Course:IGS585/OK2019WT2/ReflectionNotesJAJ

These are my raw notes. Thoughts that came to me in response to reading your reflections. They are therefore not opinions held or points of argument. I share them, as there is far too much here to possibly explore in a class.

1. GREG #1
   • - Great reflection from Madeline. WHAT ARE OUR ASSUMPTIONS? WHAT DO WE TAKE TO BE 'IMMUTABLE' FACTS?
   • - What are corporations? To what extent are corporations 'other'? Is blaming corporations, seeking to hold them responsible, avoiding examining ourselves individually and collectively? What mythology around the inevitability of our social organization is represented by this?
   • - There are complex interactions, and we seem to focus on simple, single measures. We live within, as part of, a complex, adaptive system, and the system's feedbacks and their influences are not fully understood by us, and are not beholden to us.
   • - Do we need a 'big picture' perspective? Do we need to 'get it' at that big level? Can we move forward while having different views of the 'big picture'? Or, are there 'essential facts' about the causes within society that we must agree on - on who the villain is? Do we need an agreed enemy at the gate?
   • - Climate change as a negative or positive, as a pending disaster, or an opportunity to build a better world? What does that better world look like? Is it a world where we do substantially change the world, or where we adopt approaches where we prevent the largest biophysical changes?
   • - Human history is full of changes. Hunter-gatherer -> agriculture, with agriculture adapted to different ecological systems around the planet -> urbanization as agricultural innovations lead to surplus labour relative to that needed for food production -> industrialization, with further agricultural innovation, and agglomeration economies further encouraging urbanization, changes in fuels -> more recent rapid population growth and rapid land use change across the planet. From a geologic/evolutionary perspective, we are a blip on the planet's history. From a human historical perspective, the current era is an aberration, in the rapidity of its change.
   • - culture (and language) as a way that embodies the knowledge necessary to successfully live in a place. It evolves as what is needed to live in a place changes. Culture has historically changed when forced to - by invaders, by new technologies, by environmental changes, etc. - not in a proactive way. Our present knowledge gives us the opportunity to pro-actively change our culture, something we don't know how to do.
   • - are there people's / cultures that have a status that puts them above critical analysis?
   • - what does it mean to 'live in harmony with' nature? What is the 'western' perspective that gets bandied around as the 'wrong' perspective?
   • - what role does our economic system and income inequality have in enabling people to change their perspective? Can people who are struggling to get their next meal really able to worry about whether that meal reduces their chances of getting a future meal. If you will starve to death by not eating today, are you going to save your food for tomorrow?
2. GREG #2
   • - are different political systems more or less polarizing?
   • - local vs global. Are discussions more effective if they are more tangible - focussing on local risks, rather than trying to get agreement on what is happening to the climate and who is responsible. There is a public good (economics definition) aspect here, mitigation is a globally shared benefit with a local cost. Adaptation is a local benefit with a local cost.
   • - reflections as mirrors. What is it that a presenter presented that had the biggest impact on you? What is it about reading someone else's reflection that had the biggest impact on you.
   • - mind and body. Does changed action precede or follow changed thinking? Richard Rohr: "We cannot think ourselves into a new way of living, we can only live ourselves into a new way of thinking."
   • - when are labels useful and when do they cause unhelpful divisions?
   • - political polarization as a problem, and the interaction of political polarization and identity. Political affiliation as identity, not as reflecting an ideology.
   • - is climate change an existential threat or a threat to a particular cultural/societal form? A threat to life or lifestyle?
   • - different perspectives on government. Government as leader vs government as agency that delivers service. Where does legitimacy of government come from? Elections? Religion? Heredity? Military power? Wealth? What should government's role be in managing information flow? Protect free speech, regardless of what is said, or ensure factual accuracy, or promote government position/agenda?
3. RDCO
   • - should local government be responsible for service delivery, or have a role in leadership - education / marketing?
   • - can we function effectively without clear divisions of authority, or are clear divisions of authority means by which responsibility can be seen to belong elsewhere?
   • - Nadia, there is quite a bit of public data available, including road networks. I suspect more detailed information could be provided to you for research, if you contact the right people and request it.
   • - how can people become more engaged with local government? Local government decisions affect the environment we interact with most often. The environment in our 'home'.
   • - how to get more community engagement, when people are less connected with others in their geographic community? Is Kelowna/Okanagan a 'unique' place in this regards, with a high share of non-resident owners and snow-birds?
   • - do we need strong leadership? Are problems solved by having strong decisive leadership, or having governance that reflects the will of the people, however that is defined?
   • - different societies have different systems of individual rights and different divisions of authority between levels of government. These rights and the accompanying legal systems enable different forms of action. Is there a better way than what we have? How big a job is it to change it?
