Spring 2010 Sustainability

"If you don't go, you don't know."

—Tom Friedman, author, Hot, Flat and Crowded (2008) and The World is Flat (2005)

One Earth, One Future

Sustainability is the theme of the Spring 2010 voyage of Semester at Sea. We define sustainability as a "society of permanence"—a world in which humanity ensures its well-being across the generations by improving the stability of ecological and sociocultural systems. Achieving a sustainable society will require decisionmakers to address issues of scale, just distribution, and economic efficiency.

Human societies have developed numerous place-based solutions to address their common needs of food, clothing, shelter, belonging, and self-actualization. Unfortunately, as we have adapted local environments to meet our needs, wants and desires, we have often reduced the ability of natural ecosystems to meet these demands in the future. Moreover, in an increasingly globalized world, choices and actions taken in one region can have unintended consequences on populations and environments far distant from their source.

On our journey around the world, we will learn about and compare the different ways in which human societies, plants, and animals have met and resolved similar problems. Geography, customs, traditions, and behaviors have played a central role in shaping our industrial, social, and economic systems. We will evaluate the ability of these institutions to meet development needs on a finite planet with shared resources and ecological limits. Some technologies and cultural practices are neither appropriate nor sustainable; however, they create opportunities to identify and implement those that are.

Finally, we will "walk the talk" by explicitly examining our own environmental and social impacts with the goal of minimizing our voyage's ecological footprint. Sustainability themes will be woven throughout the curriculum, complemented by an array of classes in the arts, sciences, and social sciences offering opportunities for more in-depth studies. It promises to be an exhilarating semester of learning and living together. We are seeking enthusiastic and engaged students, faculty, staff and life-long learners to join our shipboard community and address these challenges. We share one earth—and one future.