Understanding Perspectives, Systems, and Sustainability in IB Environmental Systems and Societies

Name: ESS topic 1 Compilation (new syllabus)
Uploaded: 2026-01-20T19:30:14.256504+00:00
Channel: IB ESSentials with Mr Kremer
Description: Summary and key takeaways on Understanding Perspectives, Systems, and Sustainability in IB Environmental Systems and Societies, covering 1. Perspectives and

IB ESSentials with Mr Kremer

Jan 20, 2026

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4 min read

YouTube video ID: TOwBI9zx3Gs

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1. Perspectives and Environmental Value Systems

Definition: A perspective is a personal worldview shaped by values, assumptions, cultural norms, scientific knowledge, laws, religion, economics, and lived experiences.
Values: Freedom, creativity, diversity, love, adventure, etc., influence how individuals prioritize actions (e.g., diet, consumption).
Environmental Value Systems (EVS): Models that link inputs (social, cultural, scientific, economic, global events) to outputs (behaviors, decisions). Three broad EVS categories form a spectrum:
Ecocentric – nature is central; intrinsic value to all living things; supports biotic rights and self‑restraint.
Anthropocentric – humans are central but recognize responsibility to manage the environment sustainably; favors consensus, taxes, laws.
Technocentric – confidence in technology and scientific research to solve environmental problems; often pro‑growth.
Dynamic Nature: Perspectives evolve with age, education, global events, and media exposure (e.g., declining smoking rates, rising meat consumption, environmental legislation).

2. Systems Thinking

Definition: A system is a set of interacting components that function as a whole (e.g., coral reef, city, Earth).
Diagramming: Storages (boxes) hold matter/energy; flows (arrows) represent transfers or transformations.
Open vs. Closed: Most ecosystems are open (exchange matter & energy). Earth approximates a closed system for matter but open for energy.
Nested Spheres: Biosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, atmosphere, anthroposphere – all interlinked.
Scales: From cells → organisms → populations → ecosystems → biomes → global biosphere.

3. Feedback Loops and Tipping Points

Negative Feedback: Stabilizes systems (e.g., homeostasis, predator‑prey dynamics, carbon uptake vs. respiration).
Positive Feedback: Amplifies change, can lead to runaway effects (e.g., permafrost melt, ice‑albedo effect).
Tipping Points: Critical thresholds where small changes trigger irreversible regime shifts (Amazon dieback, coral bleaching, lake eutrophication).
Regime Shifts: Systems can move from one stable state to another after crossing a tipping point.

4. Modelling, Emergent Properties, and Resilience

Models: Simplified representations (diagrams, equations, simulations) that help predict system behavior while acknowledging limitations.
Emergent Properties: New characteristics arising from interactions (e.g., population cycles, trophic cascades) that are not evident in individual components.
Resilience: Ability of a system to absorb disturbance and retain core functions; enhanced by diversity and large storages (e.g., diverse prairie vs. monoculture).
Human Impacts: Deforestation, over‑fishing, pollution reduce diversity and storage, lowering resilience.

5. Sustainability Pillars and Models

Three Pillars (People, Planet, Prosperity) – environmental, social, economic sustainability.
Strong vs. Weak Models: Strong models embed society and economy within a healthy biosphere.
Key Concepts:
Resource Depletion, Pollution, Biodiversity Conservation, Active Regeneration.
Social Equity, Community Resilience, Education, Healthcare, Poverty Reduction.
Circular Economy, Sustainable Production, Green GDP.
Frameworks:
Triple Bottom Line – balances social, environmental, economic outcomes.
Natural Step – back‑casting from a sustainable future.
Circular Economy – eliminates waste, maximizes resource loops.
Planetary Boundaries – nine Earth‑system limits defining a safe operating space.
Donut Economics – combines social foundation with ecological ceiling.
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – 17 global goals linking poverty, inequality, climate, peace, and justice.

6. Indicators and Measuring Sustainability

Scales of Indicators:
Individual: Ecological footprint calculator, personal water‑use meter.
Community/Municipal: Air Quality Index, tree‑canopy cover, recycling rates.
National: Greenhouse‑gas inventory, renewable‑energy share.
Global: Living Planet Index, Ocean Health Index, Planetary Boundaries.
Ecological Footprint vs. Biocapacity: Footprint = resources used + waste generated; Biocapacity = Earth’s ability to regenerate those resources. Sustainability requires footprint ≤ biocapacity.
Citizen Science: Projects like eBird, Globe at Night, FrogWatch USA, International Coastal Cleanup, iNaturalist empower the public to contribute data for monitoring biodiversity and pollution.

7. Case Studies Illustrating Environmental Justice

Atlantic Cod Collapse – over‑fishing, loss of livelihoods, ecosystem imbalance.
Aral Sea Shrinkage – water diversion for cotton, salinity rise, regional climate change.
Great Barrier Reef Bleaching – warming, acidification, tourism loss.
Dust Bowl – poor farming practices + drought → soil erosion, migration, later soil‑conservation reforms.
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill – disproportionate impact on low‑income coastal communities.
NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) – landfills placed in disadvantaged areas.
Union Carbide Bhopal Disaster – toxic exposure in low‑income Indian neighborhoods.
Maasai Land Displacement – loss of grazing land for tourism‑driven conservation.
Plastic Waste Export – developed nations ship waste to developing countries, creating health hazards.
Water Inequality in South Africa, Food‑Bank Reliance in the UK, Energy Access in Lebanon – illustrate how socioeconomic factors shape environmental burdens.

8. Exam Strategies for IB ESS

Analyzing Data: Identify trends, ranges, anomalies; link to resource use, pollution, biodiversity.
Evaluating Measures: Connect policies or actions to observed patterns.
Case‑Study Development: Memorize date, location, key actors, outcomes, and how the case shifted global perspectives.
Holistic Approach: Always consider multiple perspectives (environmental, social, economic) when answering essay questions.

By mastering these concepts, students can confidently tackle ESS exam prompts and understand the interconnected nature of human‑environment interactions.

Integrating personal perspectives, systems thinking, and the three pillars of sustainability equips us to evaluate environmental challenges holistically, make informed decisions, and succeed in the IB ESS curriculum.

