The main threats to securing sustainability in the future in this country

There are many problems at present that are threatening sustainability in the future in this country. Although we have lots of goals we have set out to achieve there are many obstacles in the way. These issues need to be addressed in order to make sure our country is sustainable, ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1988)

At present the global economic crisis in our economy is becoming a serious threat to sustainable development initiatives. Research has shown that the slowdown could be damaging vital projects. For examples projects on bio-fuels and other environmentally friendly issues will be put to one side as there is no longer sufficient funding for them. Andy Wales, the director of sustainable development for the brewing giant SAB Miller, has stated that the economic slowdown will expose those businesses not taking the issue seriously enough.

For many the lack of government leadership remains a serious threat to achieving sustainable development goals. A recent survey of around 1,000 influential people, which included more than 400 business leaders, found that 25 per cent felt that national governments failure to take the lead on sustainable development ‘was the biggest obstacle facing such initiatives.’ (Prosser, 2008) Many people also felt that British politicians are too afraid of losing votes to offer effective leadership on sustainable development and the survey by YOUGOV also found that many people believe that the government will need to intervene in order to enforce more sustainable policies.

Our food chain also poses some key threats to sustainability. Greenhouse gas emissions result from consumer travel to supermarkets by car and it has been estimated that one in ten car journeys in the UK are for food shopping. The food and packing waste is another significant threat with an estimated 5.2 million tonnes of food related packaging waste and 6.7 million tonnes of food being sent to landfill from UK homes every year. At present the UK is reliant on landfill as a means of waste disposal and methane emissions from landfill heavily influence UK GHG emissions.

Agriculture may also be a growing threat to sustainability. The increase in agriculture has been accompanied by damage to the natural resource base, either to other agricultural or non-agricultural systems, or to the future agricultural potential of the area itself, so that the increased production is not sustainable.

Population growth is another underlying threat to sustainability. This is due to the increased consumption of energy and materials which are needed to provide for many more people. There is also more competition for resources and environmental degradation.
All these threats to sustainability need to be addressed in order for our country to not only meet our needs, but the needs of our future generations. It is all very well coming up with sustainable development goals, but these goals need to be followed through. We cannot just be sustainable in a few aspects of life and forget about the others. Just recycling our waste every now and then and switching of a few lights is not enough.


Prosser, D. (2008) Global Economic Crisis Imperials Sustainability, The Independent, London.

http://www.wdm.org.uk/news/archive/2002/wssd_threat.htm

http://www.sustainabilityatwork.org.uk/deliverables/food/7

Blog 9 – Sustainable Communities

A sustainable community is defined as a place where people want to live and work now and in the future. On the 5th February 2003 the Deputy Prime Minister launched the Communities Plan (Sustainable Communities: Building for the future). The Plan set out a long-term program of action for delivering sustainable communities in both urban and rural areas. The aim is to tackle housing supply issues in the South East, low demand in other parts of the country, and the quality of our public spaces. The Plan they have set out includes not just a significant increase in resources and major reforms of housing and planning, but a new approach to how we build and what we build.

At present my home is a small rural village in Norfolk, called Bircham. The village is in the super output area – 002C (King’s Lynn and West Norfolk). In 2006 my neighbourhood, King's Lynn and West Norfolk 002C, had an estimated 1,972 residents and 1,042 dwellings. The population density is 0.28 people per hectare. 77.35% identify themselves as Christian, 0.15% as Buddhist, 0.30% as other religions and 14.52% as no religion.

Figure 1




Figure 2

Figure 2 shows the percentage of people in various age groups that live in the King’s Lynn and West Norfolk 002C neighbourhood. It is clear to see that the area has a predominately ageing population with nearly 30% of the people being aged 60 plus.

In my neighbourhood 97.5% of the land use is green spaces, 0.1% water, 0.9% gardens, 0.8% roads, 0.1% non domestic buildings and 0.2% domestic buildings. My village is quite small and has very few amenities. We have one pub, one farm shop, a windmill, three churches, and very few buses making public transport almost impossible. However one thing we do still have is our post office! There is also a small school with around 30 students.

The area does have a relatively low crime rate compared to over parts of the country with low burglary numbers and wounding or endangering lives. People are also seemingly happy with the health care available, with 65% of people saying it is good and 25.3% saying it is fairly good. The average value of a detached property is around £220,655 and a semi detached is about £149.691, which are both slightly lower than the national average. However it does depend on the area in which you chose to buy, as house prices vary dramatically across the West Norfolk region. Education appears to be on par with much of the country with at least 58.3% of people gaining at least 5 plus A* - C grades in KS4.

