Hello to all, and welcome to our Week 02 Forum. Before the prompts, some comments on EHRENFELD’s text:

1. EHRENFELD’s text is a complex interdisciplinary piece that uses concepts from disciplines as varied as physics, chemistry, ecology, economy and justice theory. Hence, do not feel frustrated if you advance slowly or need to go over paragraphs and concepts more than once. Furthermore, feel free to e-mail me if you have doubts about it. While you do not have to understand every small corner of it and it does not treat environmental crimes per se, it provides you a great base for better understanding environmental problems in general.

2. Pay attention to the figures and the tables. Particularly, Table 3 -which is presented nearly at the end- should probably be consulted at the very beginning of the reading, and consulted again as one advances.

3. Some key concepts to better understand the reading are: 1) “Industrial Ecology”, which although is part of the title and mentioned several times, is mainly defined in p. 239. 2) “Sustainability” (as defined by the author in p. 232 and p. 233). 3) “Paradigm” (p. 234), taken from Thomas Kuhn’s theory. 4) “Scavengers” (p. 238). 5) “Natural Step” (p. 241). 6) “The Master Equation” (p. 241).

All of this said, this week you need to do as follows:

A) Your own thread:

I) According to EHRENFELD, industrial ecology can be a paradigm shift or a normal science: can it be both at the same time, or can it only be one or the other in one particular moment? Which one does the author prefer? This answer should be between 70 and 120 words long.

II) What is HARDIN’s central argument in “The Tragedy of the Commons” (1968)? Look carefully in the text, as the central argument/thesis is clearly expressed there. This answer should be between 50 and 90 words long.

III) Choose one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and briefly explain how do you imagine yourself as a future professional helping that goal to be achieved by the humanity. This answer should be between 60 and 120 words long.

B) Your comment to a colleague:

I) Provide insights on question 03’s answer from a colleague that chose a UN Development Goal different than the one you did. Focus on how these goals may be shaping the future of professions and labor market.This answer should be between 60 and 120 words long.