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Helpful resources related to this video

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The Sixth Extinction Book Recommended

Provides a compelling overview of biodiversity loss and why protecting ecosystems is urgent now

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Circular Economy Book

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Summarize another video

Full Transcript YouTube

[Music]
welcome to another IB environmental
systems and societies video this video
is a compilation of all of topic one
foundation so in this video you're going
to see topic 1.1 perspectives 1.2
systems and 1.3 sustainability let's get
into it today's topic is 1.1
perspectives a perspective is how
somebody sees the world or a particular
situation it's informed by their values
their assumptions and their personal
beliefs because perspectives are
personal they give rise to a wide range
of different positions on environmental
and social issues frequently those
issues are intertwined and Inseparable
the perspectives that someone holds also
influences the way that they act behave
that means they influence the decisions
that people make an environmental
perspective May influence a person's
dietary choices perspectives are
informed and justified by social
cultural norms scientific understanding
laws religion economic conditions and
Global events basically that means that
perspectives are informed by the
expectations of social behavior a
person's educational attainment in terms
of how well they understand the way that
the world the natural world works and of
course it's influenced by the society
where they live what are the laws what
are the religious Traditions how wealthy
or poor a person is and then of course
Global events and if those events happen
to happen to you then it's a personal
event or a lived experience we can think
of all of these things as inputs into a
world viw a perspective is different
from an argument a perspective is simply
the way someone sees the world so we
call it a world view an argument is a
justification for that particular
perspective and so the argument are like
the reasons for someone's worldview
values are the things that people feel
have worth are and are important to
guide their lives here on the screen
I've got a collection of different
values just one words Freedom creativity
diversity love Adventure different
people will prioritize these differently
they have different value systems one of
the things that you could do in a class
is take each of those words put them on
a put each one on a separate card and
then have each person put them in order
for from most important to least
important and then have a look at one
another's cards and see how you may
share some things in common and where
your differences might be those values
influence the way that we communicate
and act and individual who values
freedom and creativity and growth very
highly May behave quite differently from
someone who places control and safety
higher on their list of values
differences in perspectives based on
different values may lead to tensions
the values held by organizations whether
those organizations are corporations
whether they are non-government
organizations or Charities those values
are communicated through advertisements
media policies and actions a lot of
times there are tensions between the
values and actions of individuals and
organizations so here on the left people
may disagree about the morality or
ethics of eating meat but also
socioeconomic situations may put people
in a place where even though they value
something because they are in Dire
Straits or difficulties economically
they may be forced to make decisions or
take actions that go against their value
system the different values that people
and organizations have lead them to have
different priorities here are some
campaign pictures from the last United
States presidential election they're
both about Donald Trump they're both
about Cole but they represent polar
opposite perspectives priorities we can
survey people about their values to
determine where they fall and what we
call environmental value systems it's
important to make your survey unbiased
when doing this and there are some
specific tools and guidance for that in
my slide deck have a look design your
own survey
so worldviews are the lenses through
which people perceive and make sense of
the world around them right it's how
they interact with other people it's how
they interact with the environment and
those worldviews shape values they shape
cultures and the cultures in turn also
shape
worldviews they shape people's
philosophies the way that they perceive
everything worldviews give rise to what
we call environmental value systems
an environmental value system or EVS is
a concept that you're going to encounter
in every single topic within the ESS
cabus so make sure you're comfortable
with it make sure you know it forwards
and backwards an environmental value
system is a model that shows the inputs
that influence people's worldviews and
the outputs that result from those
worldviews outputs such as actions
decisions that kind of thing we classify
environmental value systems into three
broad categories technocentric
anthropocentric and Ecentric these
categories aren't hard and fast there
are no hard boundaries between them
that's why I have it presented here as a
spectrum they blend together they kind
of bleed together um and someone can
have characteristics of more than one of
these broad categories so don't think of
them as little boxes or pigeon holes
that everybody fits into there are
people that fall in between these
categories because they have
characteristics of both as you might
guess Ecentric people view nature as
being Central to human identity they
Place tremendous intrinsic value on
living things on the natural environment
that's non-monetary value intrinsic
value is simply worth from being they
prioritize what we call bior rights
that's a term you must know for ESS
that's the right of all living organisms
on Earth to exist Ecentric people
believe in
self-restraint that is denying ourselves
some things in order to protect the
natural world people with an
anthropocentric value system place
people at the center of their worldview
it doesn't mean that they don't care
about the environment they do but they
perceive people as having responsibility
for sustainably managing the environment
and that's as a part of a global system
that will also include social and
economic systems anthropocentric people
generally support that management model
through the use of taxes laws and
regulation to control what's going on
they also believe strongly in building
consensus so it's not a top down
approach and it's not every man for
himself they want people to discuss and
come together and reach consensus or
agreement about how to manage the
environment for sustainability and on
one end of the spectrum we have the
technocentric people as you might guess
from the Name techno focuses on
technology and so a person with a
technocentric world view has a strong
strong faith that people will always
invent some new technology or find new
tools to solve any environmental problem
that they encounter technocentric people
are generally really positive about the
impact that people can have on our world
they're big into scientific research and
the reason they support scientific
research is so that we can better
understand how natural systems work and
once we know how they work it's easier
for us to manipul ulate or control or
change them for the benefit of humanity
or to solve environmental problems
people with technocentric viewpoints
also generally believe in a progrowth
agenda where the economic realm may be
prioritized over the environmental realm
people's perspectives about
environmental issues can change over
time people get older they have
different life
experiences they experience different
Global events they learn something that
they didn't previously know so all of
those inputs that go into a perspective
can change over the course of a person's
lifetime we can see that on a societal
scale I've got a graph here about
smoking rates when I was a kid in the
1970s and80s I could walk into a store
as a 12-year-old and buy a pack of
cigarettes without showing any ID and
nobody batted an eye but since that time
there have been a lot of public
campaigns both from the government and
from organizations like the American
Medical Association that try to inform
people just how bad for human health
smoking is and so over time globally in
the last 40 years smoking rates have
decreased that's an example of how a
worldview can change we have Trends in
human behavior like meat consumption
here we see that as the world has become
wealthier as people earn more money they
tend to eat more meat that may not sound
like an environmental perspective but
that's a change in the input into a
worldview in the environmental movement
in the 1960s was lobbying for
regulations in the United States to