Nearly 50% of the households in the area have at least one car or van and 32.38% have two cars or vans. This is most likely due to the poor public transport in many of the villages often meaning that a car is the only option.

Although I do feel I live in a sustainable community where people can live and work now and in the future it is also clear to see that there are some limitations from living in such a rural area. Many young people move away from the area as there are few opportunities for work or social lives, leaving the villages with ageing populations. The houses are often too expensive for first time buyers so they are bought by older people wishing to retire or people wanting to use the house as an escape from the city at weekends. If people want to live and work in these rural environments transport is often paramount as this is the only way to get to towns or cities were work is more readily available. To make many of the villages around me and in my supper output area more sustainable it is important that public transport is improved. Investment is also needed in many of the small schools as lots of them have very few students and are threatened with closure. This would lead to job losses and students having to travel out of their villages for their education. There is lots of available land for development, but this development needs to be controlled and with in keeping of the rural environment. By building new homes that are more affordable it may bring younger people back to the area which in turn will improve the sustainability of the community.

http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/NeighbourhoodProfile.do?a=3&c=PE31+6QR&g=470485&i=1001x1012&j=311024&m=1&p=1&q=1&r=0&s=1236078929803&enc=1&tab=2&inWales=false

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/sustainablecommunitiesbuilding

Blog 8 – ‘United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.’

In this ever changing world education for sustainable development seems like an increasingly bright idea. If we are going to make a difference and protect our planet for future generations now is the time to start. The United Nations have already set out their goal;

‘...to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning. This educational effort will encourage changes in behaviour that will create a more sustainable future in terms of environmental integrity, economic viability, and a just society for present and future generations.'

The United Nations have eight key action themes that they feel are a vital part of the goal. They want to pursue gender equality so that all members of society will respect each other and play roles which can fulfil their potential. Health is another important issue. If people are ill it hampers economic and social development.

‘Education and basic medical information are powerful ways to drive behavioural change.’

The UN wants people to behave responsibly and respect the environment as this lies at the core of education for sustainable development. Of course the environment covers a wide range of themes, such as water, climate change, biodiversity and disaster prevention, all of which need to be addressed. Rural development needs to be addressed, along with education and training in rural poverty and ensuring sustainable development in rural areas. We need to respect different cultural diversities and make sure education takes this into account when teaching about sustainable development.

Peace and security are also and important aspect of the UN’s goal. People require these basic needs in order to develop. Sustainable development of cultures that feel insecure or are experiencing conflict can be endangered and is not always a high priority when lives are at risk. Cities also play an important role in sustainable development. With half the world’s population now living in cities it has never been so important to try and reduce the urban threats that cities potentially play in sustainable development.

And lastly sustainable consumption, as I have mentioned in many of my previous blogs, plays a key role in sustainable development. We need to think about what we are consuming as this will ultimately impact the way in which people live their lives tomorrow. We need to try and harm the environment as little as possible and reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill.

Education for sustainable development has never been as valuable as it is right now. We need to change people’s attitudes and behaviour so that we can create a more sustainable future for generations to come. If we do not start trying to change the attitudes of the younger generations now, we will leave it too late and the damage will already be done.

Haigh (2005) has already said that Geography is the best place to deliver the sustainable development curriculum. I agree with this statement as it seems logical that a subject that already looks at humans and the environment should focus on the issues of sustainable development. Sustainable development is already one of the key geographical concepts that underpins geography. Studying sustainable development in geography can incorporate environmental, social and economic issues. Human geography engages directly with sustainable development as human geography already seeks to understand the interaction of complex economic, social and environmental processes. Geography also tries not to promote any particular view or solution to the problem. It is interested in opening students minds to sustainable development and ways of thinking constructively about it.

However I do not feel that geography is the only place where sustainable development should be taught. Issues surrounding sustainable development could also be touched on in science lessons, such as biology and chemistry as issues to do with green house gasses, biodiversity and ecology may be better understood by some students studying these subjects.

