This presentation is part of the 2015 RCE Conference of the Americas, 9-12 August 2015, Grand Rapids, USA

1. RCE Greater Burlington
Megan Camp, Shelburne Farms
Thomas R. Hudspeth, University of Vermont
RCE 2015 Conference of the Americas
Grand Rapids, MI
10 August 2015

2. Vermont in U.S.

3. Vermont in New England

5. What is the Geographic Region of
RCE Greater Burlington?
Vermont portion of the Lake
Champlain Basin

8. Core Elements of Each RCE
 Governance: addressing issues of RCE management and leadership
 Collaboration: addressing the engagement of actors from all levels of formal,
non-formal and informal education
 Research and development: addressing the role of research and its inclusion in
RCE activities, as well as contributing to the design of strategies for collaborative
activities, including those with other RCEs
 Transformative education: contributing to the transformation of the current
education and training systems to satisfy ambitions of the region regarding
sustainable living and livelihood.

9. What are the vision and goals of
GBSEN / RCE Greater Burlington?
 Mission, vision, and goals
 Gaining synergy by improving and increasing networking,
coordination, cooperation, collaboration, and partnerships within
and across sectors
 Important outcomes of our activities are: developing leadership for a
sustainable future and cultivating knowledgeable, engaged global
citizens who embody sustainability values and behaviors in
everything they do, personally and professionally.
 Some of the ways we accomplish our goals include: collaborative
research projects, educational events, policy discussions, professional
development opportunities, and public awareness and outreach
campaigns.

10. Greater Burlington Sustainability Education
Network (GBSEN) = RCE Greater Burlington
Greater Burlington Sustainability Education Network is a a
multi-stakeholder network of educators, NGOs, government,
business leaders, students, faith groups, and community
members collaborating to promote sustainability
education/ESD in the Vermont portion of the Lake Champlain
Basin.
The University of Vermont and Shelburne Farms are co-
coordinating the effort.
This designation will allow the Greater Burlington Region to
network with and learn from other RCEs around the world
that are documenting promising practices in education for
sustainability.

11. Collaboration among Regional/local
Stakeholders
We know that Sustainability and ESD and not just the province of formal education, but depend all
components and stakeholders in the overall education system. Therefore, RCE Greater Burlington involves
networking and coordinating the efforts among:
higher education: curriculum, research, and operations of University of Vermont, Middlebury College,
Green Mountain College, Champlain College, St. Michael’s College, Sterling College, Goddard College
K-12 education (especially Burlington School Department, with its SAB: Sustainability Academy at Barnes
and Champlain Elementary School; Orchard Elementary School with its SLIMY: Sustainable Living Initiating and
Motivating Youth program in South Burlington; Jean Berthiaume’s Civics and Sustainability course at Harwood
Union High School in Duxbury)
government (especially Burlington Legacy and ECOS: CCRPC’s [Chittenden County Regional Planning
Commission] Regional Sustainability Project, Chittenden Solid Waste District, Lake Champlain Basin Program)
business (especially VBSR: Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility and its many triple-bottom-line
businesses—Seventh Generation, Main Street Landing, Gardeners Supply Company, etc.)
faith communities (especially VIA:Vermont Interfaith Action)

12. Collaboration among Regional/local
Stakeholders
 NGOs/PVOs (especially Shelburne Farms with its Sustainable Schools Program,
Intervale Center, ECHO, Vermont SWEEP: State Wide Environmental Education
Programs [and its Roadmap to Environmental Literacy], CBEI: Champlain Basin
Education Initiative, Peace and Justice Center, ReSource, Local Motion, 350.org,
Vermont FEED: Food Education Every Day [with its Farm to School programs,
etc.], ISC: Institute for Sustainable Communities, VEIC: Vermont Energy
Investment Corporation, Common Roots, Center for an Agricultural Economy,
Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund [with its Farm to Plate strategic plan, etc.],
Council on the Future of Vermont, and countless others)
 youth organizations (early and active engagement has been a hallmark of
Burlington Legacy Project, and we intend it to be for our RCE’s projects as well)
 electronic and print media
 philanthropists, foundations, funding agencies.