protect Water and Air resulting in the
creation of the Environmental Protection
Agency and the passing of the Clean
Water Act and the Clean Air Act these
are like major milestones in the
environmental movement and they
signified a shift in the worldview of a
larger enough proportion of the American
population that the national government
enacted new laws and created a whole new
part of the government in response that
environmental movement continues to grow
and evolve and change as we learn more
about our natural world and the impact
that people have on it attitudes also
change in response to the media that
they consume whether it's Television
Internet Tik Tok whether it's books that
they read news that they read all of
those same inputs that go into a
perspective because they change over
time because there are always new events
happening and new
developments the environmental movement
has also changed over time one of the
things you might be asked to do on your
ESS exam is to discuss the influence of
one of the things on this list in the
growth and development of the
environmental movement I suggest you
memorize a case study dates location
broadly what happened the people that
were involved and how that case study
changed Global perspectives and advanced
the environmental movement I suggest you
take one person or item from each column
on this list and develop a case study
you can do this as a class and then
everybody share them around and that way
you've got a whole collection of case
studies and examples that you can use to
support your writing on the exam that's
it for topic 1.1 perspectives thanks for
watching
systems are sets of interacting or
interdependent components that form a
functional hole in ecology everything is
interconnected it's all connected to
everything else from the tiniest
microorganisms to entire
ecosystems take a coral reef for
instance it's a complex system where
Coral polyps fish algae and countless
other organisms interact with one
another this creates a vibrant
underwater World a systems approach
helps us visualize these intricate
interactions in both ecological and
societal contexts it's like looking at a
city from above you see how roads
buildings parks and people all work
together this holistic view is crucial
in understanding environmental systems
in system diagrams we represent storages
as rectangular boxes and flows as arrows
storages are like reservoirs holding
matter or energy while the flows show
how these resources move or
change imagine a lake ecosystem the lake
itself is a storage for water nutrients
and Aquatic Life while the rainfall
evaporation and fish migration are flows
in and out of that
ecosystem we can represent that
ecosystem simply with a box for the
storage and arrows showing what flowed
in and what flowed out Flows In A system
can be characterized as either transfers
or
Transformations transfers involve a
change in location of energy or matter
while Transformations entail a change in
the chemical nature in the state of
energy or in the form for instance in
the water cycle water percolating into
the soil soil or clouds carrying water
vapor are transfers because it just goes
from one place to
another on the other hand liquid water
evaporating from a lake is an example of
a transformation as is water vapor
condensing into a
cloud in ecosystems Falling Leaves
represent a transfer of matter from
trees to the ground because they're just
moving but the decomposition of those
leaves is a transformation of them
system can be classified as either open
or closed depending on how they interact
with their surroundings open systems
exchange both energy and matter across
their boundaries while closed systems
only exchange energy almost every
ecosystem is an open system for example
a forest takes in sunlight water and
carbon dioxide from its surroundings
while it releases oxygen and water vapor
it also has animals migrating in and out
the Earth as an entire system
approximates a closed system it receives
energy from the Sun and it radiates heat
back into space but it exchanges very
little matter with its surroundings
across the atmospheric boundary closed
systems are rare in nature but the
concept is useful in understanding
Global cycles and in designing
experiments to study ecological
processes the Earth is a remarkable
example of a single integrated system
encompassing several interconnected
spheres the biosphere is all living
organisms on Earth the hydrosphere is
water in all its forms including the
cryosphere which is snow and ice the
geosphere is made of rocks and soil the
atmosphere is gases surrounding our
planet and the anthroposphere is the
human-made part of the environment these
spheres constantly interact and
influence one another for instance
plants in the biosphere take up water
from the hydrosphere they release water
vapor into the atmosphere and over time
their remains may become part of the
geosphere the cryosphere reflects
sunlight affecting global temperatures
and the atmosphere while the
anthroposphere increasingly impacts all
the other spheres through human
activities the concept of systems can be
applied across a whole range of scales
from microscopic to Global the smallest
scale we might consider a single cell as
a system with organal working together
to maintain life
zooming out an individual organism like
a tree is a system of interconnected
Parts which are themselves systems
further still we encounter ecosystems
perhaps a small pond or a vast
rainforest each of these is nested
within even larger systems biomes
continents and ultimately the entire
biosphere of Earth understanding how
systems operate at different scales is
crucial in environmental science because
it allows us to see how local changes
can have Global impacts and vice versa
welcome back to another IB environmental
systems and societies video today's
topic is 1.2 systems this is part two of
systems negative feedback loops are
crucial stabilizing mechanisms in all
ecosystems they occur when the output of
a process inhibits or reverses that same
process which counteracts deviations and
maintains equilibrium a classic example
is homeostasis in the human body when
our body temperatures rise we sweat to
cool down once we're cooler we start to
shiver to warm up both of those things
bring our temperature back to normal in
ecosystems Predator prey relationships
also demonstrate negative feedback as
prey populations increase there's more
food available for Predators so Predator
populations rise when the Predator
populations rise they eat more of the
prey so the prey numbers decline that
induces another decline in the Predator
numbers climate systems also exhibit
negative feedback but they're more
Complicated by having positive feedback
loops intermingled we'll take a deeper
look at that in topic six the daisy
World model developed by Lovelock and
Watson illustrates how life itself can
help regulate planetary temperatures
through negative feedback contrasting
sharply with lifeless planets lacking
such mechanisms I strongly encourage you
to scan that QR code on the screen and
check out the simulation you can alter
many of the parameters in Daisy world
and you can see just how well you're
able to manipulate negative feedback
mechanisms to create an equilibrium on a
planet ecosystems as open systems
exchange matter and energy with their
surrounding ecosystems typically exist
in a state of stable equilibrium this
equilibrium can be a steady state where
inputs and outputs are constantly
balanced or it can develop over time
through processes like ecological
succession negative feedback loops play
a crucial role in maintaining a stable
State equilibrium back to the Predator
prey relationships the population
fluctuations tend to return to a stable
average over time time this average is
called the carrying capacity the links
and Snowshoe hair population may change
seasonally over a few years but over
time it returns back to that same steady
state equilibrium or carrying capacity
in a forest ecosystem the balance of
carbon dioxide uptake through
photosynthesis and release through
respiration demonstrate a steady state
equilibrium there are different times of
day or different seasons when the CO2
intake and CO2 output may change but
overall it's a stable State equilibrium
positive feedback loops amplify change
in this potentially destabilizing it and
pushing it away from equilibrium you can
think of it as The Snowball Effect
unlike negative feedback which
counteracts change positive feedback
reinforces it so one small change
creates a slightly larger change which
creates a slightly bigger change and it
keeps going until it's farther and
farther away from the original
equilibrium for example in population
Dynamics a declining population might
lead to fewer births and fewer births
reduces the population further this
continues in a downward spiral in
climate systems melting per permafrost
releases greenhouse gases which cause
more warming and melts more permafrost
to release more greenhouse gases another
