Talk:Sustainability/History/Archive 1

History
NOTE: go through ecology, agriculture, logging, environmentalism, economics, culture, everything, and read through their histories and see where sustainability is referenced, any significant concepts or advancements, and incorporate them here...

Long before modern humans evolved, the evolution of plant and animal species to adapt to their environments and their interactions with eachother, led life on Earth to develop a natural balance to ensure the simultaneous survival of various species of life, thus all life on Earth relies on other forms of life to exist. The capacity of any system to endure and grow depends, first and foremost, on the energy that is available to support its activity. Simple biological systems like bacterial colonies will multiply and grow until the energy (food) supply and/or critical nutrients become depleted, or until waste products inhibit growth.

In early human history the energy and resource demands of small bands of nomadic hunter-gatherers would have been very small although, even at this time, their use of fire and desire for specific foods may have influenced the existence and composition of living systems. Later, the success of settled agrarian communities would have depended largely on the skill with which they managed their land and trade: societies outgrowing their local food supply or depleting critical resources would have to move on or collapse. Mismanagement of finite natural resources by cultures such as the Maya, Anasazi and Easter Islanders eventually led to their demise by destroying their resource base [84] [85], while other societies such as Indigenous Australians, evolved slowly over lengthy periods of time in balance with their surrounding environment.

These advancments in technology increased the overall population of human beings as they manipulated their surrounding environment without the comprehension of the future effects of an unsustainable existence, utilising their intelligence without understanding how to use it properly. Although the majority of the human population still do not comprehend their unsustainable lifestyles or understand the subsequent effects, the concept of sustianability has been increasingly collectivly understood by human beings since the late 20th century, becoming widely known, if not fully understood, by the turn of the century.

(Discussion)
I would like to offer the following as an alternative to the above. My thinking is that it introduces its themes in exactly the same way we did in the lead and definition - by passing clearly from general systems, to biological systems, to human systems, all the time speaking in broad generalities. At the same time it progressively introduces and juxtaposes the key concepts of sustainability, energy and food, resource use, growth and its limiting factors. It is very minimalist and "bones"-like because I am aware of space problems in this section: there is a lot still to say history-wise. If this effort or part of it is "consensused" then I can easily provide citations for all the assertions.

The capacity of any system to endure and grow depends, first and foremost, on the energy that is available to support its activity. Simple biological systems like bacterial colonies will multiply and grow until the energy (food) supply and/or critical nutrients become depleted, or until waste products inhibit growth. In early human history the energy and resource demands of small bands of nomadic hunter-gatherers would have been very small although, even at this time, their use of fire and desire for specific foods may have influenced the existence and composition of living systems. Later, the success of settled agrarian communities would have depended largely on the skill with which they managed their land and trade: societies outgrowing their local food supply or depleting critical resources would have to move on or collapse. Among civilisations thought to have brought about their own demise by poor management of energy and resources include the Mayans, Mesopotamians and Easter Islanders. Granitethighs (talk) 21:24, 9 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I've incorporated the changes and added a sentence on the cultures/societies/people who have sustained their own existence at times in human history, such as Indigenous Australians for tens of thousands of years (they had laws in place that prevented the use of resources that had to recuperate before being utilised again) and I'm sure there have been others that I don't know of, perhaps smaller groups. Nick carson (talk) 00:55, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Early 20th century
- Hotelling's Rule, beginnings of the modern concepts of sustainability

By the turn of the 20th century, the industrial revolution had led to an unprecedented increase in the human consumption of resources, for many decades this was seen as a positive thing for humanity as it increased overall health and wealth and further increased population. In 1931, Harold Hotelling proposed Hotelling's rule, an economic model exploring non-renewable resource management. It showed that efficient exploitation of a nonrenewable resource would, under otherwise stable economic conditions, lead to a depletion of the resource. The rule stated that this would lead to a net price or "Hotelling rent" that reflected the increasing scarcity of the resource. Simmilarly, Hartwick's rule provided an important result about the sustainability of welfare in an economy that uses non-renewable resources.