13. Burlington Accolades
 August 2014
Burlington Ranked #10 Among Top 12 College Towns for Commuting on Foot by The SpareFoot Blog
 August 2013
Burlington Ranked #2 Among America's 10 Great Places to Live by Kiplinger's Personal Finance
 July 2012
Burlington-South Burlington metro area ranked 20th in the nation of cities with highest concentrations of
the creative class
 October 2011
Top 10 Downtowns, Burlington # 3 - Livability.com Magazine
 Top 10 Cities for Outdoor Recreation - Outside Magazine
 August 2011
Top 10 for "Volunteering in America", #8 out of 75 mid-sized cities - Corporation for National and
Community Service (CNCS)
 May 2011
HOME Program "Door Knocker Award" recognition of exceptional contribution to affordable housing -
HUD

14. Burlington Accolades
 March 2011
#1 "Top Ten Small Cities" State of Well-Being 2010 - Gallup-Healthways Poll
 December 2010
Home Depot Foundation Award of “Excellence for Sustainable Community Development” - Sustainable
Cities Institute
 June 2010
Top 10 City for the Next Decade - Kiplinger's Personal Finance
 May 2010
Prettiest Town in America - Forbes.com
 Tree City USA - Arbor Day Foundation
 One of Best Cities for New Jobs This Spring - Forbes.com
 April 2010
Top 100 Places to Live in America - RelocateAmerica.com
 First Wave City - Carbon War Room

15. Recognition of Greater Burlington
Region for its significant
sustainability initiatives :
Affordable housing (Champlain Land Trust)
Food coop (City Market)
Community gardens
Incubator farmer program (Intervale Center)
Renewable energy (Burlington Electric Department has
100% renewable energy portfolio)…and Vermont seeks
to be 90% RE by 2050

16. Recognition of Greater Burlington
Region for its collaborative and
groundbreaking ESD programs:
 Numerous initiatives at the University of Vermont, especially its
service-learning partnerships with local schools and non-
governmental organizations;
 Shelburne Farms education programs and Sustainable Schools
Project: http://sustainableschoolsproject.org/
 Vibrant sustainability NGO community;
 Vibrant sustainable business community under umbrella of Vermont
Businesses for Social Responsibility;
 Sustainability Academy at Barnes elementary magnet school.
 Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at UVM
 PLACE program at UVM and Shelburne Farms

18. What are Issues Identified by the
Region as Priorities for ESD?
The highest priority challenges/issues/problems relating to environment, economics, equity, and education in the region:
Climate change adaptation/resilience
Food security, local food
Energy, local energy
Poverty
Health care
Affordable housing
Aging population and outmigration of young people
Absorbing culturally diverse populations (New Americans/refugee resettlement)
Migrant farm workers on Vermont dairy and other farms
Lake Champlain pollution from phosphorus
Stormwater

19. Building Strong Community
Partnerships for Sustainability
 The challenges facing us in combatting climate change and creating
a more sustainable world are too complex and wicked for any one
academic discipline or sector to solve.
 ESD has a very important role to play in helping to achieve a
sustainable future.
 To successfully meet these challenges and promote and build
capacity for ESD at institutions of higher education requires
engaging numerous stakeholders involving various sectors.
 We need to develop networks and partnerships linking universities
with other sectors-- non-governmental organizations/civil society,
government/public sector, business/private sector, K-12 education,
faith community, media-- for the benefit of all.


20. Building Strong Community
Partnerships for Sustainability
 Institutions of higher education are an integral part of the broader
communities in which they are based, and it is important that their
sustainability initiatives extend beyond the campus to help society as
a whole through outreach activities, civic engagement, etc.
 Collaborations linking higher education with other stakeholders in
the community are essential for successful community-wide
sustainability efforts.
 Service-learning courses foster partnerships between university
students and their local communities to work towards effective ways
to prepare future leaders in sustainability.
 Boyer’s “Scholarship of Engagement” helps inform community
engagement efforts.

22. Ernest Boyer (1928 –
1995)
… means connecting the rich resources of the
university to our most pressing social, civic, and ethical
problems, to our children, to our schools, to our
teachers, and to our cities….
The Scholarship of Engagement

23. Boyer’s “Scholarship of
Engagement”
Higher education should be related to the “humane
application of learning to life”
Boyer viewed campuses as “staging grounds for action,”
as opposed to isolated islands. Academic and civic
cultures need to communicate more continuously and
creatively with each other.
Therefore, it is important that universities not work in
isolation on their sustainability initiatives, but extend
beyond the walls of academe and link with other
stakeholders in the broader community.

24. Boyer’s “Scholarship of
Engagement”
Service-learning partnerships/ collaborations between
university students and their local communities to work
towards sustainable futures provide a mechanism for
doing so;
Service-learning is the way in which “scholarship of
engagement” actualizes itself in the curriculum.
 It gives students a chance to see how their skills can be
applied, and offers a reconfiguration of how we involve
education and citizenship in the U.S.

25. Boyer’s Model of Scholarship (1991)
Engagemen
t
Scholarship of
Application
Scholarship of
Teaching

26. What is Service-Learning?
“Service-Learning is a form of experiential education in
which students engage in activities that address human
and community needs together with structured
opportunities intentionally designed to promote
student learning and development”
(Jacoby, 1996).