example in climate change is the ice
albo effect in polar regions as the ice
melts less sunlight is reflected leading
to more warming because the darker
Waters absorb that light that melts more
ice which exposes more of the water
which absorbs more of the sunlight and
leads to more warming so this is a
classic example of why positive feedback
is a bad thing in ecosystem however I
want to caution you that even though
positive feedback is generally viewed as
a bad thing in ecological systems there
are examples of when positive feedback
is a good thing for example an
ecological succession initial soil
improvements and the presence of lyans
in your early pioneer species develop a
very thin layer of soils those very thin
layers of soil can support slightly more
complex plants as those plants go
through their life cycles they add more
nutrients and biomass and organic matter
into the soils making them slightly
deeper and slightly more nutrient-rich
which allows them to support more
complex plants those more complex plants
add more and more organic matter and
nutrients to the soil which supports
more complex plant forms and more
diverse communities so over time soil
moves further and further away from the
original equilibrium of the bar Rock and
it becomes deeper more nutrient-rich and
capable of supporting a much greater
diversity of life this is an example
where positive feedback is actually a
good thing for an ecological system
positive feedback loops often Drive
systems towards tipping points points a
Tipping Point is a critical threshold
where small changes can trigger really
significant usually irreversible shifts
in the system's State these are
sometimes called points of no return or
it's a regime change several potential
tipping points exist in Earth's system
the Amazon rainforest dieback is one
example where climate change induced
drought can transform vast areas into
Savannah and this is exacerbated by
human activities related to cattle
ranching coral reef bleaching is another
example where rising ocean temperatures
cause corals to expel symbiotic algae
potentially leading to widespread Reef
death and the collapse of those food
webs permafrost throwing in Arctic
regions is a third example where melting
ice releases greenhouse gases further
accelerating global warming ocean
acidification and invasive species
dominance are other instances where
systems may approach critical Tipping
Point I suggest you pause the videos and
look into each one of those tipping
points in Greater detail I've also
shared some other Tipping Point videos
on my it Mr Creer science.com so you can
check those out because I think they're
directly related to what's happening
here in this part of the syllabus
tipping points within a system can lead
to regime shifts between alternative
stable States those are two stable
states that are alternatives up to the
Tipping Point small changes may be
offset as the system tries to maintain
its original current equilibrium however
once the Tipping Point is crossed the
changes further induce greater change
pushing the system farther and farther
away from the existing equilibrium and
into a new equ ibrium State a prime
example of this is the urif of
freshwater systems large laks can absorb
excess nutrients up to a point but once
that critical threshold is crossed it
triggers rapid alal growth and
decomposition which then contributes to
oxygen depletion as the algae di
decompose and that potentially creates a
dead zone the system shifts from a clear
water state to a turbid low oxygen state
with a dead zone it's fundamentally
different equilibrium that can be
difficult to reverse models are
simplified representations of reality
they're essentially tools for
understanding complex systems and
predicting the behavior of those systems
they can take a bunch of different forms
diagrams graphs equations or verbal
descriptions for example Earth's water
budget can be modeled as a diagram
showing the flows between different
water reservoirs or storages
photosynthesis can be represented by a
simple chemical equation like you see
here on the screen or a more detailed
diagram illustrating the process within
a leaf these models help us grasp key
components and interactions within a
system that's that systems approach even
if they don't capture every detail by
simplifying complex realities models
allow us to focus on the most important
aspects of a system and make predictions
about how it might respond to changes
without actually changing the system
itself while models are valuable tools
it's important to recognize that
simplifying a system inevitably involves
some loss of accuracy no model is
perfect the process of creating a model
requires decisions about what to include
and what to Omit or leave out this means
we might leave out potential nuances
that have greater effects on the system
than we thought or than we anticipated
this is evident in climate change models
where simplifications can lead to a
range of possible future scenarios
rather than just a single definitive
prediction about what might happen the
intergovernmental on climate change or
ipcc presents multiple scenarios to
account for this uncertainty they range
from worst case scenario to best case
scenario similarly lab-based ecosystem
models may not fully capture the
complexity of natural systems despite
these limitations simplified models
remain important and crucial for
understanding and predicting system
Behavior take the predictions you get
out of models with a grain of salt
because the more complete the data is
that a model is based on the higher
quality model you have emergent
properties are characteristics that rise
or emerge from the interactions between
components in a system which the
individual Parts themselves don't
possess
in ecology population cycles and food
web Dynamics are examples of emergent
properties the classic Lynx hair
population cycle emerges from the
Predator prey interaction neither
species alone is going to show this type
of cyclical Behavior trophic Cascades
are another example where changes at one
tropic level can have far-reaching
effects throughout the ecosystem these
Cascades emerge from the complex
interactions between species at
different levels in the food web at each
level of biological organization from
molecules to individuals to communities
to ecosystems to biomes new properties
emerg that couldn't be predicted solely
from studying the level below this
concept highlights the importance of
studying systems as a whole not just
their individual parts that's where the
connections are the essential
understandings resilience refers to a
system's ability to resist damage and
recover from disturbance while
maintaining its core function and
structure in both ecological and social
systems resilience helps avoid tipping
points and maintain stability for
example in a desert ecosystem if disease
reduces the wood rat population
Predators like rattlesnakes and Hawks
might shift their diet to other prey
species such as squirrels and mice this
flexibility allows the ecosystem to
maintain its overall structure and
function despite the disturbance
generally speaking the more complex a
system is with more diverse components
it tends to be more resilient in food
webs higher complexity often translates
to Greater resilience because there's
multiple Pathways for energy and matter
to flow through the different parts of
the food web and that allows the system
multiple ways to adapt to changes or
disturbances the resilience of a system
is enhanced by two key factors diversity
and the size of its storages diversity
provides those multiple Pathways for
responding to disturbance that I just
mentioned for instance a diverse prairie
ecosystem is more resilient than a
monoculture crop field because if one
species is affected by a disturbance
such as a drought or a flood others can
fill its ecological role the size of
storages also contributes to resilience
by providing a buffer against change a
large lake for example can absorb more
pollution without significant changes to
its overall water quality compared to a
small pond the same amount of pollution
dumped into a small pond is has a higher
concentration
and will have a greater impact on the
life that's living there both diversity
and storage size can affect A System's
response time to change often creating
those time lags that we first saw
earlier when we looked at the links and
hair interactions human activities can
significantly affect the resilience of
natural systems Often by reducing both
the diversity and the size of those key
storages deforestation is a prime
example of the stool impact when forests
are cleared we not only reduce the
diversity of plant and animal species
that live there but we also diminish the
important storages of carbon water and
nutrients that were in that standing
wood this makes the ecosystem less able
to withstand future disturbances like
drought or disease outbreaks similarly
over fishing can reduce both the
diversity and the biomass of marine
ecosystems making them more vulnerable