By the early to mid twentieth century ecology had become an accepted scientific discipline bringing with it many ideas that are now fundamental to sustainability including; the interconnectedness of all living systems forming a single living planetary system, the biosphere; the importance of natural cycles (of water, nutrients and other chemicals, materials, waste); and the passage of energy through trophic levels of living systems.

(Discussion)
Suggested continuation from above into early twentieth century. I would like some of the formative economic ideas here after the ecology bit but with a simple explanation of what they say and why they are important for sustainability thinking.

By the early to mid twentieth century ecology had become an accepted mainstream scientific discipline bringing with it many ideas that are now fundamental to sustainability including: the interconnectedness of all things with (eco)systems all linked to form a single living planetary system, the biosphere; the importance of natural cycles (of water, nutrients and other chemicals, materials, waste); the passage of energy through trophic levels of living systems. Granitethighs (talk) 03:48, 10 December 2008 (UTC)


 * The early 20th century section was a bit of a hole in my research, I think we should keep it there, perhaps add your proposed paragraph to that section? I might just do that now, let me know if your not happy with it. Nick carson (talk) 05:15, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

(Discussion)
It is really difficult to sort out big picture (social and environmental trends, movements, ideas) and small picture (individual events, places and people) in this history section in general, it is also difficult sorting out the extent to which aspects of the environmental movement link to the story we want to tell about sustainability. I think we now have ecology covered in the previous sections and offer the following for discussion – for the period 1940 to 1980. As always – it is difficult but important to be brief. It would be great, at a later date, to follow up Nicks suggestion of a separate article on the history of sustainability.

Following the deprivations of the great depression and World War II the West entered a period of escalating growth. A gathering environmental movement pointed out that there were environmental costs associated with the many material benefits that were now being enjoyed. Innovations in technology were transforming society, they included: new plastics; the energy of nuclear power and fossil fuels, especially oil, for ever more efficient transport systems; modern industrial agriculture was born through the Green Revolution; and a host of new electronic devices were introduced including colour television and computers. There were concerns about pollution (Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring looked coldly at the ecological effects of a booming synthetic chemicals industry), the renewal of a population growth spiral, and the clever marketing of consumption beyond reasonable need. In 1975 the book Limits to Growth analyzed the implications of all these developments for the future of humanity. Granitethighs (talk) 23:03, 11 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I get what your saying about sorting out the big and little pictures, so where I've talked about individual texts, etc, I've added something to the effect of "these progressions/trends/ideas/concepts/etc were represented/epitomised in book X, released in year Y" this explains to the reader that there was alot of people thinking and writing about the same stuff but perhaps only one or two publications that gained widespread noteriety or success and came to be used as yardsticks for their subject matter.


 * I've discussed the created of a separate "History of Sustainability" article below and suggested you keep any more detailed information that you've written in a sandbox or something so that once we've finished the rewrite of this article, anyone who wants to can tackle the creation of the "History of Sustaianbility" article. Nick carson (talk) 11:23, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

21st century: Global Awareness
Since the turn of the century, more specific and detailed models and concepts have been proposed in an effort to transition human civilisation towards becomming sustainable. Important concepts that have arrisen include; the Car-free movement, in which urban environments are designed considering all aspects of the system, and the Cradle to Cradle concept, as defined in the 2002 publication Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by Michael Braungart and William McDonough, in which toxic, synthetic and organic materials are separated into different life-cycles and models are proposed for the efficent use of materials in manufacturing and production.

Global oil production is generally accepted to have peaked in 2006, while many large corporations and energy organisation's predictions suggest this is yet to happen and will occur between 2010 and 2020, depending on the origin of the prediction. Regardless of when it has or will occur, peak oil production has severe implications, particularly for westernised countires which rely heavily on road freight and private automobiles, for the way people transport themselves, food prices and subsequent economic effects. The beginning of many such effects are already being felt, as represented by record high oil prices peaking during mid 2008.

