Is sustainable development actually possible?
Yes, through a change in politics and increase in civil discourse (conversation across difference)
Economy typically prevails over Environment and Equity
Through investing in innovation that addresses contemporary environmental issues, we can still ensure economic growth (Rostow's preconditions for take-off include widening of the market through innovation, modern science, and discovery)
According to Rodrik, growth spurts are associated with a narrow range of policy reforms
for development to be sustainable, these policy reforms should be systemic
Yes, through a change in values
Equity
Careful consumption as liberation rather than restriction
conservative critique of sustainability is that it is a guise for increased governmental influence and control
current system of development depends on inequality
i.e "being vegetarian/vegan is liberating because by being very mindful of my diet, I know that everything I consume is good for me"
ties to Latouche and degrowth concept
relocalize activities and encourage the production of relational goods
return to peasant agriculture
can be done through building from the bottom up, engagement through communities
urban farms, community gardens, grassroots agricultural initiatives (i.e Grantoftegaard in Copenhagen)
systemic change not only on a federal level, but on a local level
change in zoning regulations and urban planning (i.e for urban farms and green roofs, add legislation to facilitate implementation and incentivize it)
Yes, through innovation and community-based/localized solutions
change in culture
American culture is highly individualistic, status determined by material goods. Cultivate collectivism
Yes, through unconventionality and collaboration
art and artists as foundation for change (Kingsnorth and Hine Dark Mountain concept and uncivilization)
reject idea that crises can be summed up as a set of problems in need of political solutions
change emphasis from recycling to other R's
refuse
repurpose
repair
reuse
reduce
power struggle between landowners, wage laborers, industrialists (is the presence of classes detrimental?)
education!
quality education is the foundation to creating a sustainable world. Schools are a crucial part of our investment in the future. Classrooms shape students, so they should incorporate structures that are not top down and empower students to learn from peers + play. Also should increase focus on arts (in my middle school, the fist thing to be impacted by budget cuts were art and music classes. This should change).
change in how we tell stories and teach history
giving space for local artists and vendors to flourish within a community
i.e Creative City in Estonia is a self-sustaining community where all shops source goods from fair-trade or local areas, all food is produced in Estonia. and artists are given space to showcase their work in the form of permanent installations like murals on the sides of buildings or temporary showcases as part of exhibits scattered around the community
i.e Christiania in Copenhegan
operates separately from the city as a commune. Participates in a circular economy (a lot of people build their own houses using repurposed/recycled materials), governance through consensus democracy, community building through trust and participation
No, it is not possible because it is essentially an oxymoron. You cannot accommodate an increasing population in a way that makes our impact on the environment negligible
humans are innately greedy and will exploit for self interest as a survival instinct. Human nature prevails (also ties into Macy/Esbjörn's concept of environmental despair and the fears that hold us back from addressing climate change
Yes, but only through "omega" events in the adaptive cycle
Will the crisis in Ukraine show us that a dependency on other countries for civilization-sustaining resources like oil for energy is not ideal, and will it thus usher in the Age of Renewable Energy/large-scale investment in clean energy?
do we really have to wait for something bad to happen/for millions of people to be harmed by a catastrophe in order for something to be done about environmental issues?
"Don't Look Up," what will it take to get the masses and the government to take immediate and aggressive action about climate change/environmental issues? Science isn't enough apparently
valuing equity as much as the economy
Suárez-Krabbe: globalization of coloniality (racialization, exploitation of labor, cultural and spiritual domination, institutionalization of practices by imperial powers, territorial and economic expansion, political and social control)
can be argued that sustainable development is not possible because of first world dependency on third world for resources, and third world dependency on first world for economic development
No, we are too interconnected and interdependent, dismantling the systems we operate in is too lofty a goal