27. Benefits of S-L
Student:
 Increases communication and analytical skills
 Develops meaningful involvement with the local community
 Applies concepts from the classroom to their service
Faculty:
 Engages students in course material
 Students can test theory from classroom
 Opportunity for collaborative research partnerships
Community Partner:
 Increased capacity (esp. for volunteer groups)
 Deliverables (products created by students)
 Increased networking

28. What does that mean?
Students will complete a service project that:
Is integrated into coursework as an essential learning
tool;
Will help them further understand what they learn in
the classroom;
Will help address a need in the community (e.g. a
campus sustainability need);
Will help them think about what they are learning on a
different level: complexity of the issues.

29. ENVS 295: Sustainability Education
Term Project Topics in Recent Years
Community-based agriculture/local food
systems in Vermont
Native plants and pollinator gardens
GMOs (and labeling in Vermont)
Climate change adaptation, resiliency
Coops
Overconsumption
Local and slow movements and
sustainability
Human-powered train
Commons
Challenging corporations/”corporations are
not people”
Civic education/political transparency/
campaign finance reform
GPI: Genuine Progress Indicator
Valuing ecosystem services
Green roofs; ecomachines

33. P h o t o b y L o r i e C l a r e m o n t
T h e o r i g i n a l A i k e n C e n t e r , c o n s t r u c t e d i n 1 9 8 2
T h i s r e n o v a t i o n o f t h e A i k e n C e n t e r
r e f l e c t s t h e m i s s i o n o f t h e R u b e n s t e i n
S c h o o l o f E n v i r o n m e n t a n d N a t u r a l
R e s o u r c e s : t o a c h i e v e a s u s t a i n a b l e
h u m a n c o m m u n i t y t h a t i s i n
h a r m o n y w i t h t h e s u r r o u n d i n g
n a t u r a l e n v i r o n m e n t .
T h i s b u i l d i n g d e m o n s t r a t e s h o w a
c o m m u n i t y t h a t i s c o n c e r n e d w i t h i t s
e n e r g y c o n s u m p t i o n c a n p r o d u c e r e a l
s o l u t i o n s . T h i s a l i v i n g c l a s s r o o m
t h a t w a s d e s i g n e d w i t h t h e h e l p o f i t s
s t u d e n t s , a n d i t c o n t i n u e s t o p r o v i d e
o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r s t u d e n t
i n v o l v e m e n t , l e a r n i n g a n d r e s e a r c h .
D I D Y O U K N O W ? T h e b u i ld i n g u n d e r w e n t a
“ d e e p e n e r g y r e t r o f i t ” - i t s e n e r g y c o n s u m p t i o n i s
e s t i m a t e d t o b e r e d u c e d b y o v e r 6 0 % !
K e y G r e e n F e a t u r e s
 T h e E c o - M a c h i n e T M i s a n a t u r a l
t r e a t m e n t s y s t e m t h a t c l e a n s a n d
r e c y c l e s a l l o f t h e w a s t e w a t e r i n t h e
b u i l d i n g . I t w a s c o n s t r u c t e d b y a
f o r m e r R u b e n s t e i n s t u d e n t . L o o k a t
t h e t a n k s w h e n y o u e n t e r t h e b u i l d i n g
– e a c h o n e c o n t a i n s a d i f f e r e n t t y p e o f
e c o s y s t e m ! C a n y o u i m a g i n e h a v i n g a
w e t l a n d l i k e t h i s i n t h e f r o n t h a l l o f
y o u r h o u s e ?
 T h e a i r - t i g h t b u i l d i n g e n v e l o p e i n s u l a t e s t h e i n t e r n a l e n v i r o n m e n t f r o m
t h e o u t d o o r s . I m a g i n e t h a t t h e b u i l d i n g i s l i k e a g i a n t i n s u l a t e d c o f f e e
c u p . W h e n y o u p u t a h o t l i q u i d i n t h e c u p , i t i s p r o t e c t e d f r o m c o o l i n g
d o w n t o o q u i c k l y , a n d y o u r h a n d s a r e p r o t e c t e d f r o m g e t t i n g b u r n e d !
T h e c u p i s l i k e t h e b a r r i e r b e t w e e n t h e i n t e r i o r a n d e x t e r i o r o f t h e
b u i l d i n g , a n d p r e v e n t s e n e r g y l o s s .
 T h e g r e e n r o o f w a s d e s i g n e d w i t h 8 e x p e r i m e n t a l w a t e r s h e d s t h a t a r e
u s e d f o r s t o r m w a t e r m a n a g e m e n t r e s e a r c h b y f a c u l t y a n d s t u d e n t s .
 L o c a l a n d r e c y c l e d m a t e r i a l s ( i n c l u d i n g t h e o l d b u i l d i n g i t s e l f ! ) w e r e
u s e d i n t h e r e n o v a t i o n . S u s t a i n a b l y h a r v e s t w o o d w a s s o u r c e d f r o m
U V M ’ s o w n r e s e a r c h f o r e s t i n J e r i c h o , V e r m o n t .
L o o k f o r t h e r e g i o n a l m a t e r i a l s m a p i n s i d e !

