Remember sustainability?

Remember sustainability?

● “Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland, 1987).”

● Sustainability at its core is a about preserving and maintaining resources - as

well as the capacity to endure and continue (Weisser, 2014).

● People, planet and profit

Emergent Discovery

1. Get out your device and open up our slide deck: https://tinyurl.com/
MSODCR2018

2. Find a photo that resonates with you, read about it


3. Self organize and discuss:

a. What do the images tell you about sustainability in Costa Rica?
b. In what ways do you feel this information will be relevant to us during our time in
Costa Rica?


4. Share Back
The Happy Planet Index measures sustainable well-being for all by telling how well nations are achieving long, happy, sustainable lives. With a score of
44.7, Costa Rica ranks #1 of 140 nations on the HPI in 2016. Surprisingly, though it’s GDP per capita is less than a quarter of many nations in Western
Europe and North American countries, Ticos have a higher well being, and life expectancy than most rich nations. All of this is achieved with an
environmental footprint that’s one third the size of the U.S.’s (Jeffrey, Wheatley & Abdallah, 2016).
According to WEF’s Energy Architecture Performance Index (EAPI), which looks at 18 indicators across economic growth and environmental
sustainability, Costa Rica is ranked 14th out of 127 countries (EAPI, 2016). For more than 250 days in 2016, Costa Rica powered itself without the use of
fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. Instead, the country achieved 98.1% of electricity coming from renewable sources, such as hydro,
geothermal, wind and solar energy (McKenna, 2017).
In 2017, Costa Rica received another UNESCO Biosphere Reserve declaration for the Savegre River, which stands out for its biodiversity and proper use
of natural resources. Biosphere reserves are special places for “testing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing changes and
interactions between social and ecological systems, including conflict prevention and management of biodiversity” (“Biosphere Reserves,” 2017). Costa
Rica has four UNESCO biosphere reserves.
Costa Rica’s Payments for ecosystem services (PES), program is one of the main reasons the country has had success in sustainability
efforts. PES are incentives offered to farmers or landowners in exchange for managing their land to provide some sort of broader ecological
service.These programmes promote the conservation of natural resources in the region. The program supports the mentality that ecosystems
are socially valuable and in ways that may not be immediately apparent in strictly economic terms (Boyd and Banzhaf, 2006).
In Costa Rica the program began in 1997, and is focused around four key ecological areas: capturing and storing atmospheric carbon,
protecting water sources, and conserving biodiversity and scenic beauty. Since its inception PES “has helped to conserve nearly one million
hectares of forest by payments for protection (90%), reforestation (6%), sustainable management (3%) and more recently regeneration (1%)”.
(Porras, et al., 2013).
The impactful Payments for ecosystem services (PES) program was created in response to the wide deforestation Costa Rica had seen over the years, and the
impact it was having on the quality of local lands. These changes triggered national conversations about conservation that began in the late 80s. In 1987 the
Costa Rican Ministry of Natural Resources put out a definition of sustainability for the country, which helped to outline what a sustainable future looks like,
and how Costa Rica might achieve it (Alejandrina, 2002). On the heels of this work, broader conversations were had about conservation and sustainability in
the country. In 1996 the PES program was introduced through a Forestry Law, that had been compiled through intentional consultation with multiple
stakeholders, making it an early example of a collaborative social and environmental sustainability program (Le Coq et al., 2010).
Roughly 20 years ago, thousands of trucks loaded with tons of orange peels and pulp were left at Guanacaste National Park in the northern
part of Costa Rica. This act led to the vast regeneration of a forest all by accident. Researchers have yet to determine how the peels enriched
the soil exactly, but the jungle has become so lush a machete is used to clear a pathway!

This true-life example is allegorical of our study of complexity theory and preparation for field work in Costa Rica, because it illustrates that
life is emergent and unpredictable. Interactions, whether human, environmental, political, etc., always bring about change. This accident
created ripple effects on the Costa Rican ecosystem, it led to a lawsuit between orange juice businesses, and evoked the attention of United
States researchers. This illustrates the principle that neither life, nor organizations, are static. 

A few years ago the Global Travel Alliance did a story on a student group who built a home for a Costa Rican family in need. They were
surprised to find the family come alongside them and help build the house; they later learned this family helped build a home in the same
area last year. One team member observed that for them, “it was more a reunion than a project.”

One of the things we’ve learned about complexity theory is that human interaction is not a system - Human interaction is free will. Each
person has a choice to participate, engage, intervene, interact. As we prepare to meet with Costa Ricans this week, it is important to
remember that we are co-creating a shared reality together through the interactions and dialogue we share.