Humanistic approaches to urgent environmental issues – UC Santa Cruz – News

Report on Environmental Humanities and Sustainable Development Goals at UC Santa Cruz

The Humanities Division at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is advancing research that frames ecological crises within cultural, legal, and ethical contexts. This approach directly supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by examining the human dimensions of environmental challenges. The work of key faculty members highlights an interdisciplinary strategy for addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, historical injustice, and environmental law.

Professor micha cárdenas: Art as a Catalyst for Climate Action (SDG 13)

Professor cárdenas’s work leverages art to foster public engagement and action on climate change, aligning with SDG 13 (Climate Action).

• Objective: To communicate the urgency of climate tipping points through powerful artistic mediums that transcend statistical data.
• Methodology:
  1. Creation of high-profile artworks such as The Probability Engine: Atlantic Overturning to visualize climate science.
  2. Pedagogical focus on encouraging students to use art to envision futures centered on climate justice.
• SDG Contribution: The research and artistic practice directly support SDG 13 by raising awareness and inspiring collective action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Assistant Professor Hannah Rachel Cole: Botanical Histories and Sustainable Systems (SDG 2, SDG 12, SDG 15)

Professor Cole’s research re-evaluates marginalized flora to uncover alternative models of ecological sustainability and food systems, contributing to several SDGs.

• Objective: To challenge conventional monoculture paradigms by studying the historical and cultural significance of “weeds” in Caribbean plantation economies.
• Key Findings:
  1. So-called “weeds” have been critical for survival, medicine, and cultural practices, demonstrating resilience within ecologically transformed landscapes.
  2. Colonial botanical legacies continue to shape modern extractive economies, such as the reinvention of these plants as “superfoods” or biofuels.
• SDG Contribution:
  • SDG 15 (Life on Land): Promotes a nuanced understanding of biodiversity by highlighting the value of uncultivated plants.
  • SDG 2 (Zero Hunger): Reveals the role of overlooked botanical species in historical food security.
  • SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production): Critiques the unsustainable extraction of natural resources rooted in colonial economic models.

Assistant Professor Kathleen Cruz Gutierrez: Decolonizing Botany and Knowledge Systems (SDG 4, SDG 10, SDG 16)

Professor Gutierrez’s work examines the political and colonial histories embedded in botanical science, advocating for the recognition of diverse knowledge systems.

• Objective: To uncover how colonial-era scientific practices in Southeast Asia facilitated resource extraction and to highlight the resilience of local and vernacular knowledge.
• Core Argument: The book Unmaking Botany demonstrates that Western scientific classification was often contested and redefined by local actors, whose spiritual, culinary, and literary relationships with plants persisted.
• SDG Contribution:
  • SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities): Elevates indigenous and local knowledge systems, challenging the dominance of colonial scientific frameworks.
  • SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions): Exposes historical injustices within scientific institutions and their links to unsustainable, extractive practices.
  • SDG 4 (Quality Education): Promotes a more inclusive and critical understanding of scientific history.

Associate Professor Amanda M. Smith: Ecosystem Rights and Environmental Justice (SDG 6, SDG 16)

Professor Smith’s research explores the legal and cultural frameworks for granting rights to ecosystems, particularly in post-conflict contexts.

• Objective: To analyze the potential and limitations of recognizing rivers as legal entities and victims of armed conflict in Colombia.
• Central Thesis: Legal personhood for nonhuman entities is a valuable tool but must be integrated with cultural expressions and community practices to effectively protect ecosystems from harm.
• SDG Contribution:
  • SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions): Investigates innovative legal mechanisms for environmental protection and transitional justice, strengthening institutions to manage natural resources equitably.
  • SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation): Advocates for the protection of vital water sources by establishing their legal right to exist and flourish.