39. Ecomachine
John Todd-designed ecomachine for treating human wastes
(an excellent example of biomimicry which results in a 74%
water use savings over similar-sized conventional buildings)

46. Green Roof
Green roof consisting of sedum, chives, and other plants in
8 separate ecosystems used for research on which
combination of plants and soil does the best job of
absorbing storm water and removing pollutants

48. Green Roof

54. Wood
Sustainably-harvested wood from 9 species of trees from
UVM’s Forest Stewardship Council-certified Jericho Forest

58. University Students Produce Videotapes and Tell Sustainability
Stories about Positive Role Models to Explore Hopeful, Inspirational,
Local, Place-Based Solutions and Work Toward Sustainable Futures
Thomas R. Hudspeth
Environmental Program
and Rubenstein School of Environment and
Natural Resources
University of Vermont
WEEC Conference
Gothenburg, Sweden
29 June – 2 July 2015

59. Global Transition -
From
Post-Industrial
Fossil powered
Take, make, waste
Living off nature’s capital
Market as master
Loss of cultural & biological
diversity
Independence
Materialism as goal
To
Life-Sustaining
Non-polluting powered
Cyclical production
Living off nature’s income
Market as servant
Increased cultural &
biological diversity
Interdependence
Human satisfaction goal

60. Dominant Inaccurate Human Beliefs
Which ones do you have to eliminate?
 Humans dominant species separate from environment
 Resources free and inexhaustible
 Technology the answer
 Earth can assimilate all wastes
 All human needs can be met by human means
 Individual success independent of health of communities, cultures and
ecosystems
Old Worldview
vs. Updated Worldview of Sustainability

61. Transformation, Change
To make the transition to a sustainable, just, desirable
future and address the socio-ecological problems of our
times, models of social transformation and
behavior change are considered.

62. Stories as a Tool for Such
a Transition
Sustainability stories that humanize sustainability and
present positive role models offer such an approach that
can inspire and empower others, creating hope rather than
despair. This is a simple yet elegant approach.

63. Sustainability Stories
Collecting and telling Sustainability Stories to cultivate a
sense of place, to help put the pieces together, and to
promote sustainable communities is illustrated for the
greater Burlington, Vermont, area, with emphasis on stories
offering local solutions to global climate change challenges
and local food production.

64. place and for
sustainability
We all know that storytelling can be a powerful means of
helping to cultivate a sense of place. But storytelling is also
amazingly effective at helping us to envision new and better
solutions and, ultimately, more sustainable futures for our
communities.

65. Need for a New Story:
Sustainability
“For people, generally, their story of the universe and the
human role in the universe is their primary source of
intelligibility and value. ... The deepest crises experienced by
any society are those moments of change when the story
becomes inadequate for meeting the survival demands of a
present situation.”
—Thomas Berry, Dream of the Earth

66. Need for a New Story:
Sustainability
“We are a self-reflective, storytelling, choice-making species
gone astray for want of a sacred story adequate to the
needs of our time”-- a shared story reflecting our
responsibility to “bring ourselves into balance with the
generative systems of a living Earth”…. before the
economic, social, environmental, and political system failure
wrought by inadequate stories becomes irreversible.”
(David Korten 2013)

67. Mental Maps
Frances Moore Lappe believes we can create the world we
want by aligning our mental maps with conditions that
bring out the best in people and for which we evolved:
cooperation, empathy, efficacy, being courageous and
doing rather than being fearful and feeling powerless, being
active citizens instead of just consumers, and recognizing
possibilities rather than decrying scarcity or lack.

68. Shifting Mental Models
Mental models shift through experience,
by asking different questions, through story telling, and
through the creative process.
Some mental models are easier to shift than others. (Ask
Copernicus.)
The mental models of children and young people change
over time with new knowledge and applied insight.

