Sustainability at the National Academies Marina Moses, Director - PDF document

Sustainability at the National Academies Marina Moses, Director Science and Technology for Sustainability Program Policy and Global Affairs Division The National Academies Purposes • To advance science and technology • To advise government and the nation • On policy for advancing science, engineering and medicine • On applications of science, engineering, and medicine to policy issues 1

The National Academies • Consensus studies – Balance and composition of committees – Report review • Convening activities – Workshops – Roundtables • Operational programs – Fellowships and associateships – Research and surveys – Education and training – Data banks Unique Strengths • Stature of Academies’ memberships • Ability to get the very best to serve • “Pro Bono” nature of committee service • Special relationship to government • Quality assurance and control procedures – peer review • Reputation for independence and objectivity 2

Science and Technology for Sustainability Program Policy and Global Affairs Division • Encourage the use of science and technology to achieve long-term sustainable development. • Goal: to contribute to sustainable improvements in human well-being by creating and strengthening the strategic connections between scientific research, technological development, and decision-making. • The program concentrates on activities with the following attributes: • Cross-cutting in nature, requiring expertise from multiple disciplines; • Important both in the United States and internationally; • Effectively addressed via cooperation among multiples sectors, including academia, government, industry, and NGOs. Science and Technology for Sustainability Program Programmatic Elements • Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability • Network for Emerging Leaders in Sustainability • Sustainability at the Academies Newsletter • Sponsor-Requested Workshops and Studies 3

Overarching Principles for the Roundtable’s Work • Focus on strategic needs and opportunities for science and technology to contribute to the transition toward sustainability. • Focus on issues for which progress requires cooperation among multiple sectors , including academia, government (at all levels), business, nongovernmental organizations, and international institutions. • Focus on activities where scientific knowledge and technology can help to advance practices that contribute directly to sustainability goals , in addition to identifying priorities for research and development inspired by sustainability challenges. Roundtable Members • Mohamed H.A. Hassan , The Academy of • Thomas Graedel (NAE) (Co-Chair), Yale Sciences for the Developing World University • Neil Hawkins , Dow Chemical • Ann Bartuska (Co-Chair), U.S. Department of • Catherine Hunt , Dow Chemical Agriculture* • Mike Kavanuagh (NAE), Geosyntec Consultants • Shere Abbott , White House Office of Science • Jack Kaye, NASA* and Technology* • Steve E. Koonin , U.S. Department of Energy* • Paul Anastas, U.S. Environmental Protection • Kai Lee, Packard Foundation Agency* • Marcia McNutt (NAS), U.S. Geological Survey* • Mary P. Anderson (NAE), University of • J. Todd Mitchell , Houston Advanced Research Wisconsin-Madison Center • Matt Arnold, PricewaterhouseCoopers • Prabhu Pingali (NAS), Gates Foundation • Michael Bertolucci, Interface Research • Per Pinstrup-Andersen , Cornell University Corporation (retired) • Christopher Portier , U.S. Centers for Disease • Nancy Cantor (IOM) , Syracuse University Control* • John Carberry, DuPont (retired) • Larry Robinson , NOAA • Leslie Carothers, Environmental Law Institute • Harold Schmitz , Mars Inc. • Steve Carpenter (NAS), University of • Robert Stephens , Multi-State Working Group on Wisconsin-Madison Environmental Performance • Glen Daigger (NAE) , CH2MHILL • Denise Stephenson Hawk , The Stephenson • Nina Fedoroff (NAS), U.S. State Department* Group • Marco Ferroni , Syngenta Foundation • Dennis Treacy , Smithfield Foods • Bernard Goldstein (IOM) , University of • Vaughan Turekian, AAAS* Pittsburgh • B.L. Turner II (NAS), Arizona State University * Denotes ex-officio member 4

Ongoing Activities Network for Emerging Leaders in Sustainability Seminar topics are now aligned with current STS/RT activities. Recent speakers include: Paul Anastas, EPA’s Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development, Raphael Bostic, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research. Sustainability Newsletter Subscriptions to the monthly e-newsletter Sustainability at the National Academies have increased to over 1800 recipients. This represents an over three-fold increase since May 2008 (597 subscribers in May 2008 to 1846 subscribers in November 2010). Recent STS Publications 5

New Initiatives • Food Security • Regional Approaches to Urban Sustainability • Sustainability Linkages in the Federal Government • Incorporating Sustainability in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency A Sustainability Challenge: Food Security for All Objectives • Help establish the dimensions of the food security challenge • Explore how to sustainably meet growing food demands during the coming decades Convene Two Public Workshops in 2011 • Measuring Food Insecurity and Assessing the Sustainability of Global Food Systems (February 2011) – Examine the empirical basis for past trends, the current situation and projections for the future. • Exploring Sustainable Solutions for Increasing Global Food Supplies (May 2011) – Examine a set of issues fundamental to assuring that food supplies can be increased to meet the needs of the world’s growing population now expected to grow to 9 billion by the year 2050. 6

Regional Approaches to Urban Sustainability Organize a series of workshops beginning in Fall 2010 to foster discussion of regional approaches to making U.S. metropolitan areas more sustainable, with an emphasis on building the evidence base upon which policies and programs might be developed. Atlanta was Selected as the Initial Workshop Location September 30, 2010-October 1, 2010 • Three Major Themes Relevant to Metro Atlanta – Transportation & land use – Public health & the built environment – Water resources conservation • Objectives – Discuss the ways that regional actors are approaching sustainability – Examine the role that science, technology, and research can play in supporting efforts to make the region more sustainable – Explore how federal agency efforts, particularly interagency partnerships, can complement/leverage the efforts of other key stakeholders Sustainability Linkages in the Federal Government Rationale • Understanding the linkages between domains is essential for the development of policies and programs supporting long term sustainability. • These linkages are not always recognized or accounted for by federal policies and programs and, in fact, often trigger unintended consequences. Objectives • To identify and describe the most critical linkages between domains, with potential sustainability impacts highlighting temporal, geographic, and spatial differences. • To develop a decision framework which could be used to analyze or assess consequences, tradeoffs, and synergies of policy choices among linked domains. 7

The Sustainability Silos of the U.S. Government Energy (DoE) Food (DoA) Environmental quality (EPA) Land (DoI) Health (DHHS) Water (NOAA) Minerals (USGS) Incorporating Sustainability in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency • A committee under the STS Program will conduct a study at the request of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Office of Research and Development to help define efforts to incorporate sustainability concepts into Agency programs. • This study will build on existing sustainability efforts in EPA by strengthening the analytic and scientific basis for sustainability as it applies to human health and environmental protection within the Agency's decision- making process. 8

Incorporating Sustainability in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency • Develop a framework for EPA to solve complex environmental challenges through a more integrated, systems approach • Similar to the 1983 NRC report Risk Assessment in the Federal Government – Will explore the relationships among science, policy, and innovation in sustainability science and technology • Will define for EPA a recommended framework that will then be scaled up under the broader NRC study, Sustainability Linkages in the Federal Government (“Linkages”) to develop a decision framework to help all federal agencies examine the consequences, tradeoffs, synergies, and operational benefits of sustainability- oriented programs Incorporating Sustainability in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The consensus report will answer the following questions: • What should be the operational framework for sustainability for EPA? • How can the EPA decision making process rooted in the risk assessment/risk management (RA/RM) paradigm be integrated into this new sustainability framework? • What scientific and analytical tools are needed to support the framework? • What expertise is needed to support the framework? 9