Educating for Sustainability in Community Development

Program Curriculum

 Speaker:
Jerry Hembd
715-394-8208 jhembd@uwsuper.edu
University of Wisconsin-Superior/Wisconsin
Are we educating for sustainability in our community and economic development programming? Do the models and frameworks that shape these efforts include an understanding of systems that allows community decision makers to explore the implications of interrelationships between social and natural systems? As we consider our Community Development Foundation of Practice and related core competencies, these questions become increasingly important. The Layer Cake Model and the Community Capitals Model are two frameworks shaping this consideration. While they help educators emphasize interrelationships between different components of a community, they do not use a systems approach where the importance of an open system like the economy (manmade capital) and its relationships to a closed system like the ecosystem (natural capital) is explicitly explored-as are questions regarding sustainability. This session explores these fundamental questions and issues. The eco-municipality model, which is based on The Natural Step framework, is offered as an example of a systems approach.

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For more information about the conference, contact the conference co-chairs: Cindy Bigger, cbigger@umn.edu, (888) 241-0843, or Rick Maurer, richard.maurer@uky.edu, (859) 257-7582.

For questions, comments or concerns about the 2006 NACDEP Conference website, contact emilye@srdc.msstate.edu.