The work of Bina Agarwal and Vandana Shiva amongst many others, has given South Asia and the Indian subcontinent a more international perspective of ecology and sustainability. In 2002, the United Nations passed a resolution for the declaration of the decade 2005-2014 to be known as the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development and began implementing international projects and programs to educate the human population on issues of sustainability.

The changes across all aspects of humanity, specifically the advancements in technology, over the last few decades is sometimes referred to as the beginning of the New Industrial Revolution, which would see the transition of economies, energy generation, water and waste management, towards sustainable practices, which may subsequently lead to a widespread collective realisation of the need for humanity to sustain its own existence.

(Discussion)
Suggested abbreviation of the above.There are many names I have not mentioned. It is difficult to know where to start. Its all space ...

It was now clear that environmental problems had become a matter of global concern. While the developed world was considering the problems of unchecked development the developing countries, faced with continued poverty and deprivation, regarded development as essential - to provide the necessities of food, clean water and shelter. In 1980 the International Union for the Conservation of Nature had published its influential World Conservation Strategy followed in 1982 by its World Charter for Nature which drew attention to the decline of the world’s ecosystems. Faced with the differing priorities of the developed and developing world the United Nation’s World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) worked for two years to try and resolve the apparent conflict between the environment and development. The Commission concluded that development was acceptable but it must now be different: it must be sustainable development that was directed to meeting the needs of the poor in a way that no longer caused environmental problems but helped to solve them.

At more grass roots level there has been a slow and steady adoption of more sustainable living by increasing public awareness and adopting recycling, dematerialization, decarbonisation, renewable energies, and the use of soft technology. Granitethighs (talk) 03:17, 12 December 2008 (UTC)


 * We need to synthesise both of our versions, normally I would be doing it as I write this but I'm not in the right headspace right now. Nick carson (talk) 11:25, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

Preliminaries
For simplicity I suggest the title be "History"

In the interests of article balance I suggest this section does not exceed ?300 words

In the interest of clarity I suggest that there be no overlap between this and the "Economic" part of the article.

Although "chattiness" is not appropriate for an encyclopaedia I feel the present text is "difficult": I feel it needs a simpler, more flowing style concentrating more on ideas than names.

Could we perhaps start from the current "Outline" ? Granitethighs (talk) 22:31, 27 November 2008 (UTC)
 * I like the current version and do not think the information should be changed much. It already has been edited as to flow and direction and time aspect. Historic and modern framing of sustainability issues... gets at the substance of this section.. the title is fine. Balance should be given in favor of more info as opposed to less in this section. Right now it contains the very bare bones of the academic aspect of the history of the issue and its most important aspects. Economics in regard to sustainability is a very different aspect and the two should not be blended. Economics are a key part of the history of the thought of sustainability... they are interlaced. Right now the economic section in the article does not contain the history information and vice a versa... There is room for both of these aspects in the article... the pure academic issues and the tied in economic issues... so... these sections are very different. The present information is not difficult. It is full of article links and citation references for those that wish to delve further into issues presented. It is simple now. It also flows easily... and I disagree completely about concentrating on ideas instead of names... as these names came up with the ideas... and are studied by serious people because of that... and then people are connected with the serious and notable ideas... which are notable for a reason. skip sievert (talk) 22:41, 27 November 2008 (UTC)