   • - should sustainability be part of the mission/goals of the organization, and thereby every initiative indicate how it fits with that goal?
   • - remember that regional districts are children of the province, and their staff works at the direction of the elected board. The 'leaders' are the elected officials, and they set the priorities for the staff.
   • - the RDCO does not have jurisdiction on Westbank First Nations lands. I.e., they do not deliver services there, the RDCO bylaws do not have authority there, and WFN does not pay taxes to the RDCO.
4. CITY COUNCIL
   • - ALR and sustainability, and urban growth. Agrotourism issues, benefits and challenges.
   • - what is the function of a democratically elected representative?
   • - if you want to make change, is it more important to be true to your values or to have power? Can change be made without power?
   • - voting in local elections is strongly correlated with owning property in the local community. What is the point of getting involved, learning about the issue, if you do not have a long term connection to the local community?
   • - to what extent is there so much information available, that we come to rely on trusted experts to sort though it and provide us with what is important? Hence, we don't get involved ourselves. We just trust that some responsible, well informed people will who reflect our interests.
   • - where does the negativity about government come from? Is it a deliberately constructed mythology, a consequence of the discourse brought to the fore by Thatcher and Reagan, and continued in Canada by Harper, reframing citizens as taxpayers?
   • - what is the role of money in local government? What drives the local economy? Property development is a huge industry here. As one of the fastest growing regions in the country, sectors related to accommodating immigrants are huge here. Hence developers = jobs = happy voters = election success. So, even if money is not directly involved - bribery - responding positively to developers and facilitating development is important to keeping the local economy going and voters happy.
   • - where do we find Plato's benevolent dictator?
   • - what would better communication from the city accomplish? There is the question of the supply of information, and the demand. If the city increases the supply, is there a corresponding demand that is currently unmet?
   • - "Democracy is the worst form of government, but for the others that have been tried from time to time."
   • - should those more informed about a topic have more 'votes'? Deliberative/citizen juries?
   • - is a technocracy better than a democracy?
   • - decisions have different impacts on different people, and these need to be considered. Poor, women, young, old, etc.
5. ADVANCED BIOFUELS
   • - how do we get innovative, sustainable solutions to grow when they originate in the private sector, and/or how do we get the private sector to be leaders in the development of sustainable solutions?
   • - how important are the interactions with established industries in getting sustainable solutions to be adopted?
   • - is the belief/faith in technological solutions a way to avoid/deny the need for larger systemic change / change in personal expectations of lifestyle?
   • - what is the balance between technology and efficiency in production, and human connection with the land? Do we need a change in world view, or can we figure out how to be sustainable with the current collection world views? Is there a better/right world view?
   • - what are the environmental and social justice impacts of an increased reliance on biofuels? Is there enough waste right now that we don't need to expand land used for producing fuel feedstocks, or is biofuels going to lead to a massive expansion into an already limited area where nature is able to still run relatively free?
   • - is 'local' another easy solution? Is local really sustainable? What does local mean? Is it local oranges, or is it living a lifestyle that only uses what can be sustainably produced locally? How costly - environmentally and social justice wise - is local production compared to importation?
   • - biofuel industry still depends on the demand for mobility.
6. MARLOWE SAM
   • - stories vs 'facts'. Are facts, as typically communicated in science, just concise stories?
   • - providing WFN a vote. Is voting something that FN communities traditionally use? Is 'giving' FN peoples/communities a vote just another form of colonization? I.e., we think votes are good, therefore you must think so too, and giving you a vote is a good thing.
   • - noble savage. I think Marlowe made some mention of travelling outside the Syilx territory and having to be very careful. Suggests not so noble.
   • - is there something superior about the indigenous world views? Are we fetishizing something 'other', to our own ends?
   • - there does not need to be an 'us and them'
   • - acceptance of not understanding the views of others and/or the 'sides' of issues for peoples who don't hold the same world view as us.
   • - reconciliation. What is it? Who gets to define it? Who gets to decide when it is finished?
   • - are the traditional FN ways somehow better? Are indigenous people just people like everyone else?
   • - ways of knowing or types of knowledge. Is TEK and 'western' science something to integrate? Is it about a process for making management decisions, and not about 'doing science'?
   • - do cultures become 'obsolete'? To what extent are the FN issues a political manipulation of 'white guilt' held by white elites who consider themselves modern?
   • - did indigenous peoples thrive in harmony with nature? There is evidence that indigenous settlement of the americas lead to extinction of several large land animals, and there is similar evidence in Australia. Is the harmonious existence that FN communities have a consequence of their having to learn to live within their means after over-exploiting the easiest to access resources of the continent? Easter Island was not a tragedy that came out of a western world view.
   • - can consultations, as traditionally practiced in FN communities, be a solution to modern issues at a global scale?
