Sustainable Development, Ecological Complexity, and Environmental Values
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Sustainable Development, Ecological Complexity, and Environmental Values EDITED DY Ignacio Ayestar3n a nd Miren Ona india Center for Basque Studies Current Research Series, No. 10 Sustainable Development, Ecological Complexity, and Environmental Values Edited by Ignacio Ayestarán and Miren Onaindia Current Research Series No. 10 Center for Basque Studies University of Nevada, Reno Published in conjunction with the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU f// Center for -:;_ Basque Studies Universidad Euskal Herriko 0 .. UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO II del Pais Vasco Unibertsitatea Current Research Selections of the ongoing work done by the faculty of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), www.ehu.es Editorial Committee Amaia Maseda (Chair, UPV/EHU), Arantza Azpiroz (UPV/EHU), Javier Echeverría (UPV/EHU and Ikerbasque), Jon Landeta (UPV/EHU), Sandra Ott (UNR), Joseba Zulaika (UNR), Santos Zunzunegui (UPV/EHU) Current Research Series No. 10 Center for Basque Studies University of Nevada, Reno Reno, Nevada 89557 http://basque.unr.edu Copyright © 2013 by the Center for Basque Studies. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Cover and series design © 2013 by Jose Luis Agote. Cover design based on engravings by Eduardo Chillida and Jorge Oteiza. Translations by: introduction and chapter 2, Jennifer Martin; chapters 1, 10, and 13 Julie Waddington; chapter 3 and 4, Lauren DeAre; chapters 6 and 12, Laura Bunt-MacRury; chapters 7, 9, and 11, Jennifer Ottman Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sustainable development, ecological complexity, and environmental values / edited by Ignacio Ayestarán and Miren Onaindia. pages cm. -- (Current research series ; no. 10) “Published in conjunction with the University of the Basque Country.” Summary: “Collection of articles on sustainability in the Basque Country”- -Provided by publisher. ISBN 978-1-935709-35-0 (pbk.) 1. País Vasco (Spain)--Environmental conditions. 2. Pays Basque (France)- -Environmental conditions. 3. Sustainability--Spain--País Vasco. 4. Sustainability--France--Pays Basque. 5. Sustainable development--Spain-- País Vasco. 6. Sustainable development--France--Pays Basque. I. Ayestarán, Ignacio. II. Onaindia, Miren. III. University of Nevada, Reno. Center for Basque Studies. IV. Universidad del País Vasco. GE160.S7S87 2013 338.946’607--dc23 2013005092 Contents Introduction—Ignacio Ayestarán and Miren Onaindia.................. 7 1. An Evaluation of Ecosystem Services as a Base for the Sustainable Management of a Region............................................... 9 Miren Onaindia and Gloria Rodríguez-Loinaz Te University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) 2. An Evaluation of Millennium Ecosystems from the Basque Country . 19 Igone Palacios, Izaskun Casado-Arzuaga Te University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) Iosu Madariaga, Te University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and Environmental Department of Bizkaia Xabier Arana Environmental Department of Bizkaia 3. Climate Change: Activities of the EOLO Group at the University of the Basque Country.............................. 35 Agustín Ezcurra, Jon Sáenz, and Gabriel Ibarra-Berastegi Te University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) 4. Te Environmental Value of the Karstic Landscape of the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve: Te Asnarre Promontory (Bizkaia) . 49 Arantza Aranburu, Laura Damas-Mollá, Patxi García-Garmilla, Iñaki Yusta, M. Arriolabengoa, Peru Iridoy Te University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) Eneko Iriarte University of Cantabria 5. Recent Environmental Transformation of the Bilbao Estuary: Natural and Anthropogenic Processes................................ 61 Alejandro Cearreta, Mª. Jesús Irabien Te University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) Eduardo Leorri East Carolina University 6 Contents 6. Te Landscape of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country: Te Evolution of Forest Systems . 79 Lorena Peña and Ibone Amezaga Te University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) 7. Critical Teories of Sustainable Development........................ 97 Eguzki Urteaga Te University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) 8. Bases for the Transition toward a Sustainable Economy............. 111 Roberto Bermejo, David Hoyos Te University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) Eneko Garmendia Basque Centre For Climate Change (BC3) 9. Environmental Values, the Epistemology of Complex Problems, and Postnormal Science in the Face of Global Change.............. 127 Ignacio Ayestarán Te University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) 10. Science, Gender, and Sustainable Development...................... 