69. The Myths that Made Us
Hero
Religion
Democratic/Scientific
Economic
The Next New Narrative:
Sustainability
“Tell the world of the future into being.”
(Flowers)

70. “The Myths that Made Us” Betty Sue Flowers
PRE-HISTORY
“THE HERO”
RELIGIOUS
DEMOCRATIC/
SCIENTIFIC
ECONOMIC
THE NEW NARRATIVE:
SUSTAINABILITY
THE IDEAL Excellence Goodness Truth Growth
Health & Wholeness/
Happiness,
Sustainability, &
Regeneration
COMMUNI-
CATION
Stories
Scriptures/
Prayer
Logical/
Arguments/
Mathematics
Numbers/
Images
Expressive
(including style)
MAIN
ACTORS
Heroes
Saints/
Religious Leaders/
Prophets
Philosophers/
Scientists
Consumers/
Producers
(business)
Learners/Designers/
Innovators/Creators
SUITABLE
BEHAVIOR
Competition Obedience Reason
Maximize
advantage
Collaboration toward
long-term in individual
& collective interests
THE
STANDARD
Human
dominates
over God
God
dominates
over Human
Nature
dominates
over Human
Human
dominates
over nature
Humans/God/Natu
re working
together

71. Paradigm Shift
When she spoke and talked about leverage points, or places
to intervene in a system to transform it for the better, Dana
Meadows claimed that the most effective is to change the
mindset or paradigm out of which the system—its goals,
power structure, rules, its culture—arises.

72. Paradigm Shift
This is similar to what Joanna Macy, David Korten, and
others term “The Great Turning,” a paradigm shift, telling a
new story or myth: a story of sustainability.

73. Need for a new
story:Sustainability
Every culture has its own story about itself, its myth, its
paradigm. We live through our stories. A model is good if
it replicates the real thing; if a culture has a model or social
construction of the relationship between nature and society
that is failing, then that culture will fail.

74. Need for a new
story:Sustainability
Our culture is going through a crisis because its story is no
longer adequate to explain. All the trends about
environmental degradation and social instability are a result
of our failing cultural story. Our present myth is simplistic,
simple-minded, and naïve, yet we all subscribe to it. It is a
reductionist myth, focusing on economic growth, on the
accumulation of more and better material goods or “stuff,”
regardless of the toll this quest is taking on the
environment, our personal happiness, public health, equity
and social justice, and even our sense of citizenship and
democracy.

75. Need for a new
story:Sustainability
It equates human welfare and quality of life with
income/money/equity/creation of monetary wealth--a
single variable. It treats Economy and Ecology as opposites
rather than two sides of the same equation. As we
reconstruct the old model, revise our myth, tell a new story
that better describes what is going on in the world, I believe
sustainability stories will help.

76. Creating Environmentally Sustainable
Communities course
Since 1993 in my ENVS 204: Creating Environmentally
Sustainable Communities course at UVM, students seek to
humanize sustainability by collecting “sustainability
stories” as part of their term project--which include both a
written paper and a videotape--featuring positive
sustainability role models and examples from the local
community.

77. Creating Environmentally Sustainable
Communities course
Stories of individuals or groups in the Greater Burlington
area who can serve as a role model or example for others
to follow or emulate in bringing about the transition to
more environmentally-sustainable communities

78. Creating Environmentally Sustainable
Communities course
People who inspire, encourage, and empower others;
people who have a positive vision of a sustainable future
environment--an alternative to the dominant social
paradigm, the status quo--and take action to achieve
that vision, to turn that vision into reality.

79. Term Projects
For their term projects, my students serve as “credible
biographers” for other such pioneers or visionaries,
unsung local sustainability heroines and heroes, by
profiling and celebrating such individuals and groups and
by spreading the word to others about these examples or
role models in the community, so that these others can
respond by developing initiatives for finding solutions to
global sustainability problems and for healing the earth
and for living more sustainably.

80. Term Projects
This activity is based on the premise that “once something
has been done, it seems obvious that it could have been
done. But before it’s even been attempted--let alone
attempted for a long time, let alone attempted with a
degree of success--it may be perceived to be impossible...if
it is conceived of at all.”

81. Term Projects
Further, this activity builds on Porteous’s (1996) contention
that, "The world will not be changed for the better in any
fundamental way by coercion, legislation, or even top-
down education. Rather, the texture of the future depends
first on the myriad of small, positive life-decisions made by
millions of human individuals, and second, on the spiritual
enterprise of small bands of visionaries who demonstrate
alternative pathways by example."

82. Term Projects
The papers are written in the same fashion as each chapter
in Ecopioneers; Visionaries; Hope’s Edge; Hope, Human and
Wild and my Sustainability Stories manuscript. And their
videos are modeled after Lexicon of Sustainability, Blight
Blue Ecomedia, and Green Living Project videos.