So far on my BSc Geography degree I have really enjoyed this module concerned with sustainable development issues. There have been some really interesting topics covered, such as the UN style debate, the Universities Green Travel Plan and much more. I personally feel this module is a very important part of the course and I am able to incorporate the knowledge I have gained from this module into many other modules I am studying, which just goes to prove that sustainable development really is at the heart of geography.

http://www.geography.org.uk/resources/pastthemes/undecadeforsd/

http://www.rgs.org/HomePage.htm

http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27555&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Bad Crunch, Good Crunch?

Alistair Darling was accused of overreacting back in August last year when he claimed that Britain was facing the worst economic downturn in 60 years. Now it seems this may have been and understatement as bank after bank continues to fall. So it is clear to see that 2009 is going to be a tough year for many.




Official government figures have now confirmed that Britain is in its first recession since 1991 and already unemployment has risen to a staggering 1.92 million people. The housing market continues to be severely depressed and retail sales are weak. Travel agents battle it out as many people tighten their belts on such luxuries and car companies are looking at a difficult period as people choose to stick with their current cars and save their money for more important essential items.




But some people take the attitude that the more people that get laid off and the poorer people become, the greener this country will get. Co2 levels that were set to rise may see a decline as manmade greenhouse gas emissions start falling due to the declining western economies.

"This is an opportunity to think strategically about development," says environmental adviser Chris Baines. "Sites where biodiversity is being lost may have a reprieve, and this breathing space is the opportunity to think about establishing a green infrastructure ahead of a restart in building and to analyse the social implications to families of such high-density housing without significant green space. There are opportunities for tree-planting, wetlands for flood management, energy crops, adventure playgrounds."

Thanks to the recession there is likely to be a reduction in landfills. At present the world produces billions of tons of domestic waste each year. But during this time when people are spending less on food there is going to be less consumption, which means there will be less packaging and material to be dumped in landfills. Even when things are recycled this still uses energy which means more fossil fuels are burned. So all in all a reduction in the amount of food we consume can only be a good thing for the environment.




However I for one am not sure if I want millions of families to suffer and risk losing their homes or not having enough money to feed their children just because the environment might benefit. Many people who have lost their jobs or are finding it hard to pay their heating bills are likely to be very angry with the government for spending billions on such things as electric cars and investing in solar power and bio-fuels. These people will end up resenting the government’s missions to save the environment and may simply no longer care about trying to reduce their co2 emissions.




We need to remember that the recession isn’t all good for the environment. For starters many companies that are struggling will reduce their investments into research and development and green programmes. Secondly most average people will start buying cheaper products to save money, meaning that greener products will lose out. Also there were lots of small firms out there who were just starting up work on breakthroughs in greener technologies, but without bank loans and support many of these firms will find it difficult to get funding and will ultimately go bankrupt.




Of course I don’t want to see the environment suffer through this rocky economic period, but is it really humane to want to see the people around us suffering either? In desperate times we all need to pull together and try to make the best out of a very bad situation and ultimately keep the effects of this economic downturn on the environment to a minimum level.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7846266.stm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/23/conservation.greenbuilding

lets spend time....counting carssss!

Ok so last thursday we spent time conducting questionnaire and counting cars (hence the name.)The questionnaire was carried around park campus and involved asking students what their opinion was of car use, parking and what their attitudes were towards sustainable car use at Park Campus.

We, as our small group of 4, carried out our survey on park campus at 9:30 in the morning for an hour. A very cold and WET hour. Two members of our group stood by the barrier into the main student car park and counted the number of cars/passengers using the car park within 10 min blocks during the whole hour. As we wore high vis jackets, we were a prone target for motorist frustration, much-o fun-o.

The other 2 memebers of our group conducted their surveys somewhere between the car park, senate building and halls. This was a purposive sampling method (i think), in which they managed to collect 19 completed surveys.

Some memebers of our group felt that there would have been more people car sharing than observed, however, the time of day that we conducted this survey was a period in which most early lectures had already commenced, so not many students would have been turning up.

If we were to carry out this survey again, i think i would personally use a clip board and an umbrella next time, the sheets got soaked to the point where they nearly fell apart. As i was wearing one of the high vis jackets in the car park, i think i would also have a badge on explaining that i am just a student and have no idea where to get a barrier card.

I would also look at future weather forecasts and try to do the survey on a day where it isnt too cold, or raining, we found that not many people want to stop in the rain to participate in a questionnaire about sustainable car use. Also, i would look before hand at what the staff parking ticket looks like, otherwise we could possibly count members of staff as well as students using the car park.

Emily Bradshaw and Natasha Ayres