Regeneration and Sustainable Development

Catalog description

Historically, urban development relies on materials (food, water, energy, and natural resources) to provide basic needs and consumer goods to support the needs of the human population. These materials are typically discarded as waste after being consumed by the population. This predominant linear pathway of material flows has resulted in unsustainable and inequitable societies. Sustainable development is using resources to improve society’s well-being in a way that does not destroy or undermine the support systems needed for future growth. In 1987, the Brundtland Commission published its report, Our Common Future, and provided the oft-cited definition of sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (United Nations, 1987, p. 43). Adopted by 193 countries in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a global plan of 17 goals to end extreme poverty, reduce inequality, and protect the planet by 2030. While the SDG goals are vital to protect our social and natural systems, Regenerative Sustainable Development (RSD) includes and transcends the goals aspiring to increase the well-being and health of all ecosystems; it is an approach that builds the capacity of natural support systems needed for future growth. In this type of development, principles of living systems must guide all strategies and indicators when dealing with all materials and energy flows in our social/human systems. In this course, students will describe and discuss the SDGs and how they apply to social and natural systems; learn how to apply a regenerative approach to sustainable development goals using recent frameworks; identify and select an equity framework to be included in regenerative sustainable development strategies; assess the environmental relevance of material flows and carbon emissions associated with community development, and compare and contrast various evaluation/indicators for assessing progress towards regenerative system goal.