Promoter of Community-based Sustainability
Started his early career in social and community work, while much of his later work focused on conservation. Worked with people at local, national and international levels. Putting this together, James developed a model for sustainability of urban-centred regions through involvement, individual initiative and sharing. This is being implemented through a non-profit organization. His objectives are to make sustainability accessible and universal in Ottawa, and to share this model with other cities.
Keynote Abstract
Help Society Embrace Sustainability
Sustainability is essential for survival of Humanity and of the Biosphere, on which it depends. The increase in Humanity’s power – through science, engineering and organization – have permitted a world culture focused on immediate needs and wants, but not on long-term survival. Hard and soft science, and their practitioners, need to work together and help society embrace sustainability. This will created a culture of sustainability and produce “… adaptive social-ecological systems .. in tune with the resilience of the Biosphere” (Folke).
Planning has produced dozens of sustainable cities, but cannot win the battle against time. Most of the world’s 3000 cities lack the resources to become sustainable cities through planning. Yet they all possess human capital, the energy and ideas of people than can produce sustainability. With techniques to engage people, such as the Biosphere Eco-City approach, society will embrace sustainability and produce needed cultural change world-wide. Cultures grow through countless individual actions – from the culture of agriculture thousands of years ago, the culture of cities, to the more recent culture of the open-source movement and cell phone culture. A culture of sustainability will direct government actions, business decisions and the daily actions of ordinary people. Specialists in sustainability will benefit from greater demand and funding for their services, and faster acceptance of their innovations. In turn, they can promote models of engagement, volunteer in community initiatives, create demonstration projects and bring together hard and soft science to help society embrace sustainability. This will produce a good future.
