TWO DECADES AGO, THE WORLD COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENT AND Development defined sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." While that definition subsequently has been challenged and amended in various ways, it remains a useful point of reference. When Owen and colleagues affiliated with the Levitt Center's Sustainability Program, such as Cannavò and Naomi Guttman, associate professor of English, focus on sustainability, they work from different perspectives but often find themselves returning to a shared set of core principles.
As an economist, Owen says she thinks of sustainability holistically. Her vision goes beyond a "pro-environment" perspective and includes a consideration of the relationship among poverty, health and our use of natural resources. "You can't think about the environment without thinking about how people's economic resources affect their behavior," she says. "One of the big international negotiations is, how do we think about what developing countries need to do? If we think about the fact that they don't have the same income, maybe it's not fair to ask them to cap their emissions."
Guttman, who currently directs the Diversity and Social Justice Project and in 2004 helped launch the seminar Food for Thought: The Science, Culture and Politics of Food — a popular interdisciplinary course that explores diet, agriculture and cooking from the multiple perspectives of science, culture and politics — notes that equity and lifestyle are at the center of the debate. "I think sustainability has to do with making sure that the Earth can support our activities," Guttman says. "Americans are very independent and libertarian in spirit, so it's hard to convince us that we need to give something up now for a better outcome in the future and that what we perceive as a sacrifice is necessary."
Such concerns, Guttman says, makes the theme of this year's Diversity and Social Justice Project, environmental justice and sustainability, a natural fit. In addition to September's introductory panel discussion, the project has featured lectures on sustainability in the South Bronx and environmental politics, a discussion focused on polluted sacred rivers and religious environmentalism in India, and a visit by a Welsh poet and environmentalist, among other events.
"It's not that students are unwilling to look at these things; it's just that the majority of us think, 'What does it have to do with me?'" Guttman says. "We feel disempowered. I think the job is a big one — to educate students to become more active. Democracy requires action."
For Cannavò, questions about social justice involve the preservation of ecological systems, community bonds and individual rights. He wants students to understand connections across natural and human boundaries as well as the importance of studying the scientific, political, economic, philosophical and cultural dimensions of environmental problems.
"Students should learn that personal commitment and belief are not sufficient to tackle or even understand environmental problems," Cannavò says. "They need to be knowledgeable, to see all sides to these issues — which are rarely good versus evil but are almost always about very complicated choices that involve moral responsibilities, public policy, corporate practices, economic needs and our own individual consumption habits and preferences."