Analysis of the Article in Relation to Sustainable Development Goals

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

1. SDG 4: Quality Education
   • The article is centered on the work of faculty members at UC Santa Cruz, highlighting how the university’s Humanities Division is educating students and the public on ecological issues through an “environmental humanities lens.” This directly relates to providing quality education that fosters an understanding of sustainable development.
2. SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
   • The article discusses how colonial-era science and plantation economies created power imbalances and extractive systems. It highlights the importance of recognizing and valuing the knowledge systems of local, Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and peasant communities, which works towards reducing inequalities based on origin and historical context.
3. SDG 13: Climate Action
   • The work of professor micha cárdenas is explicitly focused on using art to “communicate the urgency of climate action” and to sound warnings about “global climate tipping points.” This directly addresses the need for raising awareness and promoting action on climate change.
4. SDG 15: Life on Land
   • The research on “weeds,” monocultures, and colonial botany addresses the transformation of terrestrial ecologies, the history of biodiversity, and the impact of extractive practices on plant life. It calls for a re-evaluation of our relationship with plants and ecosystems, which is central to protecting life on land.
5. SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
   • The article explores the concept of granting legal rights to ecosystems, such as rivers in post-conflict Colombia. This is a direct engagement with building new legal frameworks for justice that include the nonhuman world and ensuring that institutions are more inclusive by incorporating insights from marginalized communities.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

1. Target 4.7: “By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development… and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.”
   • The entire article showcases how UC Santa Cruz faculty are using cultural, literary, legal, and ethical dimensions to educate students and the public about ecological crises, directly contributing to this target.
2. Target 10.2: “By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.”
   • The research by Kathleen Cruz Gutierrez and Amanda M. Smith highlights the value of “vernacular knowledge” and the perspectives of “Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and peasant communities,” advocating for their inclusion in scientific and legal frameworks from which they have been historically excluded.
3. Target 13.3: “Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.”
   • micha cárdenas’s artwork “The Probability Engine: Atlantic Overturning” is a clear example of an initiative aimed at raising public awareness and communicating the urgency of climate tipping points, which aligns perfectly with this target.
4. Target 15.5: “Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species.”
   • Hannah Rachel Cole’s work on how European colonization transformed Caribbean island ecologies and the impact of monocultures directly relates to understanding the historical drivers of habitat degradation and biodiversity loss.
5. Target 16.3: “Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all.”
   • Amanda M. Smith’s research on recognizing rivers as legal entities and victims of armed conflict is an exploration of expanding the rule of law and concepts of justice to include nonhuman entities, thereby creating new pathways for environmental protection through legal institutions.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

1. For Target 4.7:
   • Implied Indicator: The number of academic courses, research projects, and publications (e.g., books like “After Man: Fires, Oceans and Trans Ecologies” and “Unmaking Botany”) that integrate education for sustainable development through cultural and humanistic lenses.
2. For Target 13.3:
   • Implied Indicator: The creation and public exhibition of artworks focused on climate change awareness. The article mentions the debut of “The Probability Engine” at Nuit Blanche in Toronto and its exhibition at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center, suggesting that the reach and audience engagement of such cultural initiatives could serve as a measure of progress.
3. For Target 15.5:
   • Implied Indicator: A shift in scientific and cultural perspectives, measured by academic work that re-evaluates and finds value in previously dismissed species (like “weeds”) and challenges extractive frameworks like monoculture.
4. For Target 16.3:
   • Mentioned Indicator: The development and implementation of legal frameworks that grant legal personhood to ecosystems. The article explicitly mentions the case of rivers in Colombia as an example of the law “trying to catch up” with this concept. Progress could be measured by the number of ecosystems granted such rights.
5. For Target 10.2 & 16.7 (Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making):
   • Implied Indicator: The extent to which legal and scientific frameworks incorporate insights from local, Indigenous, and other marginalized communities. The article suggests that success is not just about creating new laws but ensuring they work “together with insights from art, literature, and other creative practices of care and cultural expression.”

4. Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: news.ucsc.edu