The Primeval Forest at the Belarusian Border in Poland: Constituting and Crossing Borders

International audienceOn the border between Poland and Belarus a forest protection controversy intertwines with a border problem. Europe's last low-land old growth forest is on the border with Europe's last dictatorial regime, where a new border crossing opened between the two countries in 2005. This paper explores how the imaginative geographies of the forest and its minority inhabitants overdetermines the meaning of the forest at the border. I look at how this happens in the act of crossing the border in the middle of the forest when most tourist traffic flows towards Belarus and the Belarusian traffic consists of musicians entering Poland to perform for tourists. Constituting and crossing the borders are part of the same processes, processes that have the effect of linking marginal rural residents to the consumption habits of central Poland so that the most salient images for determining the border are those circulated by conservationists and tourists

Alignment among environmental programs in higher education: What Food-Energy-Water Nexus concepts are covered in introductory courses?

Interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability (IES) programs are different from other fields because they focus on a complex integration of humanities, social, and natural sciences concepts centered on the interactions of coupled human and natural systems. The interdisciplinary nature of IES programs does not lend itself to traditional discipline-specific concept inventory frameworks for critically evaluating preconceptions and learning. We discuss the results of the first phase of a research project to develop a next generation concept inventory for evaluating interdisciplinary concepts important for introductory IES courses. Using the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus (the intersections/interdependencies of food, energy, and water sectors) as our focus, we conducted a content analysis of eight representative college-level introductory environmental course syllabi and course materials (e.g., textbooks, journal articles, print media) to identify common interdisciplinary FEW Nexus concepts taught in introductory IES courses. Results demonstrate that all IES introductory course materials reference the FEW Nexus. Food, energy, and/or water resources as individual elements of the FEW Nexus are frequently described, but connections between these resource systems are included less often. Biology, energy systems, waste and pollution in the natural environment, agriculture, earth sciences and geology, climate change, behavioral social sciences, and economics concepts are most associated with FEW concepts, hinting at commonalities across IES topics that anchor systems thinking. Despite differences in IES programs, there appears to be some alignment between core concepts being taught at the FEW Nexus in introductory courses.</p

PREPRINT: Implementing Interdisciplinary Sustainability Education With the Food-Energy-Water Nexus

This is a preprint of an article that has not been approved by peer-review that has been submitted to the Nature journal Humanities and Social Science Communications. It has gone through 2 rounds of review and the response to the second round is currently being reviewed. This journal does allow pre-prints per their editorial policies: https://www.nature.com/palcomms/journal-policies/editorial-and-publishing-policies In this study, we argue that the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus is a powerful way to demonstrate the importance of IES in educating sustainability change-makers who will be equipped to facilitate the transformation of the global society by meeting the targets set by the SDGs.This manuscript provides real examples of how a conceptual approach for multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary higher education can be accomplished through integrative teaching and learning. This work aligns closely with teaching and learning of the sustainable development goals through application of key competencies of sustainability. There are many conceptual papers about teaching and learning of the SDGs and development of key competencies for sustainability, but fewer that provide concrete examples across teaching scales. Our paper includes 10 examples, set up as in-text boxes, for teaching to these competencies in course activities, entire courses, and programs in the context of anchoring concepts, engaging values thinking, and deepening knowledge across the curriculum. Abstract: Growth in the green jobs sector has increased demand for college graduates who are prepared to enter the workforce with interdisciplinary sustainability skills. Simultaneously, scholarly calls for interdisciplinary collaboration in the service of addressing the societal challenges of enhancing resilience and sustainability have also increased in recent years. However, developing, executing, and assessing interdisciplinary content and skills at the post-secondary level has been challenging. The objective of this paper is to offer the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus as a powerful way to achieve sustainability competencies and matriculate graduates who will be equipped to facilitate the transformation of the global society by meeting the targets set by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The paper presents 10 curricular design examples that span multiple levels, including modules, courses, and programs. These modules enable clear evaluation and assessment of key sustainability competencies, helping to prepare graduates with well defined skillsets who are equipped to address current and future workforce needs.</p