The Chicago area, despite its urban character, is home to significant biodiversity. Situated at the intersection of the northern boreal forest, prairie, savanna, and dune environments, Chicago is a crossroads for more than just our own species. Here the great eastern tallgrass prairies met oak-hickory woodlands as well as wetlands, savannas, swamps, and other associations, forming a complex mosaic of environments. The long history of human habitation in this region has significantly transformed local environments, but not all pre-contact environments have vanished and local efforts at restoration and conservation have begun to make a significant difference in the extent and health of indigenous plants and animals. Our logo is derived from the Hickory (Carya); local oak-hickory forests are dominated by Shagbark Hickory (C. ovata) and Bitternut Hickory (C. cordiformis).2008
“Is Development Sustainable?
— Not Even Close”
Robert Repetto, Professor in the Practice of Economics and Sustainable Development, Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
Friday, May 9, 2008 • 4:30 PM
Stuart 105
Professor Repetto will also present at the Workshop on the Global Environment on Friday, May 9, at 12:00 PM.
This event is the keynote address for
Is Development Sustainable?
A conference in honor of Ted Steck's retirement
Saturday, May 10, 2008
9:30-4:00pm
Stuart Hall, Room 102
Ted Steck has been concerned with the issue of environmental sustainability for many years. In 1994, he founded the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Chicago. And, since 2000, he has taught a course entitled "Is Development Sustainable?" in collaboration with a succession of colleagues. It therefore seems fitting that the issue of sustainable development should serve as the theme for this conference in honor of his retirement.
Is development sustainable? Certainly not the way the world is now going about it. Major trends are heading straight toward ecological and human disasters and if they are not changed and changed soon, development efforts will fail for billions of people, comprising mainly the world’s most vulnerable populations. Climate change, water scarcities, pollution, population growth, and growing pressures on natural resources that are already extremely stressed reinforce one another in raising these vulnerabilities.
Is disaster inevitable? Of course not. But a change in direction is essential and bringing about that change will require significant, even drastic, changes in economic, political, and social patterns. The institutional, market, and political failures that have brought the world to this point will have to be addressed and reformed. If development is to be made sustainable, business as usual is not an option.