 * GT is right, the title of this section should be "History". I think we need to stick to the subsections of "Early Writings", "Environmentalism", as without them it makes it difficult for the reader to read through and learn about the history of the concept of sustainability. I'll use this rewrite as a basis for my own and I'll try and place the current content into the appropriate subsections. To restate, it's not so much a content problem, content is 90% there, I'm just worried about how this section flows and how the information within it is organised; we should stick to the proposed outline. Nick carson (talk) 07:38, 28 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Alright,... artful writing is nice.. but information is more important... people come for information. History as a title then. Right now the information goes according to a time line... and that is the axis of the presentation. This is not a bad way to do it... it shows mostly different things, when they have come up, or been thought out, and into focus in a time sense.skip sievert (talk) 03:10, 29 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Exactly, if we stick to the subsections, maybe adding or subtracting one or two as per content, then the history section will flow well as a timeline, easy to read and succinct yet inclusive. Nick carson (talk) 12:32, 30 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Sounds good. Feel free to incorporate your changes also in real time on the article or close to real time. That way incremental change can happen with the larger picture in mind.. and the article will be improved with better focus and organization. skip sievert (talk) 16:33, 30 November 2008 (UTC)


 * One possible way of dealing with a large amount of content would be to list dates (or date ranges) and add content in note form. The History section in Sustainable living is rather like this. This would make editing easier, especially in the early development stages of this section, and it could be made more flowing at a later date when agreement over content settles down, if that is necessary. Skip could note the bits he is knowledgeable about. I could add some notes and dates etc. Just a thought. Granitethighs (talk) 04:02, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

___________________________

Consolidated version
Long before modern humans evolved, the evolution of plant and animal species to adapt to their environments and their interactions with eachother, led life on Earth to develop a natural balance to ensure the simultaneous survival of various species of life, thus all life on Earth relies on other forms of life to exist. The capacity of any system to endure and grow depends, first and foremost, on the energy that is available to support its activity. Simple biological systems like bacterial colonies will multiply and grow until the energy (food) supply and/or critical nutrients become depleted, or until waste products inhibit growth.

In early human history the energy and resource demands of small bands of nomadic hunter-gatherers would have been very were small, although. although, even at this time The, their use of fire and their desire for specific foods may have influenced local the existence and composition growth plant and animal life. of living systems. Later, Beginning around 10,000 years ago, the emergence of success of settled agrarian communities would have depended largely on the skill with which they managed their land and trade: natural resources. Societies outgrowing their local food supply or depleting critical resources would have to move on or collapse. Mismanagement of finite natural resources by cultures such as Among Civilisations thought to have brought about their own demise by poor management of energy and resources include the Mayans, Anasazi and Easter Islanders. eventually led to their demise by destroying their resource base , while other societies such as Indigenous Australians, evolved slowly over lengthy periods of time in balance with their surrounding environment. On the other hand, there are cultures of shifting cultivators and horticulturalists that thrived in New Guinea and South America and larger agrarian communities < (for e.g., in China, India and elsewhere that have farmed in place for centuries.

These advancements in technology increased the overall human population of human beings as they manipulated their surrounding environment without the comprehension of the future effects of an unsustainable existence, utilising their intelligence without understanding how to use it properly. Although the majority of the human population still do not comprehend their unsustainable lifestyles or understand the subsequent effects, the concept of sustianability has been increasingly collectivly understood by human beings since the late 20th century, becoming widely known, if not fully understood, by the turn of the century.

Early Concepts & Writings and the Industrial Revolutions
Some of the first human beings to think and write Early philosophers, such as Aristotle, and particularly his student, Theophrastus, began to think and write about the way in which living organisms interact with and relate to their surroundings, both of whom had interest in many species of animals. Theophrastus described interrelationships between animals and their environment as early as the 4th century BC. However, these concepts remained explored by very few individuals and it wasn't until the 18th century that these concepts were to be explored collectively in greater detail.

Advancements in technology increased the overall human population of human beings as they manipulated their surrounding environment.The Western industrial revolution of the 17th to 19th centuries tapped into was made possible by the vast energy potential of fossil fuels. Coal was used to power ever more efficient engines and later used to generate electricity. Modern sanitation systems and advances in medicine protected large populations from disease. Such conditions facilitated led to a human population explosion and unprecedented industrial and scientific growth that has continued to this day. From 1650 to 1850 the global population doubled from around 500 million to 1 billion people.

