culture

Do you know how to make your diet more sustainable?

I’ve looked into research on food sustainability and to say it’s complex is an understatement. Local good but meat bad; what if it’s local meat? Fruits and veggies good; what if they’re grown with lots of fertilizer and pesticides? What about farming practices and transportation distances and water use? I have a good background to … Continue reading →

To talk about money or not

I just read two recent articles. The first, by Masood (2022) reflects on a recent report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. This report basically says we should 1) stop relying on short term economic value of nature and 2) consider multiple types and sources of value including sociocultural value. I … Continue reading →

Sustainability needs diverse groups of experts to solve climate change

I teach a course on sustainability challenges. Students work in groups to help community partners with projects relating to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The students come from many different areas of study and collaborate on developing meaningful projects. According to a recent report by Cole et al (2022) working with diverse teams is … Continue reading →

The apparent legitimacy of celebration

Losing traditional cultures as we lose nature

I was speaking with a student who was a member of a First Nations group once about her language when she made a comment that has stuck with me for several years. She said that when she moved to the city to pursue school she had to give up part of her language. This wasn’t, … Continue reading →

Sustainability is Social and Cultural

The third in the series of audio posts, created for an Introductory Sustainability course and to discuss what sustainability is. Have you ever thought about how the place you grew up affected you later in your life? What messages did you receive from the places you experienced? Was where you lived or spent time focused … Continue reading →