When it comes to sustainable practices, strategies and encouraging sustainable behaviors, I think a lot can be learned from water resource management. As I've read through Chapter 5 of Roseland one thing I've noticed is that instead of it describing strategies that could be put into place to improve the water resources or resource management of a community, it mostly talks about a myriad of examples of solutions that have been implemented. So since I'm prone to ask "why" when I notice something that deviates successfully from the norm, I of course began to wonder why it is that there seems to be so much more involvement, especially in the form of municipal and government incentives (both positive and negative), in improving the sustainability of how we use, treat, and conserve water.
My best guess is that water is more tangible. There are far fewer steps that most people need to see in order to understand how unsustainable water resource management can adversely affect them and their families and communities than for other sustainability issues. Everyone wants clean water and they aren't afraid to make sure that their elected representatives know it. This results in more actual and immediate action by the (US) government at large for improving water systems. Unfortunately, while this might be getting more done for improving water systems for those of us lucky enough to have governments that can and want to do something about it, what it doesn't help with is the issue of poor water quality and rampant water pollution in developing countries. So it's nice to see that many of the larger humitarian organizations such as the World Bank and UNICEF (See the UNICEF video about water issues in Africa below.) have specific water resource strategies and focuses, but certainly more can be done.
But I digress. Besides the fact that I think developing countries should be first in line for new innovations in water treatment and management, I think that maybe we should try to model other strategies regarding sustainable practices on how water resource and treatment has been approached, especially concerning adoption and getting buy-in from the general public. Because it seems like things are actually getting done with water resource management, and any sustainable strategy that we can look to as a model of success seems like a good model to pick apart and use in other areas.
So, how do we bring other sustainability issues out into the light so that they are viewed as more direct and immediate concerns by the population and governments of the world? People don't like to be brow-beaten; even if it is for a good cause. Someone out there has got to have some new and brilliant ideas. Let's hear 'em.
Great video, Scott! Do you have any ideas/solutions for the question you posed? My mind immediately turns to food/agriculture as another tangible sustainability issue that can be viewed directly and immediately. While I am not sure about why the this is happening specifically, it seems that more people are choosing to buy local food or organic food. This is a great thing, but it would be interesting to know why the trend has happened as well to learn from it in addition to water.
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of developing nations and water conservation, I agree with you in that we should offer more support and implement new innovations in many of these countries because numerous studies have shown that developing nations will be the most vulnerable to climate change and natural resource depletion in the next 50 years. However, I am not so sure that we should model our natural resource conservation efforts, especially strategies concerning access to and sanitation of water resources, on the larger “humanitarian” organizations such as the World Bank. I’m not as up-to-date on the Bank’s current position, but I know that their past approaches, encouraging and even financing the move to privatization, received heavy criticism and actually had reverse effects for the first few countries they provided aid to in this regard. Wish I had time to add some references, but a quick Google search ought to reveal some insight on these controversies.
ReplyDelete@ccarwein: I hadn't meant to suggest that we should model how we deal with sustainability issues on how some of the large humanitarian organizations deal with water issues in developing nations. Rather I was only trying to use the fact that there is already a lot of attention on water issues (of which work in developing nations is but one example) to show that it has permeated the world's collective thinking that this is an issue needing addressed and is getting some resulting action.
ReplyDeleteIn my attempt to soapbox and try to draw some extra attention to the plight of developing nations (with the posted video), I can see that it may have seemed like I was trying to suggest a connection which I did not mean. My point was basically that, as shown by plenty of examples of implemented water resource solution examples in Roseland, that for some reason water issues have been taken more seriously and dealt with a bit more proactively than other sustainability issues seem to have been.
Finally, while it is true that the World Bank's providing financial assistance to developing nations in the past has ultimately led to a worse economic situation for some of those nations, I think that argument is more one of the soundness of financial decisions vs. good intentions. But my only point in mentioning the World Bank was to show another example of an organization that has put water issues in the forefront of their focus.
Thanks for the perspective, Scott, and the thought-provoking question. The video dramatically illustrates the vital importance that sustainable practices have for future generations. While we, in developed nations, daily take for granted such things as food, water, shelter, and healthcare, people in developing countries live in a day-to-day struggle for access to them. The great steps taken by WorldBank and UNICEF to provide clean drinking water play major roles in not only helping those in desperate need, but spreading the word to others of the critical situations that will be faced if we continue to misuse and abuse natural resources. While this information is important to disseminate, however, the pessimist in me can’t help but wonder how much of it will make a difference in people’s everyday lives and actions. The important question you posed, about how can we spread the sense of importance and urgency to other elements of sustainability (not just those that affect our lives as directly as the presence or absence of water), is something that I don’t know quite how to answer. “Fostering Sustainable Behavior” provides many concepts and methods designed to change behaviors, such as creating incentives and removing barriers. However, I think that ultimately, driving people towards actions that will help create a sustainable future is difficult unless the threats to individuals are immediate and direct.
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