83. Students’ Sustainability
Stories
Drawn from various sectors or stakeholders:
individuals,
non-governmental organizations,
higher education organizations,
K-12 schools,
businesses,
governmental agencies,
faith communities

84. Address the “4 Es” of
sustainability
 Some emphasize the ecological integrity aspects of sustainability (e.g.,
ecomachine);
 others its economic feasibility (e.g., Vermont Businesses for Social
Responsibility and many of its member businesses);
 others its equity or social justice features (e.g., Peace and Justice Center,
Champlain Housing Trust, Good News Garage, Hunger Free Vermont);
 and others its educational aspects (e.g., Sustainability Academy at Barnes,
Greenhouse Residential Learning Community at UVM);
 and some, like ReSOURCE and Vermont Family Forests, give equal
emphasis to all aspects.

85. Consider Mulitiple Forms
of Capital
The stories include a wide range of examples, and deal with
natural, built, human, and—especially—social capital, which
involves the norms of behavior that bring us together as a
community and help us be more productive and function
better.

86. Topics Often Downplayed
in the Media
They consider people and topics to which mainstream
print or electronic media devote little or no attention…
perhaps because such role models do not help to sell
their products, and may even discourage other potential
consumers from purchasing their products.
That is why is up to all of us as concerned citizens—not
just UVM students--to help spread the word about such
efforts, to celebrate individuals and groups involved in
sustainability initiatives in our own communities.

87. Students’ Sustainability
Stories: Main Categories
Community-based agriculture, food systems, nutrition (e.g.,
Shelburne Farms, Intervale Center, numerous farmers and
composters, Burlington Farmer’s Market, City Market Food
Cooperative)
Sustainability education (e.g., Sustainability Academy at
Barnes, the only elementary magnet school in the U.S. using
sustainability as an integrative tool to teach all subject
disciplines)
Renewable energy (e.g., Vermont Energy Investment
Corporation; Renewable NRG; All Earth Renewables; cow
power; Burlington Electric Department with its 100 percent
renewables portfolio)

88. Students’ Sustainability
Stories: Main Categories
Green building, such as UVM’s Aiken Center, a national
model for green renovation of a campus building,
awarded LEED Platinum certification for its efforts,
including: John Todd-designed ecomachine for treating
human wastes, green roof used for research, etc.
Green design (e.g., architect William Maclay in
Waitsfield)
Green businesses
Ecological economics

89. Students’ Sustainability
Stories: Main Categories
Climate change adaptation
Alternative transportation, such as Local Motion,
CarShare Vermont
Events such as: Vermontivate, Vermont International Film
Festival, Earth Charter Festival at Shelburne Farms in
2001, Sustainable Communities conference in 2004.

90. Sustainability Stories
The positive role models featured in the stories are not
presented as being exceptional or outstanding.
Undoubtedly such examples exist in every community,
including your own.
Not Vermont or Burlington exceptionalism or
chauvinism…even though Vermont is justifiably
recognized as a leader in the transition to sustainable
futures. Its high levels of social capital and sense of
community, strong town meeting tradition, and
manageable size and scale allow for interaction and
cross-fertilization that do not seem to happen as well in
larger places.

91. Sustainability Stories
The stories seek to operationalize sustainability, make it
more concrete, make it come alive, humanize it, and put
a face on it.

92. Transferability of
Sustainability Stories Model
Sustainability Stories model developed over more than
two decades has been presented to other classes at
UVM, other colleges/universities, schools, and
conferences in the U.S. and abroad.
It has been shown to have transferability; it has been
used effectively in urban or rural settings, in a variety of
cultures and bioregions, and by K-12 youth and their
teachers and non-governmental organizations as well as
by university and college students.

93. Thank you
Megan Camp
mcamp@shelburnefarms.org
http://www.shelburnefarms.org
Tom Hudspeth
Thomas.Hudspeth@uvm.edu
http://www.uvm.edu/rsenr/?
Page=faculty/thudspeth.php

94. “Rational Man”
Some that are based on theory are often based on the
"Rational Man” (or homo economicus or economic
human theory of human behavior) model that
conventional neoclassical economics developed in an
“empty world.” And many our economic and political
institutions that developed were guided by that theory.

95. An Alternative Theory: RPM
Offers explanatory theory underpinning approaches for
providing sustainability solutions.
Draws on advances in the behavioral sciences, how they
shape our ecological economic analyses, and how they
relate to sustainability initiatives.
Provides alternative model to homo economicus and
alternative theories and models for sustainability education

96. Another Theory: Reasonable
Person Model
Derived from psychology – why people behave as
they do?
 Under what circumstances are we not reasonable?
 What is needed for us to become more reasonable? i.e. What
conditions help to bring our better behavior?
 Reasonable people can learn, communicate, engage, solve
problems, work with others, achieve change
96

97. The Key…
The quality and quantity of information and the way it is
presented can make a big difference
The environment = the platform/program where
engagement occurs really matters

