Foundations for Sustainability: A Coherent Framework of Life-Environment Relations challenges existing assumptions on environmental issues and lays the groundwork for a new paradigm, bringing a greater understanding of what is needed to help create an environmentally and economically sustainable future, which to date has been an uphill battle and not an obvious choice. The book presents the case for a paradigm based on a multi-model of life as organism, life as ecosystem, and life as biosphere, as opposed to the singular assumption that life can be viewed solely as an organism.
All backed with well-cited research from top investigators from around the world, this book is a must-have resource for anyone working in ecology, environmental science or sustainability.
Introduces a holistic, systemic approach and a synthesis of the systemic root cause that underlies many surface symptoms that are part of individual environmental problems (climate, water, energy, etc.)
Complements current piecemeal approaches in order to solve many interconnected environmental problems which share root causes
Provides tests and thought experiments to challenge current views on sustainability, leveraging the power of critical thinking to find new solutions
Gives insights on how to find solutions by blending interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary focuses with disciplinary specialization in ecology and ecosystem science
Bridges concepts and methods from math to ecology to human development
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Yes, you can access Foundations for Sustainability by Daniel A. Fiscus,Brian D. Fath in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Biological Sciences & Ecology. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
This book is science offered in service to life as a unified whole. We present theory and applications rigorously rooted in science, and we modify the foundations of science so the ground is fertile to nurture the roots of the theory and actions we see necessary to solve the human-environment crisis. The foundations we propose support a science of the lifeâenvironment relation as a whole that is anticipatory and value-based, centered on the value of life. We propose two dialectical typologies that unify prior divisions. We depict life as a dual-modeled complex system that depends on both the âdiscrete lifeâ of organisms and individuals, and the âsustained lifeâ of ecosystems and biosphere. And we unite seemingly contradictory human perspectives that arise from confronting environmental limitsâthe âSustainersâ who seek to change themselves to fit within perceived environmental limits and âTranscendersâ who seek to change the environment and transcend perceived limits.
Keywords
Lifeâenvironment relation; system of ideas; discrete life; sustained life; holism; Sustainers; Transcenders
Introduction
At its center, this book is a scientific work that we offer in service to life itself, life as a unified whole. We have sought to develop and present scientific theory and linked applications that are rigorously rooted in science. In order to do that, we have had to question and modify the foundations of science itself, to prepare this ground so it is fertile to accept and nurture the roots of the science and actions we see as vital. The novelty and gravity of the human-environmental circumstances we now face provide the necessity as mother of inventing solutions commensurate with the challenge. These modified foundations unfold throughout the book as we aim to expand on an applied-theory science for sustainability that:
1. Balances and synergizes holism with reductionism;
2. Equally emphasizes internalist and self-referential as well as objectivist perspectives;
3. Is anticipatory and accelerates the pace and process of paradigm shifts; and
4. Is consciously, intentionally, and transparently value-based centered on the value of life.
We will elaborate on these and additional founding principles and give credit to path breaking works of those from whom we have learned. In particular, Ulanowiczâ (1999, 2009) âecological metaphysicâ is a guiding light that encapsulates a system of ideas compatible with Lifeâenvironment unity. His metaphysic includes three key tenets of reality that he gleaned from studies of ecosystems and networks; living systems are characterized by contingency, feedback, and memory.
We also develop and explain the coherent links to philosophy and values as well as to actions and daily life. To address such a broad range of topics requires that we focus on a level that is shared common ground between these areasâthe basic ideas at the foundation of science as well as ethics, culture, and day-to-day reality. There are many ideas and processes at the intersection, from experience and experiments to reasoning, values, decision-making, learning, and understanding. We see it as necessary to work on the bridge areas between science and society as this is where we see both the causes and solutions of our current major problems to lie.
A critical issue for understanding our current world situationâespecially the âglobal ecological crisis,â but also many related social and economic troublesârelates to the interdependence between âsystems of ideasâ in various cultures and subsets of cultures and âreal world systemsâ or more simply, the real world. We will examine many detailed descriptions of the various subset problems that make up the current crisis, but for now, we cite these top 11 factors (Table 1.1) as sufficient hard evidence, corroborated by thousands of scientific studies, and reported experiences of millions of citizens worldwide, to make the case for a bona fide global socio-ecological crisis.
