Wayne, I will first answer your questions, and then ask you why you are asking them.
Sustainability IS an important matter, and a crucial one. If we are not living in a sustainable manner, however you define it, we will eventually deplete our resources and be left in a very bad state. But what do you hope to gain by asking the list-members to "define the term as precisely as possible"? You will more than likely get several tens of answers, probably all differing from each other either minutely or substantially. Yes, this may indicate that the term has become more than what it used to mean - for me, it means "consuming less than is produced, and not resulting in the net depletion of non-renewable constituent resources" - but does that make the production of a resource and communication mechanism such as this website a bad thing? Or a non-useful thing? Yes, I think it's possible that "sustainability" has become a much more frequently-used term by the general populace and, as such, is likely to get used by people to reflect _their_ particular definition of what they believe sustainability means. If only a few specialists in a very restricted academic or technical field ever use a particular term, it remains very precisely defined, and we laypeople probably end up referring to it as their jargon. As a term becomes more mainstream and used by many millions of people, who work in many different fields and also apply the term to aspects of their non-professional life, I believe that it will inevitably come to mean more things to more people and, understandably, loses those nice, precise definitions and moves from technical jargon to everyday verbiage. Like "conservative." Or "ecological." I also believe that, even if a term becomes harder to pin down, it is important for people to use it, if it embodies what they honestly feel reflects what they are trying to get across to people. They should, though, be prepared and willing to clarify what they are referring to and how they are using the term, just as different fields explain how they are using "variable," or "significant," or "adaptable." Don't be scared of using a term just because it has gotten some fuzzy edges. And, for Pete's sake, don't be afraid of working together with the people that use the term the way you do AND with the people who use it differently. I took a quick look at the "Learning for Sustainability" website and it looks like it has some pretty good resources. It may have a little more social science than what many folks are comfortable with, especially when compared to quantitative, economically-precise "cost of ecological services" discussions, but it may be very useful to others interested in working with _people and society_. Greenly (oops...), Marcus -----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Wayne Tyson Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 10:42 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Education vs Indoctrination Can sustainability be sustained? Re: [ECOLOG-L] Managing the social aspects of ecosystem management - LfS portal update Ecolog Forum: I am using this post as a springboard to ask you all whether or not you consider this an important matter, much less a crucial subject for consideration. To maintain a bias-free mental posture, I have not visited any of the sites. Therefore, these comments are not about the content of those sites, nor are they about the email itself; it merely reminded me of the issue. I would like your opinions about whether or not you have had similar thoughts or whether or not you find the subject disagreeable to think about or discuss, or otherwise unworthy of your time. In asking, "Is sustainability sustainable?" I have a multi-faceted concern--that while "sustainability" is a valid term in some sense, it, like "ecology" and many other perfectly good terms, has lost its discriminatory value in communication, technology, and science through overuse, misuse, and overgeneralization. Do you believe this to be the case? In any case, would you please define the term as precisely as possible? If there are alternative definitions, would you please define them too? If you believe that there is no question about the definition, that the definition is so well understood that there can be no dispute about how the terms is defined and used that asking those questions is unnecessary, would you please so indicate? Respectfully submitted, WT ----- Original Message ----- From: "Will Allen" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 12:44 AM Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Managing the social aspects of ecosystem management - LfS portal update > The Learning for Sustainability site - > http://learningforsustainability.net > - brings together resources to help us address and manage the social and > capacity building aspects of ecosystem management and other sustainability > issues. This resource has been substantially revised and updated over > recent > months. It is a guide to on-line resources for researchers and > practitioners > interested in managing multi-stakeholder processes that support social > learning and collective action. The site highlights the wide range of > social > skills and processes that are needed. It shows how these can be linked > together, and structures these in a practical way. This brings links to > several hundred annotated on-line resources together in one easy to access > site. > > Most pages have been expanded with new resource links added. Particular > attention has been paid to expanding the sections on undertaking > interdisiplinary and integrated projects and adaptation. Featured links to > specific papers in these areas can be found from the July newletter page > at > - http://learningforsustainability.net/newsletters/jul09.php > > Other updated resource sections link to resources to support thinking and > practice around managing complex systems, community resilience, and > participation. A central guides, tools and checklists section provides > practical guidance to help readers address issues involved in managing > multi-stakeholder participation and engagement initiatives. Other site > sections provide links to best and emerging practice in specific areas > including social learning, adaptive management, integration, network > building and mapping, dialogue, knowledge management, and evaluation. > > The LearningForSustainability.net site also manages additional sections on > finding volunteering and job opportunities. These can be found from the > main > site index at http://learningforsustainability.net As with the rest of the > site these sections bring links to lot of on-line resources together in > one > easy to access site, each link is annotated to provide a guide to its > contents. > > Regards > Will > > -------------------------------------- > Dr. Will Allen > LearningForSustainability.net - http://learningforsustainability.net - > Supporting dialogue, collective action and reflection > E-mail: [email protected] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.375 / Virus Database: 270.13.20/2248 - Release Date: 07/19/09 05:57:00