143 Teresa Nuño Angós Te University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) 11. Environmental Education as Training: A Case Study at the University of the Basque Country.............................. 161 Araitz Uskola Ibarluzea Te University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) 12. Social Values and Sustainable Practices among Basque Inshore Fishermen . 179 Pío Pérez Aldasoro Te University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) 13. Sustainable Development and the Values of Well-Being and Globalization............................................................ 195 Eduardo Rubio Ardanaz Te University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) Juan Antonio Rubio-Ardanaz University of Extremadura Xiao Fang Lu Xun Center for Chinese Studies Index.......................................................................... 211 List of Contributors .......................................................... 223 Introduction Ignacio Ayestarán and Miren Onaindia Te University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development (bet- ter known as the Brundtland Commission) published its famous report Our Common Future, in which, for the frst time, the concept of sustainable devel- opment was internationally defned as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In 2007, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published the assessment report Global Environment Outlook: Envi- ronment for Development (GEO-4), to determine how our planet had changed afer two decades of concern over sustainable development. According to the UNEP, the world has radically changed on a social, economic, and environ- mental scale since 1987: the world population grew from 5 billion to 7 billion people, trade is nearly three times greater, and the average per capita income increased by almost 40 percent. But it did so unequally and with broad mar- gins of environmental degradation of ecosystems within several indicators (water management; loss of biodiversity; urban development and popula- tion; climate change of anthropogenic origin; agrarian, livestock, and fshing overexploitation; among others). Te degradation of ecosystem services may considerably worsen on the planet during the frst half of this century, accord- ing to the United Nations’ reports on Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Tis would be a major obstacle in achieving the Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty, hunger, and diseases, for which environmental sustain- ability is fundamental. On the global scale, changes have clearly accelerated across the entire planet. From a global point of view, ecological and social sustainability are two facets of the same changing reality. On the one hand, social sustainabil- ity depends on ecological sustainability: If we continue degrading nature’s capacity to produce the ecosystems’ services (water fltration, climate stabili- zation, etc.) and resources (food, materials), both individuals and nations will be afected by growing pressures and increasing conficts, as well as by threats to public health and personal safety. On the other hand, ecological sustain- 8 Sustainable Development, Ecological Complexity ability depends on social sustainability: With a growing population living in a social system that does not make the fulfllment of its needs possible, it is increasingly difcult to protect the natural environment. Te forests are felled for agriculture, the pastures are overexploited, the aquifers degraded, the riv- ers and seas overused, although some of nature may be conserved in small reserve areas or natural parks. In addition, human behavior and the social dynamic ofen lie at the heart of social and ecological problems. It must be, therefore, assumed that there will not be sustainable development if sustain- able societies do not frst exist. A sustainable society has the challenge of developing human capital in the areas of education, health, job creation, and innovation. Tis process has ethical implications both in the areas of transgenerational solidarity (with future generations) and intragenerational solidarity (with current genera- tions from the most disadvantaged places), as well as on issues related to gen- der equality and opportunities in a complex and global world. It is within this context that the present text is meant to be a contri- bution toward sustainability, integrating diferent thematic issues related to sustainable development in its threefold consideration (economic, social, and environmental). Because reality always appears to us as a complex and transdisciplinary connection, the present efort is part of a multidisciplinary approach that includes methodology, knowledge and the complexity of values. 1 An Evaluation of Ecosystem Services as a Base for the Sustainable Management of a Region Miren Onaindia and Gloria Rodríguez-Loinaz Te University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) Ecosystems constitute a natural capital that needs