98. Reasonable Person Model
Rachel and Steve Kaplan, University of
Michigan
People are more likely to act in a
reasonable and cooperative way when
environments meet their informational
needs
Framework with three interrelated
components
98

99. 99

100. Model Building:
Understanding and Exploration
People have a need to understand and explore the world
They build their own mental model through experience,
comparisons, discussions
Experts have a rich, dense mental model
Learners code new information into their brain where it is
relevant and meaningful
100

101. What does this mean for us…
Programs that encourage exploration of
information help people build their own model from
experiences
Interaction with experts can help learners build
accurate representations and common language
Sounds like: Experiential Learning Cycle, Social Learning
101

102. Being Effective:
Competence and Clear-headedness
People want to be useful & feel they will be effective
The system must be accessible
They must be able to develop skills and efficacy
Instruction, support, and opportunities to practice
People need to have clarity
Information needs to answer their questions, not overwhelm
them with too much detail
People need to know what they know and manage that info
People need to know what to do: Small, do-able challenges
102

103. What does this mean for us…
Distill information into meaningful, manageable chunks
Provide opportunities for practicing skills
Non-confrontational or threatening
Not confusing
Build in opportunities for breaks, fun, camaraderie, reflection
Small steps where early success may be guaranteed
Sounds like: Ownership variables, Perceived Control (TPB)
103

104. Meaningful Action:
Making a Difference, Participation, Respect
We want to
make a difference
be heard and respected
And so we join others
Blessed Unrest (Hawken 2007) – 108,705 organizations!
Knowing about others’ successes help us imagine how we
might act
Examples and success stories, models, demonstrations
And so do opportunities to participate
104

105. What does this mean for us…
Create hope:
Provide examples of successful solutions
Provide examples of variety of outcomes
Create an open and accessible process
Make it easy for people to join
Let people know that they made a difference
Offer feedback
Sounds like: Efficacy, Participation models
105

106. Kaplan, Fostering Reasonableness
Steve Kaplan’s work on Attention Restoration Theory, the role of
the natural environment in well-being, the centrality of
“environment” to psychology, the role of clarity, and many other
elements of RPM.
Framework that can foster reasonableness. This simple framework
will inspire others to create supportive environments for bringing
out our best. It is applicable to environmental planning, health
planning, classroom teaching, and many other contexts involving
sharing information, communication, and engaging others in
seeking answers. Across a broad spectrum of fields, contexts, and
job titles, practitioners, leaders, and citizens must care about
bringing out the best in people.

107. Bringing out the Best in People
Working toward sustainable futures does not necessarily
require making sacrifices, but rather reaching toward a
positive vision that brings out the best in people.

109. Our most important challenge: To create and
communicate a shared vision of a sustainable and desirable
future
1. In order to effectively envision, it is necessary to focus on what one
really wants, not what one will settle for, i.e.
Really Want Settle For
Self esteem Fancy car
Serenity Drugs
Health Medicine
Human Happiness GDP
Permanent Prosperity Unsustainable Growth
2. A vision should be judged by the clarity of its goals, not the clarity of its
implementation path. Holding to the vision and being flexible about the
path is often the only way to find the path.
3. Responsible vision must acknowledge, but not get crushed by, the
physical and political constraints of the real world
4. It is critical for visions to be shared because only shared visions can be
responsible.
5. Vision has to be flexible and evolving. Thus the process of envisioning is
at least as important as the particular visions themselves.
Principles of Effective Envisioning*
*from Meadows, D. 1996. Envisioning a Sustainable World. pp. 117-126 In: Getting Down to Earth: Practical
Applications of Ecological Economics, R. Costanza, O. Segura, and J. Martinez-Alier. (Eds.). Island Press.
See also: Meadows, D. 2010. Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System. Solutions 1(1):41-49
Donella (Dana)
Meadows
1941-2001

110. Resilience
Self organization
Hierarchy
Non-linearity
Non-existent boundaries
Leverage Points

111. P r a c t i c a l P r o b l e m S o l v i n g
R e q u i r e s t h e I n t e g r a t i o n o f :
• V i s i o n
a . H o w t h e w o r l d w o r k s
b . H o w w e w o u l d l i k e t h e w o r l d t o b e
• T o o l s a n d A n a l y s i s
a p p r o p r i a t e t o t h e v i s i o n
• I m p l e m e n t a t i o n
a p p r o p r i a t e t o t h e v i s i o n

113. Differences between the current, empty world model and the full world model
From: Costanza, R. 2008. Stewardship for a “full” world. Current History 107:30-35

