SESSION: EDUCATION AND PRACTITIONER TRAINING TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY

June 18, 2014, 4pm. Track A CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS TO FACILITATE SUSTAINABILITY CONCEPTS IN TRANSPORTATION

Joe Zietsman, PhD, Texas A&M Transportation Institute

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES ON TRANSPORTATION SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES AND PRACTITIONER NEEDS

Damon Fordham, Cadmus Group

EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT IN SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATIONAnn Xu, Georgia Institute of Technology

TEACHING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT / TRANSPORTATION IN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Ralph Hall, Virginia Tech

SESSION: EDUCATION AND PRACTITIONER TRAINING TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY

Challenges and Solutions to Facilitate Sustainability Concepts in Transportation

Joe Zietsman, PhD, Texas A&M Transportation Institute

The concept of sustainability has to be addressed with a multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary approach, which creates challenges in “siloed” educational systems and transportation agency structures. This presentation will discuss challenges and solutions faced in the transportation realm, by covering key topics such as raising awareness, highlighting the importance of buy-in at all levels, and ensuring measurable actions. These topics will be addressed from both an education perspective as well as a practitioner perspective.

Dr. Zietsman is the Head of the Environment and Air Quality Division at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. He holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University and he is a member of the Graduate Faculty of Texas A&M University. His specific research interests are in sustainable transportation, air quality, climate change, and performance measurement. He is Chair of the TRB Committee on Sustainable Transportation (ADD40) and serves as member and Research Subcommittee Chair of the Air Quality Committee (ADC20).

Sustainability – Setting the Stage

Joe Zietsman, Texas A&M Transportation Institute

Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Workshop TRB ADC60 Committee

June 18, 2014

Myth 1: Cannot be Defined

Myth 2: Focused on the Environment

Myth 3: We Have Always Been Doing It

Myth 4: Only For the Rich

Myth 5: It is a Money Losing Endeavor

Myth 6: Flavor of the Month

Overview of Sustainability

“Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

Comprehensive sustainability

Economic development & vitality

Environmental preservation & regeneration

Social development &

well-being

Environmental protection

Social & economic equity

Community livability

EQUITYENVIRONMENT

ECONOMY

Source: Adapted from CST (1997, p. 2)

Making Sustainability Real• Good reasons for doing it• Common principles• Terminology

• Performance measures

• Informed decisions• Many application types

Understanding sustainability

Quantifying sustainability

Applying sustainability

Applying Sustainability

What Do We Need? • Work across sectors• Understand the triple-bottom-line• Understand the context - be flexible• Understand the full process – all levels• Have passion and commitment