Through this period Concerns about the environmental and social impacts of industry were expressed by some Enlightenment political economists and more generally through in the Romantic movement of the 1800s. Overpopulation was discussed in an famous essay by Thomas Malthus (see Malthusian catastrophe), while John Stuart Mill hypothesized that foresaw that a "stationary state" of an economy might be desirable, thus anticipating the modern discipline of ecological economics   and the insights of modern ecological economists. In the late 19th century, Danish botanist, Eugenius Warming, was the first to study physiological relations between plants and their environment, heralding the scientific disipline of ecology. as the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of life and the interactions between organisms and their natural environment; concepts that would later assist the interpretation of human interaction with and impact on the physical and natural environment. [1]

Early 20th century
By the turn of the 20th century, the industrial revolution had led to an unprecedented a steady an exponential increase in the human consumption of resources. For several decades this was seen as a positive thing for humanity as it increased overall health and wealth and further increased population. In 1931, Harold Hotelling proposed Hotelling's rule, an economic model exploring of non-renewable resource management. It showed that efficient exploitation use of a nonrenewable resource would, under otherwise stable economic conditions, lead to a depletion of the resource, causing The rule stated that this would lead to a net price or "Hotelling rent" that reflected the increasing scarcity of the resource. Similarly, Hartwick's rule also provided insights into an important result about the sustainability of welfare in an economy that uses non-renewable resources.

By In the early to mid twentieth century, ecology had become an accepted gained acceptance as a scientific discipline bringing with it comprising many ideas that are now fundamental to sustainability. including; These include: the interconnectedness of all living systems forming in a single living planetary system, the biosphere; the importance of natural cycles (of water, nutrients and other chemicals, materials, waste); and the passage of energy through trophic levels of living systems.

Mid 20th century: environmentalism
By the mid 20th century ecology was established as a scientific disipline; the foundation of the United States Wilderness Society in 1935 and work exemplified in A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold in 1949, informed the growing environmental movement and a spread interest in ecology as a science. A Sand County Almanac was a combination of natural history, scene painting with words, and philosophy. It is perhaps best known for the following quote, which defines his land ethic: "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." The concept of a trophic cascade is put forth in the chapter 'Thinking Like a Mountain', wherein Leopold realizes that killing a predator wolf carries implications for the surrounding ecosystem.[2] Several influential broad-ranging critiques looked at material and energy flows in the economy.

Following the deprivations of the great depression and World War II the West the developed world  entered a period of escalating growth. A gathering environmental movement pointed out that there were environmental costs associated with the many material benefits that were now being enjoyed. Innovations in technology and the increasing use of fossil fuels,  were transforming society. Modern industrial agriculture - the "Green Revolution" was born based on the development of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides  which had devastating consequences for rural wildlife, as documented in Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring. , producing the so-called "Green Revolution."

In 1956, M. King Hubbert's peak oil theory established "Hubbert peak theory" which accurately predicted that United States the inevitable peak of oil production, would peak first in the United States (between 1965 and 1970), then in successive regions of the world, with a global peak early in the 21st Century. In the 1960's and 1970's, Environmentalism gained widespread attention after the release of many works, the most notable being Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, published in 1962. Many subsequent works followed into the 1970's, including; Small Is Beautiful – A Study of Economics as if People Mattered, by E.F. Schumacher in 1973 and the Club of Rome’s Limits to Growth in 1975, amongst many others. This increased attention was also aided in part by the acceptance of Environmentalism by various subcultures during a time of civil dissobedience and positive change.

Late 20th century
The combined effect of the popularisation of Environmentalism and peak oil production in the United States, led to a global increase in the growing awareness that human use of many of the Earth's resources was not sustainable and was escalating at a critical rate. The 1973 and 1979 energy crises served as valuable research material for future global peak oil scenarios and led to a further increase in public awareness of issues of sustainability, however these crises were averted when the United States increased their oil imports to meet demand.

