Context of ESSP Objectives:

The Recent Past.

A Different Future.

Objectives of the proposed program include:

• Student-structured curriculum to motivate learning and a commitment to lifelong learning;
• Research driven by societal needs and values, recognizing that the proper study of humanity is not so much humans as it is humans in the system of nature;
• Multi-disciplinary education, so that the full complexity of the world is incorporated;
• Adoption of the Earth System Science paradigm, in which Earth is treated as a single system that cannot be understood by summing behaviors of its component parts;
• Teaming within learning communities, to foster a "group mind" capable of insights beyond the capability of any individual;
• Experiential, by providing real-world experiences in businesses, government agencies, and on both public and private lands;
• Leadership, via creating a future proactively rather than reacting to a business-as-usual one;
• Transformative, by unifying economic security, ecological integrity, and social equity;
• Ethical, by advocating social justice and equality of opportunity for within the current generation of humans, between this generation and its successors, and between humans and the other lifeforms with which they share the planet;
• Global conceptually, but focusing on regional manifestations of global phenomena.

What makes this program innovative and distinct from any existing ones is that the University becomes the catalyst for changes that lead to sustainability [Christopher Uhl and Amy Anderson, "Green Destiny: Universities Leading the Way to a Sustainable Future," BioScience 51, January 2001, 36]. The Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium has initiated a trend toward that goal with some demonstrable success. An intent of the proposed degree programs is to institutionalize that process so it can be perpetuated by future generations.

The Recent Past

The 20th century was extraordinary in that a single species became the dominant force modifying the global environment [J.R. McNeill, Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth-Century World, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000]. Humans have transformed between one-third and one-half of Earth's land surface; we have changed the chemical composition of the atmosphere, each breath today inhaling 30 percent more carbon dioxide than before the Industrial Revolution; people fix, by fertilizing crops and combusting fossil fuels, as much atmospheric nitrogen as do all natural causes; humans use more than half of all available fresh water; a fifth of the world's marine fisheries are overexploited; species extinctions occur at 100-1000 times the background rate [Peter M. Vitousek et al., "Human Domination of Earth's Ecosystems," Science 275, 1997, 494]. The bulk of these changes have occurred within the last century. Humanity is changing the world faster than it understands the consequences.

A new way of thinking about the world is necessary if we are to solve the complex resource and environmental problems that we collectively face. Although progress has been made toward understanding, protecting, and restoring our common environment, immense challenges lie ahead. In order to predict better the consequences of our actions we must begin to treat the Earth as a system of integrated components that are interdependent, rather than as the sum of discrete parts that act independently. Accordingly, a new kind of education is necessary to prepare a citizenry to accept responsibility for management of the planet. For a democracy to have a discussion about environmental concerns, the citizens must have basic levels of ecological literacy.

Earth System Science and Policy is an integrated graduate program. The heart of the program is built around the new field of the "science and policy of sustainability" [Robert W. Kates et al., "Sustainability Science," Science 292, 27 April 2001, 64]. The goal is to live off nature's interest rather than off its capital, thereby keeping intact the vital ecosystem services nature provides. Building sustainable communities (ones in which economic prosperity is understood to be dependent on environmental health) is actually less about "problem-solving" than it is about creating and living lifestyles that are fulfilling and constructive. Sustainability is a process and philosophy that can only be implemented at regional levels by empowering people to make decisions based on accurate, timely scientific information. Thus, a fundamental element of the program is the "learning community" concept based on sharing information and knowledge. This concept embraces public participation, helping people discover that they are the levers of control in society.

A Different Future

The environment in North Dakota and neighboring states is a more prominent factor in people's lives than in many other parts of the world. Weather extremes can be threatening not just to people's comfort but actually to their survival. Natural disasters are frequent. North Dakota is among the top recipients among states that have received federal disaster assistance in the past few decades. Moreover, the state's economy is heavily reliant on natural resources and agriculture, the viability of which is determined fundamentally by the environment. So whether it is the quality of life or the economic opportunity of its citizenry, North Dakota is especially dependent on environmental factors.

Huge advantages in both lifestyle and economics will accrue to the state if ecological forecasts [James S. Clark et al., "Ecological Forecasts: An Emerging Imperative," Science 293, 27 July 2001, 657] can be added to the decision-making process at all levels, individual and governmental. Our program will focus on predictions of the state of ecosystems (natural and human-made), ecosystem services, and natural capital. By creating scenarios for climate, land use, human population, technological evolution, and economic opportunity, we expect to help people anticipate changes, and thereby either to take advantage of them or to negate undesirable consequences.

The global system whose understanding we propose to advance has rich regional and temporal texture. Global averages do not suffice as a basis for local decisions. Therefore, we will focus on local/regional features of the environment, while understanding how they are governed by and contribute to global processes. Regions, after all, are where integration of social, cultural, climatic, economic, and ecological histories and networks occurs. These integrators are what shape common community interests and values. By having a regional focus nested within a global context, the ESSP program will guide communities into a future of their making.

This approach will transport North Dakotans from a posture of reaction to one of pro-action. Residents of the state can create the future they want rather than react to one that has passively been allowed to happen or has been prescribed elsewhere. In fact, the Northern Great Plains can establish a social contract with the rest of the nation, so that we, locally, can receive others' help to reverse the emigration that is shrinking future options for rural areas throughout the region. A specific example of a local practice that would benefit the world is modifying farming practices so that more carbon is sequestered in the soil and less is released in the form of a greenhouse gas to the atmosphere. Because these practices benefit all of society, farmers who adopt them should be rewarded. Renewable energy generation is another example of how North Dakota can forge a new social contract earning national assistance for building an improved regional economy in exchange for global benefits. These do not exhaust the list of ecosystem services the region could provide if rewarded for doing so. Others include land and resource management that fosters water and air purification, soil stabilization, nutrient recycling, climate moderation, plant pollination, biodiversity preservation, genetic archiving, and aesthetic satisfaction.

The abilities to create practical information, to communicate it effectively, to build the instrumentation needed to gather the data that was converted to information, to work in teams of people with a range of skills and distributed geographically are those that will lead to the creation of new businesses attuned to the needs of the 21st century. These are also the abilities the Earth System Science and Policy Program will nurture. Not only will education and training in Earth System Science and Policy continue to be viable in the future, it will become a mandate. Trends such as population pressure, intensified resource use, pollution, climate change, decreasing biodiversity, and globalization of the world marketplace are long-term realities that challenge present and future generations everywhere. Responses to these trends require dramatic improvements in technology, protection of plant and animal habitats, energy conservation and development of renewable energy sources, efficient use of fresh water supplies, creation of market incentives that complement government action, greater social and racial justice, and better education and ecological understanding. And all of this must be accomplished while protecting the gains of the last century. It is safe to say that creating a sustainable way of life on a crowded planet will keep serious environmental workers – and all the rest of humanity – busy for generations.