to other stressors like pollution or
climate change this is the first of
three videos about sustainability and
today's focus is going to be on three
different types of sustainability so
let's get into it welcome to the world
of sustainability where en Environmental
Protection social progress and economic
growth all come together if you stick
around to the end I'm going to show you
how to use this knowledge to Excel on
your ESS exams so first up
sustainability is a measure of how well
our practices support long-term
viability of systems whether it's a
social system or an ecological system
it's about responsibly maintaining those
systems to make sure that we don't
diminish conditions for future
Generations some key terms that you
should know are long-term term viability
that's the ability of a system to endure
and Thrive over time when we say
socioecological systems we're talking
about the interconnected relationships
between human societies and natural
ecosystems here on the screen you see an
example of the Helix of sustainability
this is a concept that shows how
different activities from planting crops
to manufacturing to recycling form a
continuous cycle that supports long-term
sustain ability in practice this could
look like sustainable forestry in Sweden
where careful management makes sure that
Forest continue to provide resources and
ecological
Services sustainability is built on
three fundamental pillars environmental
social and economic sustainability these
are often referred to as the three PS of
planet people and prosperity you might
also hear it referred to as the three
ease of
ecology equity and
economics either of those is fine so key
terms here environmental sustainability
this is maintaining the health of
natural systems social sustainability
means creating and maintaining social
well-being for all members of society
and economic sustainability is
supporting long-term Prosperity without
depleting the resources upon which that
Prosperity depends an example is Costa
Rica's approach to development because
it exemplifies the integration of all
three of these pillars their
reforestation efforts show environmental
sustainability and that supports
ecotourism which is economically
sustainable Costa Rica's investments in
Education and healthc Care promote
social sustainability here we've got a
couple of different models of these
three pillars of sustainability this
first one is a three-way Vin diagram
that shows how the social environmental
and economic aspects of sustainability
overlap it's nice because it's pretty
simple and you'll see later on in
another video how it connects to some of
the models that we use the economic
models that we use to assess
sustainability but this is not a
particularly strong sustainability model
because it only shows the overlap
between these three different aspects of
sustainability a stronger model of
sustainability is this one that shows
how both the economic and the social
systems are entirely built upon and
dependent upon a foundation of a healthy
biosphere strong sustainability models
are going to show how both society and
economies are embedded in the natural
environment how they're dependent upon
ecological sustainability let's take a
look at that first pillar of
sustainability which is environmental
sustainability it focuses on the use and
management of natural resources in a way
that allows for their replacement and
for the recovery and regeneration
of natural ecosystems there are four
main priorities to ecological
sustainability that's resource depletion
which is the consumption of a resource
faster than it can be replaced or
replenished which means that the natural
Capital becomes depleted over time
talking about pollution which is the
addition of something to the environment
which harms living organisms there at a
rate faster than the environment can
process it biodiversity conservation
simply means protecting all the variety
of life in
ecosystems active regeneration of
ecosystems means deliberately restoring
ecosystems from damage caused by humans
or alterations from human activities for
example the great green wall initiative
in Africa is aimed at restoring degraded
Landscapes and soils across the Sahel
region from Sagal all the way to the Red
Sea the great green wall initiative
demonstrates active regeneration on a
continental scale so social
sustainability focuses on creating the
structures and systems such as health
care education Equity programs Community
organization and different things in
society that support overall human
well-being some key terms here when we
say social Equity we're talking about
bare access to resources and
opportunities for all members of society
regardless of race ethnicity nationality
gender identity or socioeconomic status
Community resilience is the ability of
communities to withstand adapt to and
recover from adversities such as natural
disasters here you can see that social
sustainability can be represented by a
five W in diagram where that yellow star
in the middle shows the overlapping of
these five main components of social
sustainability you've got healthc care
which allows people to take care of
their physical and mental health
you have education which promotes
personal growth and builds environmental
knowledge to support ecological
sustainability and also develops career
skills that can help promote economic
sustainability education also promotes
social relationships thus fostering that
social sustainability poverty reduction
obviously improves the economic
sustainability of a society and that of
course improves quality of life and
makes it easier to then promotee the
ecological and social aspects of
sustainability as
well child care is a big part of
education and healthcare because there's
a lot of evidence out there that shows
that giving young children a head start
on learning before they join the former
school system sets them up for success
in school which then sets them up for
success in their careers later on in
life that promotes social and economic
sustainability then of course we've got
social Equity talk again social Equity
we're talking about equal opportunities
for everybody inclusion and empowerment
in decision-making representation in
government and organizations this builds
trust between citizens and
institutions the third pillar of
sustainability is economic
sustainability economic sustainability
focuses on creating economic structures
and systems that support the production
and consumption of goods and services
that meet human needs into the future
without depleting the resources from the
natural environment there is no economic
sustainability without environmental
sustainability because without a strong
biosphere as a foundation the social and
economic systems that depend on that
healthy biosphere will collapse when
discussing economic sustainability some
key terms that you should be familiar
with are a circular economy that's an
economic system that's aimed at
eliminating waste and the continual use
of resources any resources that are
wasted represent an
investment which is not recovered or
recaptured and so therefore is an
economic lost and the more efficiently
that resources are used means the more
of the initial investment is recuperated
or recovered in the profits or the
revenue generated by an organization or
a government sustainable production
means creating goods and services using
processes that are not polluting and
which conserve energy and natural
resources it may mean using renewable
energy sources it may mean using
renewable natural resources such as
Timber or other biomass it may mean
recycling repeatedly our non-renewable
resources such as mineral ores that we
use for manufacturing particularly
things like Electronics a good example
of circular economy is the city of
Amsterdam's commitment to becoming fully
circular by 2015 Amsterdam showcases
economic sustainability at a municipal
level or a city level because it
reimagines everything from construction
to Food Systems now let's look at how
you can use this knowledge on your ESS
exams if you see the command term
analyze what you want to do is look at
the overall Trends or patterns in data
the data may be quantitative it may be
descriptive if it's quantitative if it
involves numbers you to want to identify
the overall trend increasing decreasing
from what year to which year you want to
look at the range of values what's the
minimum what's the maximum are there any
notable anomalies or places where the
trend changes identify all of those
first once you've done that then you
want to discuss how those relate to
Resource use or pollution or
biodiversity or ecosystem Health then
you may be asked to evaluate measures
that are taken to address those issues
so then connect your evaluation to those
patterns that you've seen in the data or
the information that you draw you might
find this in like a paper one
examination with a resource booklet an
example prompt is analyze the
environmental sustainability of palm oil
production in Indonesia so you want to
