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CAN HUMANITY SURVIVE ECOLOGICAL OVERSHOOT AND COULD IT LEAD TO A SUSTAINABLE WORLD?

Ecological overshoot can be defined as exceeding the carrying capacity for a given species in a certain geographic area, with carrying capacity meaning the maximum permanently supportable load. (To illustrate-- how many cows could you permanently support in a given size of a pasture? What would be the impacts of exceeding that number?) We will expand on this definition to include the carrying capacity of the earth, humanity’s role in exceeding it, and the likelihood of us causing overshoot. Each session will examine an aspect of human activity, including energy, food, economics, and technology, then showing its relationship to ecological overshoot. Weaving these aspects together, we will discover the possible impacts to our collective future. Then we can speculate on whether this may force humanity to objectively face the destructiveness of our current living arrangements. Could this lead to a nature that we realize includes us? This course is meant to be thought-provoking and not necessarily prescriptive. Key components will be introduced to the class through lectures, video interviews, and documentary film clips, with ample time for questions and discussion. Optional readings and video links will be emailed to members between class sessions

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