Table 1.1
Hard Evidence of Our Crisis (and see Fig. 1.1)
1. Soil loss and degradation
2. Unprecedented land use change and conversion of natural habitat to human dominated landscapes
3. Rates of species extinctions on par with the five mass extinctions of all time
4. Plateau of food production and increasing vulnerability of the food supply
5. Disruption of the global nitrogen cycle
6. Pressure related to fossil-fuel dependency (including conflicts over pipelines, fracking, and more)
7. Global climate disruption
8. Sea level rise and impacts on coastal areas with dense human population
9. Ocean acidification and related disruption to coral reefs and ecosystems
10. Water pollution and shortages in many areas
11. Persistent and bioaccumulating toxins and solid waste such as plastic and micro-plastics
In addition to these primarily environmental indicators of systemic dysfunction, we could add many others that are more social and economic, such as growing income inequality, widespread armed conflictsâmany of which derive from natural resourcesâchallenges with human health, and more. Although the challenges we face are global and cannot be untangled along national borders, this critique and proposal for solutions mainly applies to industrial cultures such as the United States and other developed nations.
This is the real world as we see it now, and we aim to show that these conditions have been manifest based on the ways we think aboutâand then relate toâthe world and environment. This interface and integral relationship between how we think and the outcomes we see in the world are at the crux of what we addressed in the 2012 paper (Fiscus et al., 2012) and other works. We proposed that our shared âsystem of ideasâ (or paradigm, shared mental model, etc.) is responsible for our current lifeâthreatening state of affairs in the real world showing chronic and systemic environmental degradation, as well as systemic social dysfunction. And that, going forward, in order to solve our current suite of chronic and systemic environmental problems, we will need to change our minds, mindsets, and one or more âsystem of ideas.â
The Reality of WinâWin
The prevailing science paradigm sees a fragmented and antagonistic relationship between life and environment and between humans and environment by logical extension. This paradigm separates life and environment as distinct entities and is conceptually aligned with the Darwinian story of life as âthe struggle for existenceâ emphasizing competition of individuals upon an environmental stage. Our alternative paradigm emphasizes a mutualistic relationship between life and environment (Lovelock, 1972; Patten, 1982; Fath and Patten, 1998; Bondavalli and Ulanowicz, 1999; Fath, 2007). This approach integrates life and environment into a unified whole and seeks to understand the interdependence and coevolution of the full lifeâenvironment system emphasizing cooperation. We assert that this alternative view is key for achieving a winâwin relationship between humans and environment, which would then enable lasting and systemic solution (in the form of a system of solutions) to the âglobal ecological crisisâ (for characterization of this crisis, see Wackernagel et al., 2002; Leigh, 2005; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005; Cabrera et al., 2008; Rockström et al., 2009) and environmental sustainability.
Ecological network analysis (ENA) is a holistic scientific approach that quantifies storages and flows of key life currencies such as energy, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, water, and more. ENA has been employed to study hundreds of ecosystems and food webs with data to document âwho eats whomâ and by how much in any given ecosystem of study. It is based on the science and mathematics of thermodynamics, information theory, and material flow of networks that are generic, and it has also been applied to flows of money and goods in economies, geographic flows in transportation networks, and more.
In addition to standard ecological questions of feeding inte...
Table of contents
Cover image
Title page
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
Reviews
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. To solve a difficult problem, enlarge it
Chapter 2. Life as the basis of value
Chapter 3. Holistic science of lifeâenvironment â mutualistic interfaces
Chapter 4. Life: From origins to humans
Chapter 5. Reforming reductionism with six core principles
Chapter 6. Life science lessons from ecological networks and systems ecology
Chapter 7. A bridge not too far: Spanning theory to science to application
Chapter 8. Technology and applications in the context of holistic lifeâenvironment