   • - is the historical success of FN communities a consequence of their small size? I.e., they could have a consultation based governance system because there were not that many people to consult.
7. JANICE LARSON
   • - what is/should be the role of the private sector?
   • - what is/should be the role of the provincial government?
   • - is localizing production - such as not exporting raw logs - more sustainable? Are small, local mills more sustainable? What are we trying to sustain?
   • - what is the evidence on nuclear power? What are the sources that are to be believed? Is nuclear part of the solution? Is natural gas a 'bridge fuel'?
   • - how are environmental justice issues to be managed?
   • - is FN land crown land? How do the court cases relate to that?
   • - is the 'reality' of economics inescapable?
   • - how significant are the renewable energy projects occurring in BC in the scheme of our entire energy budget / portfolio? We are building Site C after all!
   • - what is the role of signature events in encouraging nations/cities to 'show off' their sustainability credentials?
   • - transportation the huge GHG emitter in BC.
8. ALISON SHAW
   • - what we see as important to investigate using science depends on the values we have. It is the values that determine what is important.
   • - again, are some world views 'better' than others? What makes one 'better'? Is this also based on values, which are themselves embedded in the world view? If that is the case, then one is also saying that certain values or value positions are better than others. How does this relate to individual rights and autonomy? Should people with the 'right' values have more rights/responsibilities than others? Who gets to decide?
   • - how big are the differences between communities that choose to follow LCR compared to those that don't? Summerland was fighting to get a large chunk of agricultural land out of the ALR not so long ago, suggesting that Summerland is not somehow special. Perhaps Kelowna is just below the threshold and Summerland just above, as opposed to broad generalizations like Summerland is a progressive community and Kelowna is a developer community.
   • - academia and inter/trans disciplinarity. Academia is divided into disciplines, and success in academia depends on convincing peers in your discipline that you are doing valuable work. Publication is based on peer review, promotion is based on publication and evaluation by peers, and success in securing grants is dependent on publications. As such, there is strong pressure to conform to disciplinary expectations. I have been told that scholars who can't make it in a discipline do interdisciplinary work. Peer review is easy when it is reductionist and a clear, concise hypothesis can be articulated and tested. Peer review is hard when one talks about interconnections, systems, etc. Disciplines are in effect 'inbred', something that is a source of weakness in biological populations.
   • - how can positive aspects of becoming more sustainable be emphasized, offsetting the arguments that it will be costly and/or require inconvenient and undesirable change?
   • - how important is our community design to sustainability? How important is our community design to reducing the cost/inconvenience of lifestyle change? High density development that enables families to have a high quality of life, rather than rows of boxes that people are voluntarily imprisoned in? Parks, community gardens, schools, daycares, etc. within urban clusters. The 'hippie commune' that Madeline mentioned her partner grew up in. Chicken and egg. If we build it, will they come? Is there a demand waiting to be satisfied? Are developers or NIMBYs or voters seeking to protect their property value the issue(s)/barrier(s)?
   • - what are corporations? Technically, they are a legal entity with some rights like a person. However, they do not have individual agency. Their decisions are made by people, who are hired by the owners. Thus, blaming corporations for anything is something of a diversion from the issue of the owners of the corporations. The shareholders are demanding that the CEO they hire maximize the return on their investment, and that drives the decision. Corporations don't lobby government. People who work for corporations do the lobbying, and they do so at the direction, ultimately, of the CEO, who is her/himself implementing the wishes of the board of directors, whose members are elected by the shareholders. Blaming corporations means we don't look at the owners. Note that the perspective in finance is that the only thing that a corporation should do is maximize shareholder value. Shareholders can spend that value as they wish, and it is through that spending that shareholders should express their values. That of course brings it full circle back to the values people hold.
   • - is it a 'self evident fact' that is 'immutable' that people's income should come through jobs, and that jobs are best provided by private employers? Are there alternative structures? The power of business is in part the concern of individuals about losing their jobs. As Clinton said 'it's the economy, stupid' or something like that. Yes, but is the current structure of the economy inevitable?
   • - are most decisions related to climate change made globally? Or is it a whole collection of individual choices that are made locally? How much mitigation is a local choice about vehicle fuel efficiency, amount of driving, house temperature, type and size of house, etc. Some are personal, some are a consequence of local decisions about zoning, transportation network, etc. I am not sure how much is really decided at the global scale, beyond commitments to implement policies that will affect local decisions.
   • - how much heterogeneity can be accepted in how communities achieve sustainability? Can communities define it differently? How can decisions made by one community that affect another community be integrated? Can one community be 'sustainable' by dumping pollution in a river that impacts a downstream community? Is sustainability a 'value' that requires taking responsibility for all the impacts of ones decision, who and where ever those impacts occur?
9. UBC SUSTAINABILITY