Being a sustainability major today

Originally published in Issue 7 of It’s Magazine

Being a sustainability major today is highly relevant as society comes to terms with the need to effectively and efficiently pose meaningful and innovative solutions to the climatecrisis. In general, studying sustainability within today’s society is about learning how to think critically on all topics related to sustainable development. The Brundtland Report, also known as Our Common Future, published in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) defines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987). With this definition in mind, it is also important to beg the question, development for whom? Learning, understanding and critically analyzing the ways in which sustainable development can be achieved are all explored by those who chose to be a sustainability major within today’s society. 

Within the realms of studying sustainability, thinking critically on all topics related to sustainable development is required. Various topics that may be explored as a sustainability major within today’s society include:

• Holistic thinking and analysis.

• Complex socio-ecological systems thinking and analysis.

• Environmental and sustainability behavior thinking and analysis.

• Environmental governance and politics.

• Climate advocacy.

• Environmental resource sustainability, management, conservation and restoration.

• Foundations of ecology.

• Translational ecology and sustainability science.

• Environmental communications and writing.

• Creative pursuits to communicate perspectives on sustainability (photography, art, writing).

These areas of knowledge encompass the key foundations to understanding sustainability within today’s society. Along with these key areas of knowledge, it is of the utmost importance to recognize that everything we do is interconnected. We live within a complex society that is influenced by various ecological, economic, institutional, bio-physical and social systems that all play a role in how our society operates. Studying sustainability is about understanding that we must challenge the complex systems within which we operate to improve the lives of all living beings, regardless of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion or any other identity markers, and the environment at the same time. 

Studying sustainability is about learning how to build the adaptive capacity for people and institutions within society to respond to the uncertainty, complexity and change that we see as a result of climate change. This is about challenging the ‘business as usual’ model to foster social change that is focused on resiliency and living in harmony and respect for all living beings and the environment, taking into account the knowledge of Indigenous peoples as keepers of this land. 

As Robin Wall Kimmerer writes in her book Braiding Sweetgrass, “Sustain the ones who sustain you and the earth will last forever” (Kimmerer, 2013). This is what studying sustainability within today’s society is all about. 

Works Cited 

Kimmerer, R.W. (2013). Braiding Sweetgrass.

World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Report of the World Commission 

on Environment and Development: Our Common Future. UN Documents.