Deck 1: Strong Sustainability Principles and Competencies

Question 1

Weak sustainability can be characterized by which of the following:

A) Making incremental changes that are politically feasible and cost-effective
B) Making radical changes that drastically alter infrastructures
C) Does not allow tradeoffs between the economic, social, and environmental components of sustainability
D) None of the above

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following are examples of common frameworks for sustainability:

A) Pyramid
B) Venn diagram
C) Stool
D) All of the above

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The following region produced the most annual electricity in 2014:

A) North America
B) Asia and Oceania
C) Europe
D) Middle East

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which country had the highest annual CO₂ emissions for 2014:

A) India
B) Germany
C) China
D) United States

Question 5

The Energiewende is an energy transition plan in which country:

A) the Netherlands
B) Germany
C) Canada
D) Nigeria

Question 6

The Danish wind industry is growing at _______% per year:

A) 18
B) 8
C) 32
D) 50

Question 7

sustainability science is a combination of practical research meant for applied purposes like solving problems, and basic research looking for fundamental knowledge and theory development.

Question 8

The next phase of sustainability science is to search for socio-technical solutions to the major human-environment problems including biological diversity loss, energy and water challenges, and global climate change.

Question 9

Strong sustainability is defined as:

A) Pollution reduction strategies
B) For sustainability to be achieved, the stocks of human and social capital, human-made capital, and ecological capital may be substituted for each other over time in a particular region
C) For sustainability to be achieved, the stocks of human and social capital, human-made capital, and ecological capital must each decrease over time in a particular region
D) For sustainability to be achieved, the stocks of human and social capital, human-made capital, and ecological capital must each be maintained or increase over time in a particular region

Question 10

The Gibson sustainability principles include:

A) Socio-ecological system integrity, livelihood sufficiency and opportunity
B) Intra-generation equity, inter-generational equity
C) Resource maintenance and efficiency, civility and democratic governance
D) All of the above

Question 11

Sustainability problems are complex because they require integrating disciplines, connecting local to global scales, and drawing upon physical sciences and human sciences.

Question 12

The global annual cost of all forms of pollution is:

A) $1 trillion and 100 million deaths
B) $4.6 billion and nine million deaths
C) $4.6 trillion and nine million deaths
D) $8.1 trillion and four million deaths

Question 13

According to Wiek et al. 2011: Systems thinking competence is defined as:

A) the ability to collectively analyze, evaluate, and craft detailed 'pictures' of the future related to sustainability issues and sustainability problem-solving frameworks
B) the ability to collectively analyze complex systems across different domains (society, environment, economy), and different scales from local to global
C) the ability to collectively map, specify, apply, reconcile, and negotiate sustainability values, principles, goals, and targets
D) the ability to collectively design and implement interventions, transitions, and transformative governance strategies toward sustainability

Question 14

The integrated sustainability research and problem-solving competence is considered:

A) a reactive competence that allows sustainability professionals to anticipate problems and adjust strategies and instruments over time
B) a proactive competence that allows sustainability professionals to anticipate problems and adjust strategies and instruments over time
C) important for governance actors involved in creating policy mixes
D) Both B and C

Question 15

Free rider and collective action dilemmas exist when:

A) some stakeholders/individuals take actions to reduce environmental pollution while all stakeholders/individuals benefit from those actions
B) all stakeholders/individuals take actions to reduce environmental pollution while only some stakeholders/individuals benefit from those actions
C) governments enact regulations to manage pollution levels within sustainable limits
D) None of the above

Question 16

When considering types of interventions to encourage change in socio-technical systems:

A) high levels of disturbance (e.g., fiscal shocks, natural disasters, political or policy shocks) could be used as a strategy to encourage innovation
B) low levels of disturbance (e.g., subversion, advocacy, protest, surprise, restoration, regulation) could be used as strategies to encourage innovation
C) high levels of disturbance (e.g., fiscal shocks, natural disasters, political or policy shocks) should not be used as a strategy to encourage innovation
D) Both B and C

Question 17

A panarchy is defined as a nested set of complex adaptive cycles.

Question 18

The solutions-oriented sustainability transitions framework…

A) focuses exclusively on government regulation
B) requires coupled human-natural systems modelling
C) is intended to act as a guide for sustainability professionals aiming to understand how to make changes in socio-technical systems consistent with strong sustainability
D) None of the above

Question 19

The proactive pathway to strong sustainability aims to create socio-economic value while developing solutions to problems through, for example, job creation strategies that align with environmental goals