When he thinks of the future, David Graham, Provost and Vice-President, Academic Affairs, at Montreal’s Concordia University, is struck by the fact that in 2050, the world’s population is expected to reach 10 billion.
“That’s five times what it was when I was born,” muses Graham.
That’s a lot of people competing for the planet’s finite resources. How they will be able do that — and do it sustainably — is a major challenge, one that is galvanizing thinkers, governments and NGOs worldwide.
“It’s not just about saving the planet but also about rethinking our relationships with one another and with nature as we develop public policies,” says Louise Dandurand, Concordia’s Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies.
For example, Dandurand says a stable, cohesive society is more capable of facing change than one that is unstable. Researchers are looking for ways to keep conununities both economically viable and socially cohesive.
“In today’s economy, the most valuable commodity is information,” says Reza Soleymani, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Concordia whose work focuses on improving wire-less and satellite communications.
He says if large amounts of data can be transmitted reliably and at low cost, it improves the viability of small communities while reducing the need for commuting.
In a global context, the advanced satellite communication techniques could allow people in the developed world to teach in developing countries without having to travel there.
Ensuring stable, cohesive social structures is not as easy as it might seem, says Edward Little, chair of Concordia’s Department of Theatre. He works in community-engaged theatre to help people reconnect with their neighbours.
Rights Here! Theatre and Law for Human Rights, for example, was a 2007 initiative aimed at encouraging youth to become more active in raising awareness about human rights in a culturally diverse neighbourhood. Like sustainable populations, successful theatre depends on people being able to resolve their conflicts and find ways of working together.
Concern over sustainable populations isn’t just confined to North America — it’s a global issue.
Graham says people in developed nations have an interest in encouraging economic development everywhere, partly because people tend to reduce family size as their economic situation improves. Theoretically, reduced population growth could also reduce the bur-den on the planet.
But that’s no easy task, partly because resources are not evenly distributed, says Graham. And the need for vital resources, from water to oil, has the potential to lead to conflict — yet another factor influencing population sustainability. Graham says he believes that when the economy, the environment and communities are sustainable, the population will be as well.
“The real trick,” he says, “is to see population sustainability as the natural outcome of other sustainabilities.”
