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Sustainability Studies Recommendations for Potential BDIC Students NOTE: if you are interested in the new Plant,
Soils and Insect Sciences Sustainable
Agriculture – Food Systems Option, go here John M. Gerber, Professor of Plant Sciences and
Sustainability Studies 308 Bowditch Hall; 545-5301; jgerber@psis.umass.edu May 2007 Student interest
in diverse areas of study relating to sustainability seems to be
increasing. BDIC students who have already taken this path helped to
develop this guide. We hope you find it useful. Please feel free
to contact me to talk about developing a concentration proposal related to
sustainability if you would like. WHY SUSTAINABILITY STUDIES: The reasons for choosing this area of study are many. Former BDIC Sustainability Studies students have said: “As a citizen of the world, I am responsible for my
actions and what I leave.” “I want to work in the area of sustainability as a
professional. I want to be able to make a livelihood while doing so.” “We need to learn how to create non-profits,
businesses and communities that provide opportunities for sustainability
work.” “Sustainability is the right, radical solution to
our problems. It ties together the disciplines and the people who need
to work together for holistic solutions.” “We hold a desire to create a better world for
others and ourselves. We need to move toward a new way of sustaining
the planet and ourselves. We need to find
ways science can contribute in a positive way to a sustainable future.”
For
these reasons and more, students at UMass have decided to create their own
programs of study in diverse aspects of sustainability through BDIC.
Among the areas of study are: THE
CONCEPT: A generally accepted model
for sustainability presents this concept as a quest toward three interrelated
objectives. These are: ·
environmental
quality, ·
economic vitality,
and ·
social equity. We
believe students may begin thinking about sustainability from any of these
perspectives. For example, Agriculture and Environmental Studies majors
often start from an environmental (or biophysical perspective).
Students majoring in Economics or Business Management may begin from an
economic perspective. Sociology and Anthropology students may approach
this area of study from a social perspective. While
balancing multiple perspectives is useful, this alone will not result in a
deep understanding of sustainability. According to an April 2001
article in Science, the science and education community has not made
an adequate contribution to global sustainable development. The authors
of this article call for a new area of study that is different in “structure,
methods and content” from the programs of the past. Specifically the
new sustainability curriculum will need to approach problems from a holistic
or integrative perspective. The view of sustainability at the center of the
model includes and integrates all the other views, providing meaning and
spirit to the work and is fundamental to understanding of sustainable
systems. This integrative or holistic perspective requires intentional
learning that should be included in each student’s concentration proposal. We
believe this program is at the leading edge of an educational and work
movement that is emerging across the nation. Paul Hawken wrote in the
January/February 2000 issue of Sierra Club Magazine: “There
are in the United States today at least 30,000 nongovernmental organizations
dealing with sustainability in the broad sense of the word. In the
world, there are approximately 100,000 such groups. The sustainability
movement does not agree on everything, nor should it ever. But,
remarkably, it shares a basic set of fundamental understandings about the
earth and how it functions, and about the necessity of fairness and equity
for all people in partaking of the earth’s lifegiving systems. This shared
understanding is arising spontaneously, from different economic sectors,
cultures, regions, and cohorts.” This
global movement is being nurtured within higher education by several national
and international organizations. Among the leading organizations
are: The Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable - http://www.ulsf.org/. Second Nature Inc. - http://www.secondnature.org/. SUSTAINABILITY
WORK: Educated citizens of the 21st
century need to understand the effect of decisions made by individuals,
organizations, and communities on long-term global sustainability. Of
particular concern to educated adults are the impacts of climate, environment,
pollution, war, culture, class, and security on these complex food and
agricultural systems. Work toward a sustainable future is found in many
areas. Among those available today are: Policy and Advocacy – this includes work for non-profit advocacy and
educational organizations, government agencies, university research centers,
and personal citizen involvement in political and community change efforts. Education and Community Engagement – this includes youth education, citizen education,
non-profit educational organizations, media work, and formal teaching, as
well as work directly with people and groups in community. Examples are
classroom teaching, distance learning, experiential education, community
gardens, anti-hunger coalitions, environmental protection efforts etc. Agricultural & Natural Systems Management – this
includes knowledge of sustainable and organic plant and animal production
systems, as well as natural resource management. We believe the
departmental majors do an excellent job in prepareing students for careers in
production agriculture and natural resource management. A BDIC major
will allow students to broaden their area of study to include complex human
relationships associated with agriculture and nature, on farms, in communities,
in business and society. Specifically students may study communication
processes, systems analysis, decision-making, and relationship building among
diverse peoples and between people and the natural world. For a list of jobs and internships relating to sustainability, see
these links: Sustainability Jobs
(mostly food and land related) Sustainability
Internships (mostly farm and land related) SUSTAINABILITY
MODEL:
DEVELOPING
A CONCENTRATION: We believe
attention should be paid to all three circles in the sustainability model
above, as well as the integrated region at the center that we called
integrative or holistic studies. Therefore we recommend a mix of
courses from all four segments of the model. Students interested in
sustainability of environmental or biophysical systems such as agriculture,
environmental studies and natural resources should emphasize this area of
study. Courses might be selected from agricultural departments, Natural
Resources Conservation, Geosciences and others. These should be
complemented with social system courses such as anthropology and sociology,
as well as economic system courses. Courses that span disciplines, such
as systems science and holistic studies, should complete the educational
package by integrating knowledge from the critical environmental, social and
economic components. A
specific course of study should be developed in consultation with the BDIC
office and a faculty sponsor. The following resources may be useful: General Education Requirements (for a list of
Sustainability oriented Gen Ed's, see GENED) Selected courses from each of these areas (for a
list of 300 level courses, see COURSES) Experiential course(s) in the Major – 12-15 credits
of experiential courses (internship/practicum
and/or independent study) are suggested. For suggestions on doing an internship with John Gerber, click here. For more information, contact John Gerber at jgerber@psis.umass.edu
or stop by 308 Bowditch Hall. |
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©2008 John M. Gerber |
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