“Sustainability” was not a word I heard in high school. I could comprehend ecosystems; I lived on a small pond, and saw it evolve before I could drive. Looking back, I loved systems, whether the meshing gears of my fishing reel or the feedback cycles in the 3-gallon pond aquarium in my bedroom. In hindsight, Earth Day 1970 marked the dawn of my metamorphosis from biologist to geographer, and a never-ending thirst for patterns and relationships.
On that first Earth Day, Esri was in year one of helping communities plan a better future. That mission continues, but now at all scales. Sustainability is a planetary concern; our future is not fixed; nothing is guaranteed. The interplay of many complex systems works like a herky-jerky conveyor belt; population, food production, biodiversity, climate, water, land use, economics, culture, and history push us … and we push them. We must grasp intestinally how actions have consequences, and how holistic vision can inform action.
Esri’s “Sustainable Development” website shows how individuals, governments, non-profit organizations, and business can collaborate. Our future depends on our capacity to think holistically, about how various elements (or layers of data) appear and conditions shift between here and there. To see the big picture — globally, yes, but even down to a local level — we need to harness technology, as data streams become fractal torrents, and patterns can hide like zebras on the savanna. Interactive geographic analysis clarifies such patterns, adjusting our focus.
Building skills with data takes experience, which means time. Educators can help students start, easily, online, with quick classroom content or extended projects. Any US K12 educator can do this for free, at www.esri.com/connected, with lessons and a free school account. But students need not wait for their teachers to begin learning. Students can explore and learn, unfettered, at esriurl.com/k12gis. Intros, examples, videos, and other guidance await explorers of any age. Students contemplating careers, seeking coding resources, or just concerned about their future world, can launch on their own, for free.
We have begun creeping toward sustainability, but that global conveyor belt makes our net progress uncertain. We need students to arise, look around, view the patterns and relationships, gauge the net movement, and lend fresh vision, passion, and mission to the push toward sustainability. Thinking geographically, using GIS, will help.
Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
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On that first Earth Day, Esri was in year one of helping communities plan a better future. That mission continues, but now at all scales. Sustainability is a planetary concern; our future is not fixed; nothing is guaranteed. The interplay of many complex systems works like a herky-jerky conveyor belt; population, food production, biodiversity, climate, water, land use, economics, culture, and history push us … and we push them. We must grasp intestinally how actions have consequences, and how holistic vision can inform action.
Esri’s “Sustainable Development” website shows how individuals, governments, non-profit organizations, and business can collaborate. Our future depends on our capacity to think holistically, about how various elements (or layers of data) appear and conditions shift between here and there. To see the big picture — globally, yes, but even down to a local level — we need to harness technology, as data streams become fractal torrents, and patterns can hide like zebras on the savanna. Interactive geographic analysis clarifies such patterns, adjusting our focus.
Building skills with data takes experience, which means time. Educators can help students start, easily, online, with quick classroom content or extended projects. Any US K12 educator can do this for free, at www.esri.com/connected, with lessons and a free school account. But students need not wait for their teachers to begin learning. Students can explore and learn, unfettered, at esriurl.com/k12gis. Intros, examples, videos, and other guidance await explorers of any age. Students contemplating careers, seeking coding resources, or just concerned about their future world, can launch on their own, for free.
We have begun creeping toward sustainability, but that global conveyor belt makes our net progress uncertain. We need students to arise, look around, view the patterns and relationships, gauge the net movement, and lend fresh vision, passion, and mission to the push toward sustainability. Thinking geographically, using GIS, will help.
Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
أكثر...