research methods eco- sustainability our amazing place

Research Methods

Eco-sustainabilit

y

Our Amazing Place

from a to aor Getting Nowhere

finding the freewayto myself, i put my footdown to my own motivefloorboards asking the

rear-view what to do

next

it saidbrother

the faster youeat me up the more youleave behind – you’ll see

more of me slower so why notpull over ’cause this road is

goingbackwards and your incessant

tyres are speeding upthe world

© Mario Petrucci 2008Published in: Envoi magazine

(#147)

A class of two streams

• Research methods only – 81• Research methods plus Research Practicum –

2 students • 10.00 to 11.30 an interactive lecture relevant

to both groups• 12.30 – 2.00 - practical tasks in class around

methods and RM assignments • 2.00 – 3.00 – tutorial time for RM• RP Small group tutorials by arrangement

Some tricky and not-so-tricky issuesNo attendance requirement. Need to be

respectful of others in the class and the teacher, being intentional about your attendance. Look at your timetable

Where will we do the breakouts? We have two classrooms 510-3011 (65) and 500-3009 (25) 12.30 – 2.00pm (sessions may go into tutorial time, from time to time)

Tutorials: Mostly 2.00- 3.00pm. Practicum – by arrangement

Issues in Resource Depletion?• Population growth projections• Per capita use of resources• Peak Oil • Carbon or Ecological Footprint• Effects of Climate Change• Environmental degradation and loss of

biodiversity• The evolutionary psychology of change• The politics of change – cultural evolution• The pragmatics of individual change

The problem of doubling

• Put a small piece of paper (one 32th of an A4 page) on the desk, double it for the second , double for the third and so on. How high would the stack of pages be on the 83rd student’s desk?

• If we have 7% growth how long is before we double our use of resources? How long before we have 1000 fold increase in the use of our resources

World GDP Growth Rates 2009

Exponential curvesWorld Population Growth, 1750–2150

1920 - 1 billion

1955 - 2 billion

1985 - 4 billion

2035 - 8 billion

Annual growth rate = 3.5%

Actual and Estimated production of oil and gas – Peak Oil

Ecological footprint per person G:\Carbon Footprint Advert.wmv

Land needed for uranium

Land and ocean needed for carbon sequestration

Land needed for housing

Land needed for agriculture (animal food) Ocean needed for fishing Land needed for timber

Land needed for plant foods, biofuels

1961 - 2001

Ecological Footprint• The biocapacity of the Earth =11.2 billion

hectares on a sustainable basis • =1.8 global hectares per person – nothing for

non-humans • In 2001 we used 13.7 billion global hectares,

or 2.2 global hectares per person. • Our Footprint exceeds our biocapacity by 0.4

global hectares per person. • The planet’s living stocks are being depleted

faster than nature can regenerate them

Climate change

melting of the

Artic ice caps

24% lost over 30 years

Sea level rising

Maldives

1000 year drought - Australia

followed by 1000 year floods

Air pollution in Beijing

Plastic Oceans

Plastic oceans video

Environmental degradation

deforestataion

Risks to biodiversity

Death to biodiversity = death to Humanity

“We are hearing a great deal about the economic ‘credit crunch’. What we face also in the natural world

is a ‘credit crunch for biodiversity’.

We need to set – and then reach - new ambitious targets to value and conserve the fundamental riches

of our life support systems, and the wildlife and people that depend on them”.Julia Marton- Director IUCN

Citation: Vié, J.-C., Hilton-Taylor, C. and Stuart, S.N. (eds.) (2009). Wildlife in a Changing World – An Analysis of the 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. 180 pp.

Rapanui

Why can’t we change?

Rapanui

Evolution of change

• Human behaviour is adapted well to responding to short and medium term threats, but not to long term threats.

• We know about the mechanisms of biological evolution, but very little about cultural evolution G:\Ehrlich_ We Must Change Behavior to Save Global Culture.wmv

• We need to understand the psychology (the effects of incentives) and sociology (e.g. social norming) of behaviour change

Possible mechanisms of change?the ways in which different types of consumer feedback and

information affect sustainability behaviourthe effect of non-economic incentives and disincentives; the impact of social marketing campaigns; G:\How To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint.wmv

the importance of social networks and social movements in shaping sustainability behaviour uptake

the effect of group contingencies and behavioural modelling on individual behaviour;

the significance of commitment to behavioural change; the importance of the social and political context in shaping

individual attitudes and behaviour; the relationship between social status, values and

sustainability behaviour and socio-cultural patterns of sustainability behaviour.

Resilient local communities and eco-sustainability

• Grow more local food• Share and employ more local resources – food co-ops• Repair and re-use rather than replace• Play more sport, have more social life locally• Travel less, bike more, more fun, more work locally• Support each other (including elderly and people with

disability) – less reliant on welfare services• Recycle water, waste less water, energy , use solar power• Better local infra-structure - less need for motorways• Feeling empowered to make change

OUR AMAZING PLACE

Treasure Hunts are a vibrant platform for community development

Highlights…•Unsworth Heights – 58 teams, 250 people•Helensville – 130 teams, 400 people•Glenfield - 30 teams 150 people•Lyttelton - 120 teams - 450 people

Glen Eden 23rd March 2013Massey 23rd March 2013Unsworth Heights 23rd March 2013Avondale 6th of April 2013Kelston 13th April 2013Initial steps underway in Glendene, Ranui, Titirangi, Te Atatu, MPHS, Tamaki, Riverside, Bayswater. Also enquiries for Mt Roskill and Central suburbs

How was it?• 85% rated the event 8, 9 or 10 out of 10, 41% were

10/10• Great day for my family, it was fun to have time with

my son & work together, loved spending the day with my family and community, we all had lots of fun,

• What a great fun idea, Awesome job, we salute you for your great concern for our community. On behalf of Lata, I would like to thank you for organising this event to open up our minds about the community

• Cool, love this!, fun, exciting, awesome day, awesome day, we had an awesome time, what an awesome day, Perfect event