look at whatever numbers you have about
palm oil production you want to look at
the Baseline numbers for any ecosystem
that was there before the palm oil
plantations came into being then you
want to look at what pollution is
produced how much is produced how
quickly it's processed by the
environment going to look at the levels
of biodiversity both before and after
the introduction of palm oil and how all
of those things together have an impact
on ecosystem Health in the area you want
to show how different aspects of
sustainability interconnect and always
consider multiple
perspectives if you demonstrate this
holistic understanding in your writing
on esess exams you're going to be well
on your way to success welcome back to
another IB environmental systems in
society video today's topic is 1.3
sustainability this is part two of the
sustainability series and we're going to
explore how sustainable development is
connected to the concept of
environmental justice let's get into it
sustainable development is defined as
meeting current needs without
compromising the ability of future
generations to also meet their needs
it's a framework introduced in the 1987
bruntland report about guiding human
civilization's development it aims to
maintain economic stability social
equity and ecological Integrity the
bruntland report is one of those things
that you should definitely remember for
your ESS exam if you'll notice that the
model here of sustainable development it
builds on the three PS of sustainability
from our previous video that people
planet and profit but the bruntland
model of sustainable development adds
two more PS peace and partnership this
is a holistic approach that addresses
multiple aspects of human and
environmental well-being because if
people are at War they're not going to
be worried about the environment they're
focused on staying alive if people are
at War they can't Prosper they won't
earn enough money to support their
families to take care of Health Care pay
for schooling that kind of thing so in
order for the three PS of those in order
for the three PS of sustainability to be
achievable we need to have peace and in
order to have peace and achieve the
those three pillars of sustainability we
need Partnerships some of those
Partnerships are local they might be
government Partnerships they might be
introver Partnerships at a state or
national level but a lot of those
Partnerships are international because a
lot of these issues are international in
scope unsustainable resource use can
lead to ecosystem collapse we're going
to take it we're going to take a look at
a few case studies to see real world
examples of how this happens you can
find some more detailed videos about all
these case studies online so this is
just going to be a quick review of all
of these the first case study is very
famous and that's the collapse of the
Atlantic Cod Fisheries in the North
Atlantic this was caused by over fishing
due to improved technology in the middle
of the 20th century and an increase in
the size of the boats that were used it
also resulted because we didn't have
great environmental monitoring we didn't
have great Environmental Management so
we didn't actually know how large the
stock of Atlantic Cod were as local
populations along the coast in fishing
communities started noting that the size
of fish they were catching was smaller
and the number of fish that they were
catching was smaller the organizations
and the government agencies that are
responsible for managing the Fisheries
kind of ignored all of those warnings
the consequence of this is that the
Atlantic Cod essentially went extinct it
didn't go extinct but it became very
close to going extinct which resulted in
a fishing moratorium and that resulted
in massive job losses all along the
coast there was economic Devastation
because people weren't working and
because people had removed a key
organism from the Atlantic ocean food
web there was also ecological imbalance
as a result of all of these changes we
ended up with some cultural shifts along
the coast you can see in this graph of
commercial Cod harvesting how it was
relatively stable and only increasing
slightly from 100,000 or so to 200
250,000 or so until just after the end
of World War II in the middle of the
20th century when we saw a massive
increase in the annual catch that's as a
result of that change in technology and
you'll notice that in the early 1980s
suddenly the catch dropped precipitously
that's because we were harvesting or
over fishing more adults than could be
replaced through breeding this
diminished natural capital and it made
Fisheries vulnerable to collapse and you
see that that collapse happened in 1992
where it went almost to zero then you
had the moratorium and now you can see
after the turn of the Millennium in 2000
a very small increase a very small bump
in the number of Atlantic Cod that are
harvested every year the next case study
we're going to look at is the AAL sea
this is an ecosystem collapse in Central
Asia spans about five different
countries and it was caused by a massive
water diversion project from the Soviet
Union that was directed for cotton
irrigation because of that the poor the
the poor water management resulted in
about a 75% shrinkage of the sea that
increased the salinity levels in the AOL
sea tremendously it also meant that
pollution levels increased because they
had nowhere to go so the pollution
concentration in the RLC increased
dramatically fish species that were
adapted to the pre- saline environment
became extinct the fishing industry in
the RLC collapsed and because the large
body of water was involved in regulating
climate in the area the regional climate
also changed and that affect agriculture
in the area as well you can see in this
series of maps how the AOL SE appeared
before and after well actually I guess
currently right this is a dramatic
visual representation of the ecosystem
collapse happening in Central Asia as a
result of this human bondle another case
study you should be familiar with is the
Great Barrier Reef Coral bleaching
events in Australia the Great barrial
Reef is the largest coral reef ecosystem
in the entire world as ocean
temperatures rise the oceans become more
acidic and that increased level of
acidification makes it more difficult
for corals to fix the calcium carbonate
that their shells are made from and
their skeletons are made from and so the
reefs become weaker agricultural runoff
and pollution from land-based Industries
also contributed to this Mass Coral
bleaching the effect is that corals
bleached they died and because they are
so critical for marine food webs you had
lots of marine habitat that was lost
that meant fish populations declined and
the Great Barrier Reef is a great spot
for tourism so the tourism industry took
a really big economic hit as well back
in topic 1.1 on perspectives we looks at
influences on the modern environmental
movement and the Dust Bowl is one of the
things that came up that shape the way
people think about humans interactions
with our natural world so what caused
the Dust Bowl it was a severe drought
that spanned several years it also is a
result of poor farming practices where
there was deep plowing involved nobody
was rotating crops all of the Native
prairie grasses in Central North America
had been removed their very deep root
systems are what used to hold the soils
in place and when they were replaced
with shallow rooted crops anytime that
there was wind and no rain it allowed
the soils to be blown away so the effect
was that you had massive soil erosion
and these dust storms that you can see
in this slide here crops failed the
agricultural system and you had Mass
migration particularly to the West Coast
in California the entire Great Plains
part of the United States suffered
economic Devastation this coincided with
a Great Depression and so there were
long-term changes in agricultural
practices it wasn't all gloom and doom
because as a result of that Devastation
some of those agricultural practices led
to some of the soil conservation
techniques that we're going to study
later on in the syllabus let's
transition to economic indicators and
sustainable development some really
common indicators of Economic
Development are gross domestic product
and unfortunately GDP often neglects the
value that natural systems actually play
in the economy that's one of its big
limitations it's focused solely on the
monetary value of ecological Goods it
doesn't consider ecological Services
very well we've defined GDP as being the
monetary value of goods and services
produced by a nation this map shows that
there are significant global economic
disparities you've seen that the darker
areas have higher GDP but how does that
connect to the idea of sustainability
and environmental justice focusing on
GDP as a measure of economic progress
doesn't account for environmental costs
or social well-being so it doesn't
address the other two pillars of
sustainability it only accounts for the
economic aspect it doesn't consider
