Spring Progress Report - 2007

From Common Energy UVic

[edit] To download the final version of our Progress Report please click here: Going Beyond Climate Neutral: Planning for Climate Change Leadership with the University of Victoria. The information on the rest of this page is a DRAFT version of that final report.

This progress report has been prepared by the Planning Partnership as a step in the Common Ground process to create a beyond climate-neutral plan for the University of Victoria. The report was drafted by the Working Groups and the Editors. This is a draft version that is currently being reviewed.

The report is broken down into three sections:

1. A New Approach - Common Energy's strategy for taking on climate change
2. Ideas for Achieving the Goal - Our ideas to date for moving the University of Victoria beyond climate-neutral
3. Next Steps - The next steps to turn these ideas into a plan that will guide our actions

This report is designed to set the stage for the next phase in the planning process as these ideas are developed into a full plan for UVic to move beyond climate-neutral. This progress report is designed to provide a framework for the development of that plan.

[edit] Quotes

“If a university is a repository of knowledge then some of this knowledge should spill over to the neighbouring communities. A university should not be an island where academics reach out at higher and higher levels of knowledge without sharing their findings.” - Muhammed Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize ^[1]

“All complex systems, from human beings to stock markets to global organizations, share behaviours that cannot be explained by their parts. The whole is different than the sum of its parts. You cannot fully understand a human body by describing it as a list of parts, just as an organization chart barely scratches the surface in describing an organization. In complex systems, relationships are key. Connections or relationships define how complex systems work; an organization is its relationships not its flow chart.” Westley, Zimmerman, and Patton, Getting to Maybe: How the World is Changed^[2]

[edit] Introduction

To begin this report we'd like you to imagine the following:

• A regional transportation network that connects people and places with rail, buses, and the paths and infrastructure for cycling and walking;
• A vibrant local economy providing well paying, secure employment, and an innovative cluster of green businesses developing knowledge and technologies for export;
• Delicious, sustainably grown regional cuisine that brings healthy, affordable food to our tables from prosperous local farms and urban agriculture;
• Quality, energy efficient buildings that keep us comfortable in an urban environment that has been ecologically restored and revitalized;
• A system of financial trusts that make it easy to connect the people and projects that can develop a resilient energy supply and reduce our environmental impact with the investment they need to become a reality;
• People engaged in the practical and collaborative work of creating a region that is sustainable through active participation in our governance processes;
• A university that helps make everything in this list happen, and by doing so engages its students, staff, and faculty while producing innovative research and leading by example.

These things are parts of our answer to this question:

How do we do more to solve the problems of climate change than we do to cause them?

This document is Common Energy's progress report on its efforts to answer that question and move the University of Victoria beyond climate-neutral. What is Common Energy? How can a university go "beyond" climate-neutral? First, some context:

The history of climate change will remember the year 2007 as the time when our societies began to change. Before, it took decades to form a grudging acceptance in the public consciousness that the social, ecological, and economic problems of climate change are probably real. Today, there has been a profound shift to an amazed realization that these changes, many with catastrophic consequences, are already well underway. And, that these changes show no signs of slowing down without swift and sweeping action from every part of society. We are witnessing a sudden consensus around the need to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (CO₂e) by staggering amounts to avoid the worst effects of living on a hotter planet.

The fact that many governments are setting targets for deep emission reductions, notably the provincial government of British Columbia where the government has set the most aggressive targets in North America, seemed unlikely even a year ago.^[3] The change that we have seen was made possible by decades of work from networks of scientists and activists establishing that climate change is real, caused by humans, and extremely harmful to the diversity of life and the prosperity of societies.

The work, to move from "why" deep emissions reductions are necessary to the "how" of doing it, has only begun. Climate change is a complex problem that defies quick or universal solutions. The best approaches to the mitigation of climate change will look like a beehive swarming with experimentation, communication, and action, rather than a mighty slugger stepping up to the plate to deliver a grand-slam home run. Around the world places like Victoria will have to find the pathways that work in their particular context. And, we will have to work together to discover ways to make those necessary changes to our societies that build towards a socially, ecologically and economically sustainable future in which everyone benefits for the long-term.

The choices that we make in the next few years will write much of the history that will be taught about this moment in thirty, or three hundred, years. The events of the last six to nine months have made previously impossible changes a reality. Yet, given the inertia of the energy systems that are the source of most of the CO₂e emissions, and given how close atmospheric concentrations of CO₂e are to levels that will commit us to catastrophic consequences, our actions today will profoundly shape the future. The time for concrete action, based on comprehensive plans with deep support, has arrived.

Honeybees sustain their colonies through mass collaboration. Responding to climate change quickly and effectively is going to be the biggest collaborative project in human history.

