Lecture 18

December 3, 2008

Continue discussing a few points about sustainable cities

Read & Discuss #5

Quiz reminder and review

Closing comments

 

1. quiz review

see lists under each lecture

chapters 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 & 23

final quiz will have 2 or 3 more questions from the other sections and it might tie those concepts to the ones in the recent chapters

 

2. review "sustainability" from the beginning

one of the organizing principles of environmental science

Venn diagram of economy, social and ecological

simple systems view - limits to flows

dynamic patterns (ecosystems, succession, environmental problems such as air pollution)

 

3. sustainability as an emergent behavior

emergent system

complex and adaptive

as one process develops it changes the landscape for other processes (wicked problems)

visual metaphor - ILP

the extremely difficult path

you have to be almost sustainable before you can jump to being sustainable

like crossing the thresholds in reverse

restoration, nurturing conditions, --maybe--> sustainable

what if we're stuck in the middle of all of this control

four rules