Campus Connection

UW-L is embarking on a sustainability-themed year. The topic will be highlighted in classroom discussions, presentations, films and campus-wide programs. To set the course for the year, it’s important to understand what the word means. Sustainability is not a simple concept. Its implications are broader than the environment. Leaders say we can live more sustainably by acknowledging other aspects of the word, such as sustainability in terms of social justice, economic security and ecological integrity. Four UW-L instructors will help define sustainability in terms of these three values through a series of articles in coming weeks. Read Part I below. Understanding social justice in terms of sustainability For a practice to be sustainable in society it must benefit the population over the long-term. Therefore, it must benefit all people, according to two UW-L instructors. “You can’t have a sustainable ecosystem if you have people who are dependent on the ecosystem being excluded and suppressed when they want to participate in decision making about their environment,” explains Al Gedicks, a sociology professor. Gedicks and Guy Wolf, adviser in UW-L’s Office of Multicultural Student Services, point to examples of unsustainable models such as a coal mining company’s proposal to create an open pit mine in northern Wisconsin. Gedicks says runoff from the pit and waste piles would threaten Wisconsin’s water and Upper Great Lakes. Ultimately, he says it could affect people dependent on groundwater in the watershed and the wild rice beds of the Bad River Ojibwe Tribe. For them, wild rice is a sacred plant and an important food source. Gedicks says some of the biggest assaults on the environment take place in indigenous communities. These populations often sit on the last remaining resources industrial society needs to continue the “unsustainable life.” Extracting resources from where these populations live destroys not only the physical environment, but also thousands of years of knowledge the community holds about living sustainably with earth, he explains. Over the years, Gedicks and Wolf have been involved with bringing suppressed groups to campus. Supporters of the Bad River Ojibwe will be discussing the objections of the tribe to the proposed mine near its wild rice beds. “Mining in Wisconsin: A threat to tribes, to wild rivers, groundwater and Lake Superior” will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14, in 1400 Centennial Hall. It’s fitting that a sustainable topic is discussed in Centennial Hall. The new building is a good example of a project that is sustainable in terms of social justice, says Wolf. Students, faculty and staff researched and consulted to bring features to the building that would benefit all groups — contributing to the building’s sustainability. “Every time we are at the table, we should say, ‘Who is impacted by this decision? Who is not here and how should we reach out to them and bring them to the table?,’” notes Wolf.