In this context, universities and colleges have an opportunity to help society make the best choices, as we all learn about the changes that we need to make. To meet this challenge, the campus sustainability movement has grown and developed at an amazing pace. At thousands of campuses there is a blizzard of activity to reduce the harm they cause and increase their sustainability. In the United States, the American University and College Presidents Climate Commitment sets out an ambitious plan for universities and colleges to completely "eliminate their greenhouse gas emissions overtime." ^[4] This initiative has gained incredible momentum and has now been signed by over 280 universities and colleges, from small liberal arts institutions to behemoths like the University of Florida. ^[5] As these institutions, and the hundreds, or perhaps thousands, that will follow them, work to go carbon neutral they are forming a huge research network for creating the practical local solutions for climate change that we need.

It is in this spirit that Common Energy was created to connect our universities and colleges with our cities and regions as we plan our choices. We believe that those choices can avert catastrophic climate change by creating better places to live and work. The things listed at the beginning of this section, from better transportation and food to better buildings and the vibrant ecosystems and economies of a healthy city, are good examples of this. And so we return to our core question:

How do we do more to solve the problems of climate change than we do to cause them?

[edit] Common Energy

Common Energy is an emerging network of students, staff, faculty, and regional partners that are working to create local solutions to the problems of climate change and connect them together to take on our global problem. Common Energy was launched by students in the University of Victoria Sustainability Project, a student-led group working to make the University of Victoria a leader in the efforts to develop the sustainability of its region.^[6] Since its launch in November of 2006, Common Energy has developed hubs at UVic and UBC and is planning to create a province-wide network connecting groups at BC's universities and colleges.

Our purpose is to be one of the catalysts to create a future where our climate supports a diversity of life and prosperous societies. Our goal is to move universities and colleges beyond climate-neutral: so they do more to solve the problems of climate change than they do to cause them. Common Energy is becoming a network of networks, integrating work at universities and colleges across BC so that we can create rapid and sustained change.

To accomplish this task we need a bold plans that inspire people. We need meaningful pathways for people to engage in shaping their shared future. How do we create this plan in a way that engages people, and organizes them around common goals? Our answer comes from organizational theory and social movement thinking grounded in the science of complexity and importance of networks. In general, our approach taps into the power of self-organizing networks to create change when faced with complex challenges. Margaret Wheatley, an organizational theorist and consultant, uses this theory to describe the process of change:

Creating relationships is at the core of our strategy for change. Time is too short to bang heads on brick walls. Image by Bansky

"In spite of current ads and slogans, the world doesn’t change one person at a time. It changes as networks of relationships form among people who share a common cause and vision of what’s possible... We don’t need to convince large numbers of people to change; instead, we need to connect with kindred spirits.

This is why networks are so important. But networks aren’t the whole story. They need to evolve into intentional working relationships where new knowledge, practices, courage, and commitment can develop... From these relationships, emergence becomes possible. Emergence is the process by which all large-scale change happens on this planet. Separate, local efforts connect and strengthen their interactions and interdependencies. What emerges as these become stronger is a system of influence, a powerful cultural shift that then greatly influences behaviors and defines accepted practices."^[7]

This report shows the results to date of Common Energy's work at UVic to create this emergence. If you're interested in what you read:

Please connect with us.

In all, this report is intended as a snapshot of a process in progress and should not be understood as a final word on our ideas. Our next report is scheduled to be released in September 2007.

This report is structured as follows:

[edit] A New Approach

This section describes our approach to the problem of climate change.

[edit] Ideas for Achieving the Goal

This section contains the ideas developed so far on how to move UVic beyond carbon neutral.

[edit] Next Steps

This section describes the next steps that Common Energy will undertake to move UVic beyond climate-neutral.

[edit] References

1. ↑ Muhammed, Yunus. Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle against World Poverty. New York, NY: Public Affairs, 1999. p. 48
2. ↑ Westley, Frances, Zimmerman, Brenda, Patton, Michael Q. Getting to Maybe: How the World is Changed. Canada: Random House, 2006. p. 7
3. ↑ Simon Donner. "The Provinces take the Lead," (Worldchanging, 2007), http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/006677.html, (accessed May 19th)
4. ↑ American University and College Presidents Climate Commitment. "About the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment," (AUCPCC, 2007), http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/html/about.php, (accessed May 6, 2007)
5. ↑ American University and College Presidents Climate Commitment. "Committed Signatories of the Presidents Climate Commitment,"(AUCPCC, 2007), http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/html/signatories.php, (accessed May 6, 2007)
6. ↑ University of Victoria Sustainability Project. "About the University of Victoria Sustainability Project, (UVSP, 2007), http://uvsp.uvic.ca/about.htm (Accessed May 15 2007)
7. ↑ Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze. "How large-scale change really happens: Working with Emergence." (The School Administrator, 2007), http://www.margaretwheatley.com/articles/largescalechange.html (Accessed May 12, 2007)