114. E C O S Y S T E M S E R V I C E S
G a s r e g u l a t i o n
C l i m a t e r e g u l a t i o n
D i s t u r b a n c e r e g u l a t i o n
W a t e r r e g u la t i o n
W a t e r s u p p l y
E r o s i o n c o n t r o l a n d s e d i m e n t r e t e n t i o n
S o i l f o r m a t i o n
N u t r i e n t c y c l i n g
W a s t e t r e a t m e n t
P o l l i n a t i o n
B i o l o g i c a l c o n t r o l
R e f u g i a
F o o d p r o d u c t io n
R a w m a t e r i a l s
G e n e t i c r e s o u r c e s
R e c r e a t i o n
C u l t u r a l
E C O S Y S T E M F U N C T I O N S
R e g u l a t i o n o f a t m o s p h e r i c c h e m i c a l c o m p o s i t i o n .
R e g u l a t i o n o f g l o b a l t e m p e r a t u r e , p r e c i p i t a t i o n , a n d o t h e r b i o l o g i c a l l y m e d i a t e d
c l i m a t i c p r o c e s s e s a t g l o b a l , r e g i o n a l , o r l o c a l l e v e l s .
C a p a c i t a n c e , d a m p i n g a n d i n t e g r i t y o f e c o s y s t e m r e s p o n s e t o e n v i r o n m e n t a l
f l u c t u a t i o n s .
R e g u l a t i o n o f h y d r o l o g i c a l f l o w s .
S t o r a g e a n d r e t e n t i o n o f w a t e r .
R e t e n t i o n o f s o i l w i t h i n a n e c o s y s t e m .
S o i l f o r m a t i o n p r o c e s s e s .
S t o r a g e , i n t e r n a l c y c l i n g , p r o c e s s i n g , a n d a c q u i s i t i o n o f n u t r i e n t s .
R e c o v e r y o f m o b i l e n u t r i e n t s a n d r e m o v a l o r b r e a k d o w n o f e x c e s s o r
x e n i c n u t r i e n t s a n d c o m p o u n d s .
M o v e m e n t o f f l o r a l g a m e t e s .
T r o p h i c - d y n a m i c r e g u l a t i o n s o f p o p u l a t i o n s .
H a b i t a t f o r r e s i d e n t a n d t r a n s i e n t p o p u l a t i o n s .
T h a t p o r t i o n o f g r o s s p r i m a r y p r o d u c t i o n e x t r a c t a b l e a s f o o d .
T h a t p o r t i o n o f g r o s s p r i m a r y p r o d u c t i o n e x t r a c t a b l e a s r a w m a t e r i a l s .
S o u r c e s o f u n i q u e b i o l o g i c a l m a t e r i a l s a n d p r o d u c t s .
P r o v i d i n g o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r r e c r e a t i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s .
P r o v i d i n g o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r n o n - c o m m e r c i a l u s e s .
F r o m : C o s t a n z a , R . R . d 'A r g e , R . d e G r o o t , S . F a r b e r , M . G r a s s o , B . H a n n o n , S . N a e e m , K . L i m b u r g , J . P a r u e l o , R . V . O 'N e i l l ,
R . R a s k i n , P . S u t t o n , a n d M . v a n d e n B e l t . 1 9 9 7 . T h e v a l u e o f t h e w o r l d 's e c o s y s t e m s e r v i c e s a n d n a t u r a l c a p i t a l . N a t u r e
3 8 7 : 2 5 3 - 2 6 0
Ecosystem services are the benefits humans derive from ecosystem functioning

115. Quality of Life (QOL) as the interaction of human needs and the
subjective perception of their fulfillment, as mediated by the
opportunities available to meet the needs.
From: Costanza, R., B. Fisher, S. Ali, C. Beer, L. Bond, R. Boumans, N. L. Danigelis, J. Dickinson, C. Elliott, J. Farley, D. E. Gayer, L.
MacDonald Glenn, T. Hudspeth, D. Mahoney, L. McCahill, B. McIntosh, B. Reed, S. A. T. Rizvi, D. M. Rizzo, T. Simpatico, and R. Snapp. 2006.
Quality of Life: An Approach Integrating Opportunities, Human Needs, and Subjective Well-Being. Ecological Economics (in press).

116. Landscape
Analysis

117. •Landscape analysis content
•Focuses on both youth and adults
•Links schools with communities
•Evening presentations
•Saturday field trips
•Professional development for teachers
Place-
based
Education

118. •UVM Graduate Students play central role
•Reciprocity is key
•Service: Landscape analysis brought to residents, planners and
educators
•Learning: Landscape is the classroom. Community mentors,
professors, and professionals serve as teachers.
•K-12 Students can also be service-learners
Service-
Learning

119. •1½ day Vision to Action Forum
•Community members share ideas and hopes for their
community’s future
•Identify problem areas and opportunities
•builds on ecological and historical analysis from
education series
Community
Visioning