Sophia’s Global Push for Island Sustainability The 21st century poses serious challenges for humanity, and none are as pressing as those concerning the environment. From combating climate change to preserving biological diversity, action taken over the coming decades will determine the fates of communities around the world. Against this backdrop, the Institute for Studies of the Global Envi-ronment is pursuing a new frontier with its Island Sustainability Unit, a research and education initiative that will develop bold sustainability solutions for island states and train leaders tasked with implementing them.Established in 2018, the Island Sustainability Unit is housed in the Institute for Studies of the Global Environ-ment. Professor Anne McDonald was named leader of the unit and works with multi-disciplinary professors from both within Sophia University and at other academic institutions, government bodies, and international organizations com-mitted to island sustainability. From 1999 to 2018, McDon-ald served on the review team for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in Japan’s Ministry of the Environ-ment, and since 2015 has been involved in environmental seminars focused on small island developing states in Micro-nesia and the Caribbean.“I have been doing work with communities that are most vulnerable to climate change and biodiversity loss. As we all know, island states are on the front lines of climate change, and it’s important that we help different island states build their resilience in the face of these challenges,” McDonald explains. Addressing environmental issues necessitates a multi-faceted approach that brings in various stakeholders: local communities, wildlife, government, and public and private institutions. For this reason the Institute for Studies of the Global Environment employs a transdisciplinary framework, bringing in the perspectives of environmental studies, the sciences, and humanities. “We don’t examine environmental issues in isolation. We also look at socioeconomic, cultural, and political issues, which is why we decided to house the Island Sustainability Unit in our institute, as it brings in professors and specialists from different disciplines across the university,” elaborates McDonald. “To develop truly transdisciplinary research and education activities in academia, we need to move away from the ‘silo’ approach and go horizontal.”A key feature of the unit is its partnerships with univer-sities in island communities. In March 2020, Sophia will conduct a co-teaching, co-learning intensive island sus-tainability course on a Colombian island in the Caribbean. Sophia students and professors, as well as those from The University of the West Indies, which has campuses across the Caribbean, and Javeriana University in Bogota, Colombia, will participate in the course. McDonald and her colleagues hope this kind of collaboration will form a foundation for transdisciplinary research projects and eventually a dual-degree graduate program.Further, as a follow-up to the intensive course, the Island Sustainability Unit has organized a workshop/symposium in April 2020 to bring together professors from partner uni-versities, UN FAO headquarters representatives, and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment from Samoa among other experts and government offices. The expected outcome of these meetings is to co-design and co-build a transdisciplinary program in the Pacific bridging to the Caribbean. As a research and education initiative based at Sophia, the Island Sustainability Unit is guided by the university’s vi-sion for the 21st century. This vision, encompassing the three pillars of poverty alleviation, environmental protection, and conflict resolution, was articulated in 2013 during the com-memoration of the university’s 100th anniversary.“The greatness of this university is that there are philoso-phies that instill in us a sense of mission, that challenge us as researchers and educators to seek out activities that respond to the philosophy and mission of the university. We are very lucky to have that,” McDonald enthuses. “When we were de-veloping this unit, we knew we needed to make sure that we always maintain the vision and the pillars that the university set out for us. It’s important not only that we push forward transdisciplinary research activities, but also that we ensure what we are doing is relevant to the needs of society.”The unit’s long-term goal is to develop sustainability so-lutions in collaboration with island nations around the world, while fostering the leaders who will implement them. McDonald intends to one day realize this vision and make Sophia an incu-bation hub for island state leaders in the 21st century. In the summer of 2019, a delegation from Sophia visited Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica to explore opportunities for academic collaboration.Anne McDonaldProfessor, Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies28Learning
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