Sustainability Learning for Action and Community Engagement

"Sustainability, broadly defined, is an absolutely imperative quest for critical scholars and engaged community members in the 21st century, raising a number of questions. How can we live in a world where we do not undermine our own preconditions that are necessary for our existence, and the existence of nonhuman world around us? What are the environmental, as well as the social, political, and economic systems that are necessary for a more sustainable set of nature-society relations? And how can we move forward in a way that addresses and accounts for historical and contemporary unjust power relations and material conditions?  Sustainability Learning for Action and Community Engagement provides both background and inspiration for addressing these questions and more, with foundational knowledge and practical ideas for the dynamic landscape of sustainability education. The book reminds us that moving towards a justice-focused sustainability requires more than knowledge; it also requires leadership and democratic action." — Jeffrey N. Rose , Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Utah This open access volume is a call to action and a toolbox for educators, administrators, community engagement specialists, and workforce developers who want to make their course content, institutional commitments, and outreach projects relevant to twenty-first century learners. The book demonstrates the impact a higher education institution, its faculty, and community partners can have through education and action for sustainability. By  being  a sustainability educator and  doing  sustainability work, individuals can create living and learning labs that make such interdisciplinary activity integral to campus life and regional engagement. This book answers the United Nations’ call to universities to step up and address the most urgent crises of our time by marshalling the resources, wisdom and energy of youth and communities to promote active listening, creative expression, greater climate stability, social equity, and, by extension, peace. Sarah Mead Wyman  is Associate Professor of English at the State University of New York at New Paltz, USA. Joshua Korenblat is Associate Professor of Graphic Design at the State University of New York at New Paltz, USA.