Imagine citizens determining how the strength of society should be applied. We don't need to accommodate money until our social and environmental foundations collapse. An opportunity has come up for questioning the validity of economic expansion as the principal goal of public policy and for introducing another approach.

The Sustainability Project has collected a small budget for stimulating debate about the goals of society on Canadian campuses. With your help, the resulting discussions could develop into a matter of public interest. What are the arguments supporting conventional economic policies? What arguments support sustainability as an alternative foundation for public decision making? How are these two sets of arguments rebutted?

How you might help raise the discussion to the public level follows this introduction.

Disillusionment is spreading as governments abandon popular programs to service debt while financial markets trade hundreds of billions of dollars every day, tax free. Taxing financial markets would inhibit growth; cutting government spending encourages it. What have we got to show for the decades spent pursuing growth? What choice do we have?

We can choose between the growth ideology and the popular approach to long-term well-being.

The work of volunteers and non-profit organizations is the natural immune system of society. Wherever a problem arises, people notice; they study the situation, organize and take action to set it right. Many thousands of people concentrate on how to heal our world, without interest in personal gain. The objectives they propose differ notably from those of the economists and financiers who presently advise governments.

Taken as a whole these objectives form a comprehensive world view. To present this view as a choice, the spectrum of concerns has been summarized as follows. This summary is identified by the word sustainability'.

Activities are sustainable when they:

• 1 - use materials in continuous cycles.
• 2 - use continuously reliable sources of energy.
• 3 - come mainly from the qualities of being hu man (i.e. creativity, communication, movement, appreciation, and spiritual and intellectual development).

• 4 - require continual inputs of non-renewable resources.
• 5 - use renewable resources faster than their rate of renewal.
• 6 - cause cumulative degradation of the environment.
• 7 - require resources in quantities that could never be available for people everywhere.
• 8 - lead to the extinction of other life forms.

Some say the term 'sustainability' has been spoiled by spin doctors working for corporate interests. We can reclaim the word by referring to the eight points above and asking:

• Is this what we mean by sustainability?
  
• If it is not, upon what point or points do we disagree?
  
• For what reasons?
• Is there anything missing?

Witness how vested interests avoid these questions and you will sense the utility of claiming sustainability as a popular goal.

"Should sustainability or growth be the value upon which public policy is based?"

This is the essence of the debate the Sustainability Project is promoting through Canadian campuses this winter. (Outside Canada, please note PS below.) We have produced a variety of materials to introduce this outline, to clarify its meaning and to stimulate the sustainability or growth debate. (For samples and background information, send your postal address to sustain@web.apc.org)

We have raised some money to offer prizes to the college and university students producing the best print and audio materials encouraging other students to consider the choice between sustainability and growth. Invitations to enter this contest have been distributed to the Canadian University Press (CUP) member papers and a Public Service Announcement to the National Campus Radio Association (NCRA) members for publication and broadcast. Any students at Canadian colleges or universities are welcome to enter. (We will provide the contest details via e-mail on request.)

The CUP / NCRA mailing went out January 9. The deadline for entries is: post marked on or before February 9. (This has been extended to Feb. 16 with entries being accepted if they arrive here by Feb. 23.) Winning entries will be sent back to participating papers and radio stations for their use at the end of February. The publication and broadcast of these materials will introduce the topic for campus discussion in March.

While this process is going on, we are looking for contact with interested individuals and organizations who could organize open debates on campuses. At these debates economists and proponents of sustainability could meet to argue and rebut the pro's and con's of sustainability and growth as goals for public policy. Many critical issues would be aired at such events. And they are news worthy. If debates of this nature can be staged on a number of campuses across Canada, we may be able to press the question of where we are headed as a society into the public arena.

If this appeals to you, please get in touch. The times are ripe and the need to reconsider societies goals is great.

Help is needed with the following:

• direct contact with student papers and campus radio stations,e ncouraging them to participate in announcing the contest and later, to run the winning items. Let us know if your favorite student media needs to have materials sent to them.
• contact with student unions and other student groups encouraging them to arrange for open debates in March.
• organization of debates on campuses
• off campus media contacts to report on campus debates as they emerge.
• articles, letters to the editor, discussions off campus or any other activity which would further draw attention to the question of sustainability or growth in March.
• lists of arguments and rebuttals associated with the question of whether sustainability or growth should underlie public decision making would also be useful. A compilation of such items will be circulated near the end of February to people staging events on campuses and elsewhere.

What will happen if the goals of society are questioned in public debate? It would be interesting to find out. Please help make it happen.

Cooperatively yours,

Mike Nickerson, Coordinator
Sustainability Project

sustain@web.apc.org

P.O. Box 374, Merrickville
Ontario, Canada, K0G 1N0
TEL: (613) 269-3500

PS. Although we cannot include non-Canadian campuses in the Invitations to Debate contest, the sustainability or growth issue can be discussed anywhere. Practically all nations face the same problems and solutions will require international cooperation. If you are in a position to encourage such a debate in your locality, we will gladly share the materials we have developed to stimulate the process. Every time the topic comes up, it reinforces similar efforts everywhere.

'If we don't change direction, we'll end up where we're going'
-- Anon