encourage sustainable lifestyles?)
Heavy reliance on petroleum imports, the need for electricity in rural areas, and
the ongoing effort towards sustainable development have focussed Central
America’s attention on renewable energy. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t
opposition.
The environment remains a second-tier matter in Latin America and the
Caribbean despite being interwoven with persistent poverty and stalled
economic development in the region, according to a new report from the United
Nations Environment Programme.
The Transition Model has advanced a pathway towards ‘local sustainability’ distinct from previous sustainability models in a clear and important way: it is a grassroots, non-governmental model and also a networking movement. Still in its infancy, and with little academic attention so far having specifically focused on it; there is a clear gap in understanding of the Transition Model’s role in relation to (local) sustainability, which this research has sought to bridge.
(Highlights from a paper recommended by Rob Hopkins as “high quality research.”)