showcasing sustainability at otago polytechnic

Sustainably Great

Staff development day 30th June 2010

Introduction (Niki Bould) Bridie Lonie Andy Thompson Morag MacAuley Samuel Mann Workshop (Niki leading)

ethics

Niki Bould

Western European thinking has positioned the human in the centre of nature and assumed

it is autonomous (ie stable)

it is resilient(will support us because we are its centre)

it is eternal (will not change despite us)

it is there to provide us with a reason for living

(Lake Matheson, West Coast)

But do we value all of nature?Resilience: cockroaches and burdock survived the

Hiroshima nuclear bombing

Art facilitates dialogue : Natalie Jeremijenko’s Environmental Health Clinic , New York City Residents of New York City bring samples of water to this clinic and it is tested for its “purity” .Jeremijenko’s office is a float of water bottles, in itself deomonstrating recycling and questioning the nature of water resource usage. (image w.environmentalhealthclinic.net

Sustainability involves complex issues

• In an exhibition in a disused shop in South Dunedin the fisherman talks to the viewer about the fish he caught locally and his partner cooked and recorded for nine weeks, locally and using guidelines around sustainability

• Many artists now work conceptually with temporary projects that create experiences and understandings

Bachelor of Visual Arts student Julie-Anne Fleming’s work is discussed by fisherman Laurie Savory and unidentified visitor , photographer Antonia Wood

Our ecology/oikos, greek for house; must house us all

Rachael Rakena, Fez Fa'anana & Brian Fuata perform the effects of climate and social change in Pacific washup, Sydney 2003

The work references the increased migration to Australia from Pacific countries which can no longer sustain their people

Timothy Morton speaks of climate change as a hyperobject : we can see its products and its effects but we cannot “see” it as a thing in itself

Art work to make visible the unseen

Chronophobia: resistance to acknowledging a future

• Bridie O’Leary’s work Le Dump (2010) balanced the potential effects of changing the minds of at least two people against the number of nappies used by one.

• Tony Fry discusses the fear we have of our own knowledge that the planet is full of stuff

• Timothy Morton argues that we know what we have to do but we must move from depression through grief to understanding and action

Resilient communities recognise differences in values

• Colin McCahon’s I AM paintings were read as a statement of solitude in a new country and the importance of the individual.

• “He” in Māori means a, one of, (and sometimes “wrong”).

• Michael Parekowhai’s The Indefinite Article (1990) demonstrated that meanings and values are not universal across communities and cultures.

New ‘economic” models bring together the three spheres

• “Nobel prize-winning economist Elinor Ostrom cautions against single governmental units at global level to solve the collective action problem of coordinating work against environmental destruction. Partly, this is due to their complexity, and partly to the diversity of actors involved. Her proposal is that of a polycentric approach, where key management decisions should be made as close to the scene of events and the actors involved as possible.”[

• http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2009/10/13/ostrom-on-commons-problems/

• Bridie O’leary’s work

Living CampusStudents engage with Otago Polytechnic gardens by cultivating a plot of small land, planting and caring for it.  This is accompanied by supporting lessons on soil quality, how to plant a garden at a flat, producing local food cheaply etc.

Action ProjectStudents have to select a project that is going to make a difference.  It needs to be obtainable for them to have success.  It will have implications socially, financially and environmentally

Interpretation / SoloStudents are required to deliver an interpretive session to their peers.  This allows them to consider how they can use storytelling to connect their audience with the surroundings and look beyond the activity itself.  Solo allows them to disengage from technology, slowing the pace of life for three days allowing the head to clear for better reflection.  Tasks are given and reflective feedback is used.

PresentationsA researched presentation/debate based around one contemporary/historical issue/s related to sustainability and/or the environment.

Advanced LeadershipInvestigates personal and professional philosophy in relationship to working in the outdoor educational industry and how this is sustainable.

Year 1 - Learning outcome 3

demonstrate the capacity to make links between personal, community, and global issues.

Year 1 – Learning outcome 4

Reflect on personal sustainability as a midwifery student

Product life cycle Assessment – earth to earth

A year 1 assignment asks the students to identify a product of their choice that relates to midwifery or the childbearing period. The Product life cycle Assessment is the investigation and valuation of the environmental impacts of the product caused or necessitated by it’s existence.

Year 3 - Learning outcome 3

demonstrate an understanding of the administration requirements of self-employed practice including business planning, financial management and taxation.

Title: The tenants of sustainability

You are required to consider the inclusion of the three main tenets of sustainability:• Environmental• Economic• SocialSpiritual sustainability and cultural sustainability are also considered tenets of sustainability.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianglanz/2383687233/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kcolwell/139110783/

http://o5.com/4-important-things-to-remember-when-buying-car-seats/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/awooster/299089289/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/iesp/3230113523/

As a society we have to learn to live in a complex world of interdependent systems with high uncertainties and multiple legitimate interests. These complex and evolving systems require a new way of thinking about risk, uncertainty, ambiguity and ignorance.

These systems require that we can think simultaneously of drivers and impacts of our actions across scales and barriers of space, time, culture, species and disciplinary boundaries.

Megafauna - stagl

Capstone

Exemplar project

Every project

surface / entrenched

underlying competencies and values

Capabilities

skills

…and process

systems thinking

ethics

critical thinking

creative thinking

consequences

Relationships

collaboration

community

building

acti

on

sustainablelens.org

Key focus of the discussion…

• In small groups

• Discuss any barriers you have faced when attempting to include sustainability in your teaching

– Your own barriers,

– Your colleagues barriers.

• Write five barriers onto five index cards

• Swap these barriers with other tables

• Discuss how you can overcome the barriers experienced from other tables

So why is including sustainability so hard?

• Some common barriers are:

– It is not relevant to my discipline

– I do not have time to include it

– It is a specialist subject and I do not have the skills to include it

But what if sustainability was more than you thought…

• Systems thinking

• Action

• Ethics

• Critical thinking

• Creative thinking

• Consequences

• Relationships

• Collaboration

• Community

• Behaviour

Such as:

Then lots of aspects of sustainability are probably already being included in teaching…

your turn