Ringling College of Art and Design
ER-5: Sustainability Course Identification

This definition being developed by the Environmental Studies Program and adopted by the BOAD Sustainability courses currently functions as a model for the institution. Sustainability is a process seeking a dynamic balance between culture, population, ecology, economy and resource use relative to the rate of resource generation, availability and renewal. It is systems based, synergistically astute, feedback sensitive, holistic, cumulatively and collectively responsible, and operates on the principle of the triple bottom line and the “long now.” At its heart, sustainability is the recognition that we live a “cognitive ecology”. Sustainability is the way we accept the responsibility and repercussions of our actions. It is a measure of personal, cultural, and planetary accountability. It is responsive to and responsible for the viability, vitality, adaptability and resiliency of the local environment, local culture, and the economy. Ultimately, Sustainability is about maximizing the synergy of connectedness, and thus resolving multiple problems simultaneously. The difficulty with Sustainable Design is that the process is not prescriptive. The solutions are not, and cannot be, standardized because they are context sensitive and site dependent. There is no single recipe for sustainability.

The survey process consisted of two major approaches. The first was a request (oral and written) to the department and program heads to provide a list of courses that either focused on sustainability or were related to sustainability. The second approach was to review the entire course catalog and determine the courses whose content was focused on, or related to, sustainability. Whenever possible, we then followed up with discussions of the individual faculty members or area representative to confirm the accuracy of our determination. The data presented in this report was primarily based on the second approach.

The most commonly used definition of sustainability is: meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Since the Brundtland Commission in 1987 and the “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, there has been growing support for an alternative socio-economic and business paradigm based on sustainability.

Sustainability has become a word of many connotations that functionally supersede its original description. While this can be problematic in specific conversations, the multiple facets of the word serve to demonstrate the evolution of the thought process underpinning the concept as well as recognizing the range of solutions inherent in its application. Sustainability is not a single thing. It is a contextually based process.

For some, sustainability is a philosophy; a way of life and thinking. For others it is a tool for measuring the relative ecological/environmental value of different materials or products to determine which is the better option for a given application. In curriculum, sustainability runs the gamut from being a major, to a course, to an assignment, to a lecture, to criteria in assessment. In business, sustainability can be a goal or it can be a mechanism of economic decision-making. And social sustainability requires an integrated and holistic approach incorporating place, governance, community make-up and interaction, services and infrastructure.

Functionally, sustainability is a way to improve connections, strengthen systems, synergize solutions, increase effectiveness and efficiency while simultaneously reducing, and eventually eliminating, current and future harm.