Sustainability Education
The Center for Sustainable Economy works with educators at the University and K-12 levels to incorporate sustainability into formal education. We publish academic papers to advance the science and practice of sustainability. We provide guest instructors, conduct seminars and workshops, sponsor outdoor education programs and prepare modules and materials for economics, environmental studies, and science courses. We also sponsor forums for decision makers and voters on sustainability issues of current relevance.
Some recent examples of our sustainability education work include:
CSE President John Talberth prepared Chapter 2 in Worldwatch Institute's State of the World 2008. The Chapter, entitled "A New Bottom Line for Progress," calls for a new set of economic indicators that measure progress towards economic, environmental, and social sustainability and phasing out of the current set of indicators based on growth and globalization. A new set of indicators such as the Genuine Progress Indicator, indicators of eco-efficiency, and indicators of equity are needed to speed the transition towards a sustainable society based on renewable energy, diverse, local economies, protected natural capital, and growth in the quality of our lives not the amount of material goods and services we consume. Read:
Published chapter
CSE and Kinga Dow Productions built an on-line carbon footprint calculator designed to promote climate friendly initiatives at congregations throughout the United States. The project was sponsored by The Regeneration Project and Interfaith Power and Light. The calculator is one of the broadest available, taking into consideration congregation and staff travel, facility energy use, waste, procurement, grounds management, and offsets. TRP plans to use the next version of this calculator as the basis for a Cool Congregations Carbon Footprint Challenge. Visit:
Cool Congregations Carbon Footprint Calculator
Economic Openness and Green GDP, John Talberth and Alok Bohara. Using green GDP measures such as the Genuine Progress Indicator and Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare we demonstrated that contrary to the preponderance of econometric studies in the literature, economic openness (globalization) has a detrimental effect on welfare when the volume of trade exceeds a certain threshold. The paper was recently published in Ecological Economics. Read:
Refining the Ecological Footprint, Jason Venetoulis and John Talberth. Despite its popularity, the ecological footprint has been criticized for its failure to reflect the planet's biodiversity crisis or indicate that at a global level, our use of fisheries, crop land, pasture land, or forests is unsustainable. This paper proposes several refinements to ecological footprint analysis to respond to longstanding critiques in the literature and to improve the accuracy and relevance of the metric. The paper will be published in the journal Environment, Development and Sustainability. Read:
Assessing the Ecological Impact of a University: The Ecological Footprint for the University of Redlands, Jason Venetoulis. Since the environmental movement began, teachers, researchers, and activists on college and university campuses have made great strides toward making campuses "greener" places. As effective as these efforts have been and continue to be, some increasingly salient questions about sustainability remain unanswered. This paper offers an answer to the question, "How big is the University of Redlands's ecological impact?'', using a recently developed technique called ecological footprint analysis (EFA). The paper was published in the International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. Read:
Costa Rican Adventures, Susan Leopold. Costa Rican Adventures is a family-run company co-founded by Susan. The company has dedicated 10 years to creating a healthier and more sustainable planet through eco-centered travel. Named one of Conde Nast Traveler Magazine's Best Ecotourism Operators of 2004, Cost Rican Adventures offer experiences for travelers of all ages to personally connect with the natural wonders of the Earth. Costa Rican Adventures offers an EcoClassroom that provides learning excursions for teachers and their students germaine to the studies of tropical ecology, environmental science, biology and Spanish. CSE (formerly Forest Conservation Council) has sponsored Susan in her work as a regular instructor in the EcoClassroom. Read: