'92
A CONSORTIUM OF UNIVERSITIES LOOKS AT THE BIG PICTURE n h e United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development '92, or Earth Summit, is expected to attract 2 5 , 0 0 0 fdK~0 people to Rio e Janeiro this June. n addition to government delegations from the highest levels, upwards of 10,000 representatives from nongovernment organizations, indigenous associations, community activists, and environmentalists are expected to create a joint agenda for a sustainable future to be called Agenda 21. The largest concentration ever of the best minds in the field will gather at the Earth Summit, and the world community will be better represented than at any previous environmental meeting. Unfortunately, the constraints on participants' efforts seem almost insurmountable under the present world view. Issues such as sovereignty, responsibility for off-site effects, universal adoption of rules, equity and trade regulations, and funding for technology transfer, to name a few, will lurk behind the scenes. These same issues, largely political, have worsened environmental problems and prevented solutions to date. The problems are so urgent and threatening that they cannot wait for a New World Order. However, a New World Order may emerge from the realization of what is truly needed to solve these problems. To the academic community, it is
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especially noteworthy that three Preparatory Committee Working Groups have been charged with providing overall guidance on matters that are distinctly relevant to the education and research agenda: climate change, conservation of biodiversity, and management of biotechnology: protection of the oceans and freshwater resources; and * the legal and institutional questions related to those issues.
0013-936w92/0926-1081$03.00/00 1992 American Chemical Society
In addition to the validation the scientific and policy bearings already adopted by many educational institutions, another less evident matter is also brought forth by the Earth Summit objectives. The universities, and the academic community as a whole, have been aware for some time of the limitations the academic system and the iob market am Dlacins on our society and individbals. i s the v i ume of scientific information and
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knowledge has increased to become virtually unmanageable, specialization in training has been necessary to provide individuals with the tools they will need in the job market. The majority in the resulting society of specialists have never been required to think holistically, to examine the interrelations between disciplines, or to observe cause and effect outside a very narrow range. And this is precisely what will be required in order to examine our environmental, political, a n d economic realities, and to come u p with practical policy solutions for the Agenda 2 1 document. Fortunately, an awareness of this problem is beginning to give rise to integrative efforts on many fronts. The Center for World Environment a n d Sustainable Development (CEWESD) is one example of how the academic community might contribute to this urgent task. The CEWESD is a joint effort of Duke University, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The CEWESD, which is still in the developmental stage, is a multidisciplinary, problem-oriented, interuniversity consortium. The idea was originally brought forth by a group of faculty and students from different disciplines at these three universities. Those faculty formed a steering committee, and their academic deans became the Board of Trustees. The concept has been received with great enthusiasm by the public and the university community. Our collective knowledge and experience can help build the institutional capability to fight environment and development problems. Simultaneously, we are shaping a teaching model to enable our students to meet these challenges. The CEWESD is a natural extension of the close relationships these three universities have built over the years, part of an effort to use limited resources most efficiently. Joint research is common among our faculties. Students cross-register for classes in each of the three campuses, Graduate students’ committees frequently include faculty from more than one school. A computerized database links all three library systems. A Pew Charitable Trust grant supports the joint course in Conservation and Sustainable Development, which is team taught by faculty from the three universities. The teachers are from different disciplines and offer considerable inter1082 Environ. Sci. Technol., Vol. 26,No. 6,1992
national experience and differing perspectives on the conservation and development issues. The graduate-level course is taught annually in two sessions: about 25 students from each university register per semester. Many students bring to the course valuable experience from their work in national and international conservation and development organizations. Since its inception i n 1990, the course has attracted upwards of 250 students, attesting to the perceived need within the student body for this type of comprehensive approach to the environmental problems that are now a part of their heritage. The CEWESD was officially inaugurated in February 1991, with limited funds from the three universities. The CEWESD seeks to be a selfsupporting unit, funded by grants from foundations and other groups interested in sustainable development, training, and improvement of educational opportunities worldwide. An active fund-raising campaign is under way for the implementation of projects in conservation and sustainable development in Brazil and Madagascar, in policy and institutional development in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, and for the study of the role of carbon in global warming. The projects provide opportunities for faculty and students from our universities to work in teams with experienced international scientists and students from diverse backgrounds. In the process, all participating institutions are strengthened. The CEWESD’s goal is to help solve and mitigate the environmental problems that threaten the integrity of our land, water, and air resources, as well as human wellbeing. Our immediate purpose is to build in our faculties and students the capability to confront the urgent environmental problems that face North Carolina and the world. Our methods to achieve those ends can be summarized as follows: (1) to disseminate the model of multidisciplinary and cooperative interaction as the most efficient and scientific way of solving environmental problems; (2) to offer opportunities for students and faculty to enrich their perspective and professional standing through classroom instruction and field experience: (3) to facilitate the work of multidisciplinary, inter-university teams to understand and confront problems of the environment and natural resources, and of the peoples affected
directly by those problems; and (4) to encourage dissemination of information among the three universities on issues and opportunities related to these methods and views. The paradigm is that the problems of environment and development are not just the topics of the moment. They are the topics of the future, and they require a new set of patterns for change. We believe in the value of research and education, and in preparing students to work in new and different ways, if we are to overcome what are some of the world’s most important problems. We have learned that the interaction of people and their environment rarely observes boundaries of disciplines, nations, or laws. States and countries cannot remain immune to their neighbors’ actions. Specialists can no longer isolate themselves in specialization. The problems of the environment are rooted in conflicts between economic sectors and between peoples with different world views. The technologies for problem mitigation often are at our disposal, provided that economic and social situations can be negotiated. The most important tools are methods for participatory, multidisciplinary, and multisectoral action. The CEWESD is intended to serve as a framework for cooperation and as an example of leadership in concerted action to educate people about sustainable development. The CEWESD model will show that the links between conservation and development are the key to the success of both types of endeavors. The type of collaboration demonstrated by our universities through the CEWESD can be viewed as an example of the interagency and international cooperation that must emerge from UNCED ’92. The pressing nature of our global environmental problems demands no less. Isabel Valencia i s executive officer of the Center for World Environment and Sustainable Development and a n associate research professor on the faculty at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. A native of Venezuela, she holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Florida. She has I O years of experience with international technical assistance and developm e n t projects, including work in m a n y South American and African countries.