social or ecological this means that
when we only use GDP that can lead to
unsustainable development green GDP is
based on the gross domestic product but
it also accounts for environmental costs
and it subtracts those from the GDP so
the green GDP is GDP minus the
consumption of natural Capital such as
soils air water minerals ores and
organisms that we may Harvest it also
accounts for the cost of Environmental
Protection right those are Pollution
Control programs and prevention programs
it also accounts for the degradation of
ecological services such as the amount
of carbon that can be sequestered by
Forest as we cut those forests down
perhaps the cost to health of oxygen
produced by those same forests have been
cut down soil erosion that may result
from unsustainable agricultural
practices and so on and so forth so
there's a simple formula for GDP and
it's simply GDP minus consumption minus
the cost of Environmental Protection and
minus the cost of environmental
degradation green GDP attempts to
account for all of the environmental
factors that are ignored by traditional
GDP how does sustainable development
relate to this idea of environmental
justice environmental justice is defined
as the right of all people to live in a
pollution-free environment and have
Equitable access to resources regardless
of race regardless of gender of
socioeconomic status or nationality
Equitable is not equal Equitable means
people get what they need not everyone
gets the same amount make sure you know
the difference between those two terms
one of the events that influenced the
development of the modern environmental
movement was the deep water Horizon oil
spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010
we've seen this already in topic 1.1 on
perspectives this was an example of
environmental Injustice because it
disproportionately affected lowincome
and minority Coastal communities along
the coast of Mexico the immediate
economic hardship and long-term health
and environmental risks revealed
inadequate safety regulations that
prioritized profits of large
corporations over local environmental
health and the well-being of those
communities along the coast where most
of the environmental impacts were felt
another example of environmental
Injustice is the nimi principle nimi
stands for not in my backyard it's this
idea that nobody wants to have something
like a landfill near that right so we
tend to put landfills in places where
people don't have the resources or the
wealth to combat that they also don't
want to be near a landfill because
landfills are frankly smelly but because
they communities don't have the economic
and legal representation to fight that
it means that they have the unfair
burden of pollution and health risks
that are associated with something like
a landfill another case study from that
history of the environmental movement is
the 1984 Union Carbide gas release in
Bal India it occurred in densely
populated lowincome areas again
underrepresented communities means that
that thousands of people were exposed to
toxic chemicals and it was
disproportionately impacting those
underrepresented poor communities who
were unable to relocate or access
adequate Health Care they were unable to
fight for their rights or for
compensation in court with Union Carbide
afterwards that's why it's an example of
environmental Injustice Messi land
rights in Kenya and Tanzania are another
example of environmental Injustice the
Messiah are indigenous pastoralists in
East Africa who wander around the land
landcape or who follow their livestock
across the landscape and they like
elephants contribute to maintaining the
Savannah ecosystems that are so popular
for safaris they have been and continue
to be forcibly removed from their
ancestral lands that means they have
lost access to grazing lands and water
sources needed to keep their livestock
they bear the cost of conservation in
creating all these national parks and
opportunities for Safari businesses
while the wealthy tourists benefit from
the conservation of biodiv University
and The Business of those safaris goes
to government agencies and Wealthy
business owners it's causing a real
change in the culture of the Messi
another case study of environmental
justice another case study of
environmental Injustice is the way that
plastic waste disposal from developed
countries ends up in developing
countries this shifts the environmental
burden from mec's to ledcs it exposes
vulnerable people to health risks and
pollution that mec's are able to just
shunt to the side as we've seen in some
of these case studies inequalities lead
to disparities in access to food water
and energy factors that contribute to
these inequalities include income race
gender and cultural identity these
disparities exist both within and
between different societies here in this
picture we see that there is inequitable
access to fresh water in South Africa
this inequality is based on disparities
in race and income black households are
much more likely to experience shortages
than white households this has an
historical basis in the apartheid regime
that dominated South Africa for so many
years another example of environmental
Injustice is food access in the UK in
the United Kingdom we see increasing
Food Bank usage primarily focused in
low-income families especially single
parent households that are led by women
in Lebanon access to energy is
tremendously inequal there's a very
wealthy class that can afford to pay for
petrol and generators and so they have
reliable electricity there's an economic
crisis that has led to severe power
shortages but because wealthy people
have access to those generators They
Don't Really suffer from it as much but
poorer families face up to 22 hours
every day without electricity that
impacts their ability to work it impacts
their ability to study it impacts their
access to healthare it impacts overall
their quality of life sustainability and
environmental justice apply at multiple
scales it ranges from Individual action
in your local community to Global
initiatives that require International
Partnerships in this slide to use these
use these shapes to show how each of
these scales of sustainability and
environmental justice are nested within
the largest at the global scale the UN
sustainable development goals and
international agreements such as the
Montreal protocol and the Kyoto Accord
provide a global framework for
sustainability at a national scale you
may see government policies about
renewable energy incentives tax
incentives to make renewable energy
preferable over fossil fuel over
electricity generated through fossil
fuels within the regional business or
Community scale you may have corporate
recycling programs or zero waste
initiatives and then individually
personal choices like using public
transportation or adopting plant-based
diets are a way for individual people to
make a difference in terms of
sustainability in the next video we're
going to look at measuring
sustainability and models for measuring
sustainability around the world welcome
back everyone in our last video we
explored the concept of sustainability
today we're going to dive deeper into
how we measure sustainability and
examine some important models that will
help us understand it better by the end
of the video you should be able to
understand various sustainability
indicators the concept of ecological
Footprints and several key
sustainability Frameworks so let's go
ahead and get started sustainability
indicators are quantitative measures
that help us assess how sustainable our
practices are these indicators can be
applied at various scales from the
individual all the way up to the global
let's look at some examples at the
individual or local level you have an
ecological footprint calculator this
measures the impact of your lifestyle on
the planet it considers the amount of
land that's necessary to produce
everything you need to stay alive and to
absorb the waste that you produce
similarly we might have a personal water
usage meter that simply tracks how much
water you use every day and that's for
things not only for what you're drinking
and cooking with but also how much you
use in your shower what you flush down
the toilet what you use for doing
laundry for cleaning your house washing
cars dishes ET Etc it's all the water
that you use for all purposes every day
at the community or Municipal level we
might find the aqi or the air quality
index this is a measure of the level of
air pollution wherever you live we might
also find local species diversity counts
and this helps us assess the
biodiversity within a particular area
another Municipal level sustainability
indicator is the Urban Tree canopy
coverage this simply measures the
percentage of a city's land area that's
covered by trees and it's related to
temperature regulation and overall
glomate Global Climate patterns we could
also look at municipal waste recycling
rates to track how much of a city's
waste is recyle going up in scale we end
up at the national level and at the
