Our politicains, like our people, are completely confused about what this skill set can be . Unwilling to ditch the destructive and depressing faith in progress idea that" it will all just happen" the people are more and more exposed to a mythical mix of determinism greed and old new clothes waste on the subject.
A wiser generation would unpick the childlike faith in technologically driven progress and decide what they wanted for their people ( invisible clothes merchants come and go)
A wiser generation would insist that our children do physics and chemistry and not assume one can do good science without them(Biologists are not coping with the complex eco challenges they find in trying to work with nature leading to a less scientific and practical approach to working with nature) .
We need to decide to train people to work together ( physics chemists,geol ,sociol,economists ) to really maintain and develop the boundaries of resilience protection that our forefathers established for us . New technique fascination and short circuits must again come second to tough specific training and skill development .
As a practical onground ecologist in Australia for over 3 decades,I have witnessed the politicization of my profession -clearly eroding its credibility.( groups like to grab the high moral ground without putting their feet down in places that work ;
Unlike engineering etc ,the conservation movement runs the risk of meaning all things to all men . To properly challenge mere convenience, conservation must maintain a hard edge in both mythos and logos; something that will attract young people to restudy the ways men can live well with nature http://designwithnature.blogsp