Increasingly environmental problems had become a matter of were of global concern. While the developed world was considering the problems of unchecked development the developing countries, faced with continued poverty and deprivation, regarded development as essential—to provide the necessities of food, clean water and shelter. In 1980 the International Union for the Conservation of Nature had published its influential World Conservation Strategy[note 1] followed in 1982 by its World Charter for Nature[11] which drew attention to the decline of the world’s ecosystems. Faced with the differing priorities of the developed and developing world the United Nation’s World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) worked for two years to try and attempted to resolve the apparent conflict between the environment and development. The Commission concluded that development was acceptable but it must now be different: it must be sustainable development that was directed to meeting that would meet the needs of the poor in a way that no longer caused while solving, rather than adding to, environmental problems. but helped to solve them.

At a more grass roots level there has been a slow and steady adoption of the principles of sustainable living by increasing public awareness and adoption of recycling, dematerialization, decarbonisation, renewable energies, and the use of soft technology. The development of renewable sources of energy in the 1970's and 80's, primarily in wind turbines and photovoltaics, and increased use of hydro-electricity, presented some of the first sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel and nuclear energy generation. These developments led to construction of many of the first large-scale solar and wind power plants during the 1980's and 90's. The 1990's saw the small-scale reintroduction of the electric car exemplified in the General Motors (e.g., EV1 and REVA) and the popularisation of solar car racing. These factors combined with consistent, yet minority, public pressure, facilitated further increase in the raised public awareness of issues of sustainability, and many local and state governments began, for the first time, to implement small-scale policies to deal with such issues address them.

21st century: global awareness
Since the turn of the century, more specific and detailed initiatives models and concepts have been proposed in an effort to transition have moved human civilisation towards becoming greater sustainability. Some economists look towards a new "green economics" and "sustainability economics" as a more inclusive and ethical model for society than that presented by neoclassical economics. Important Emergent concepts that have arisen include; the Car-free movement, and Smart Growth, in which urban environments are designed considering all aspects of the system, and the Cradle to Cradle concept, as defined in the 2002 publication Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by Michael Braungart and William McDonough, in which toxic, synthetic and organic materials are separated into different life-cycles and models are proposed for the efficent use of materials in manufacturing and production.

Global oil production is generally accepted to have peaked in 2006[8][9][12], while many large corporations and energy organisation's predictions suggest this is yet to happen and will occur between 2010 and 2020, depending on the origin of the prediction[10]. Regardless of when it has or will occur, peak oil production has severe implications, particularly for westernised countires which rely heavily on road freight and private automobiles, for the way people transport themselves, food prices and subsequent economic effects. The beginning of many such effects are already being felt, as represented by record high oil prices peaking during mid 2008.

The work of Bina Agarwal and Vandana Shiva amongst many others, has brought some of the cultural wisdom of traditional, sustainable agrarian societies into the academic discourse on sustainability. given South Asia and the Indian subcontinent a more international perspective of ecology and sustainability. Throughout this period, In 2002, the United Nations has had a central co-ordinating role, faciliting the understanding of sustainability issues at government and international levels. passed a resolution for the declaration of the decade 2005-2014 to be known as the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development and began implementing international projects and programs to educate the human population on issues of sustainability.

The changes across all aspects of humanity, specifically the advancements in technology, over the last few decades is sometimes referred to as the beginning of the New Industrial Revolution, which would see Rapidly advancing technologies mean it is now tecnically possible to achieve a transition of economies, energy generation, water and waste management, and food production towards sustainable practices. Whether humanity has the political will or economic flexibility to do so in time remains an open question. , which may subsequently lead to a widespread collective realisation of the need for humanity to sustain its own existence.

Comments

 * I've edited the first, second and third sections, eliminating the ahistorical or essay-like portions. What is left is fairly strong and we shouldn't have any trouble finding sources. Sunray (talk) 20:50, 15 December 2008 (UTC)