national level we might have something
like the green greenhouse gas emissions
inventory which is a measure of the
total amount of greenhouse gases that
are emitted by a nation that accounts
for industry it accounts for individual
actions we also might have a national
Renewable Energy share and that looks at
the percentage of the energy in a
country that comes from renewable
resources so the greater the share of
energy that is produced from renewable
sources or clean energy sources the more
sustainable that Nation may be at the
largest scale the global level we can
look at something like The Living Planet
Index this measures Global biodiversity
Trends and helps us track where
biodiversity is stable or where it is
most threatened and decreasing most
rapidly we also have things like the
global ocean Health index to help us
assess the overall condition of marine
ecosystems around the world one of the
ones that you're going to need to know
how to use and interpret in ESS is
called the planetary boundaries
framework and the planetary boundaries
framework helps us identify the safe
operating space for Humanity with
respect to Earth's natural systems these
indicators help us understand where we
stand in terms of sustainability and
where we need to improve let's look a
little more closely at ecological
footprint and bio capacity the
ecological footprint is a measure of the
area of land and water that's required
to sustainably provide all the resources
at the rate of consumption and absorb
all all generated waste for a specific
population we can look at it as an
individual we can look at it as a small
group of people we can look at it at a
municipal level or we can look at it for
a nation in simpler terms it's how much
of the Earth's resources we're using to
stay alive bio capacity on the other
hand is the capacity of a given area to
generate an ongoing supply of renewable
resources and absorb its resulting waste
it's Essen how much the Earth can
provide and absorb if an area's
ecological footprint exceeds the bio
capacity that indicates
unsustainability it means we're using
resources faster than they can be
replenished or we're producing waste
faster than it can be absorbed or both
two specific types of footprints are
particularly important the first is the
carbon footprint a carbon footprint
measures the amount of greenhouse gases
that are produced and we measure that in
carbon di oide equivalents generally
expressed in metric tons the carbon
footprint helps us understand our impact
on climate change in addition to the
carbon footprint we also have the water
footprint like the individual water
usage the water footprint measures water
use in cubic meters per year it's an
annual measure this includes the water
that is required to produce the goods
and services that we consume it shows
the water that we use by the source and
it also includes includes the polluted
volume of water by the type of pollution
you might consider the water footprint
and the carbon footprint to be subsets
of the ecological footprint
understanding these ideas helps us see
whether we're living within our planet's
means or overextending our resource use
an exciting development in monitoring
sustainability is the rise of Citizen
science citizen science involves
everyday people like you and me
contributing to scientific research and
monitoring efforts around the world
several different programs allow
citizens to participate in
sustainability monitoring eird is a
global bird observation database that
helps monitor bird populations and
migration patterns it's the largest bird
database in the world it's run out of
Cornell University in New York in the
United States I contribute to it pretty
regularly and researchers use the
observations of bird populations and
bird sightings that people everyday
submit they use that to track
biodiversity and bird migration patterns
around the world another science project
is called Globe at night and this tracks
light pollution around the world it
helps us measure energy use and how the
energy that we're using impacts the
ecosystems around us some other citizen
science projects you might want to
familiarize yourself with are frog watch
USA which monitors amphibian populations
and habitats indicating local
environmental health
and also something like the
international Coastal cleanup and that
helps us identify plastic pollution on
Coast lines and track Marine debris
another great citizen science project is
called I naturalist I naturalist allows
people to record observations of
thousands of species of any kind and
they upload them to a database and it
contributes to biodiversity inventories
that scientific researchers used at
universities around the world these
programs not only provide valuable data
but they also help raise awareness about
sustainability issues to the general
public now let's explore some key models
and Frameworks that help us understand
and work towards
sustainability remember all models have
both uses and limitations the first
framework we're going to look at is
called the triple bottom line the triple
bottom line includes social well-being
environmental health and economic
prosperity and business success metrics
in other words it's a way for businesses
to to assess where they stand on those
three key components of sustainability
its uses are that it balances economic
social and environmental aspects in
business decision-making limitations are
that it can oversimplify the complex
interactions between those social
ecological and economic areas another
framework you should look into is the
natural step framework natural step
provides a strategic planning structure
for organizations
starting with backcasting from a
sustainable future Vision essentially we
have a vision of where we want to be in
the future we look at where we are now
and we develop steps to figure out how
to get from where we are now to where we
want to be in the future the uses here
are that it offers clear principles for
sustainability but its limitations are
that it may miss some of the nuances due
to a bunch of generalized assumptions
and it doesn't really have very detailed
metrics so it's pretty open for
interpretation the circular economy
model is something you might encounter
if you're also taking business
management or economics as a group three
class the circular economy model aims to
eliminate waste and maximize resource
use by focusing on product life cycle
Innovation and efficiency its use is
that it promotes resource efficiency and
waste reduction but it can be
challenging to implement in all sectors
of the economy there are some parts of
the economy like healthcare where due to
health concerns the waste produced is
challenging to minimize we're going to
come back to this planetary boundaries
framework planetary boundaries framework
identifies nine critical Earth system
processes and sets quantitative
measurable boundaries for each one of
those it focuses on the most critical
parts and processes of Earth's natural
systems however quantifying precise
limits can be uncertain and it doesn't
consider the social aspects of
sustainability it's really focused on
the ecological aspects of sustainability
so the planetary boundaries framework
while it emphasizes the ecological
aspects but doesn't factor in the social
aspects as well feeds into the donut
economics model this is another model
that you might encounter in some of your
group three classes the donut economics
model combines social foundation with an
environmental ceiling and that
visualizes a safe and just space that's
the Zone in the donut the part of the
donut that you would actually eat the
donut economics model integrates both
social and environmental concerns in a s
single framework and that's what makes
it really useful however some aspects of
the donut economics model can be
difficult to measure precisely one of
the sustainability Frameworks that you
might might already be familiar with
before joining an ESS class is the UN
sustainable development goals or sdgs
the sdgs are a set of 17 interconnected
goals that address Global challenges
related to Poverty inequality climate
change environmental degradation peace
and Justice so the sdgs set common
ground for policymaking it relates to
both less and more economically
developed countries and it pressures the
International Community to address
inequality both within Nations and
between nations however some of its
limitations are that some people will
argue that the SGS don't go far enough
and because it's the United Nations
which involves a lot of bureaucracy it
can be slow to respond and it may ignore
or not consider local context each of
these models contributes to our
understanding of sustainability in
different ways often they can be used in
combination to get a more comprehensive
view there you have it uh We've covered
a range of sustainability indicators and
the concepts of ecological footprint bio
capacity the role of Citizen science and
sustainability monitoring and several
key sustainabil models and Frameworks
thanks for watching