Dialogues on Economic Growth & Sustainability

A symposium exploring tensions and opportunities in how we create and protect well-being for people and the planet.

A partnership of USU's Quinney College of Natural Resources Department of Watershed Sciences and Department of Environment and Society, the Huntsman School of Business Department of Economics and Finance, the College of Humanities and Social Science's Community and Natural Resources Institute, and the President's Office.

Oil and natural gas, wood products, minerals and other resources from the earth have fueled historic growth throughout the world, generated jobs and offered communities a wealth of economic activity. Modern life is literally built on these resources, and continues to rely on them for its upward economic trajectory. But resources have finite limits and our resources and economic activities interact in very complex ways. This symposium is designed to enable the USU community explore these cross-disciplinary topics, with the goal of building a compelling vision for a way that economics and environmental sustainability can co-evolve.

Applying Big Ideas: A Shared Foundation

As I listened to the speakers during this meeting I was struck with the combination of crises Utahns were facing. I decided to capture a representation of each of those crises by including a brain, human lungs, seagulls, a juniper tree, houses and an exponential graph of growth. Each to represent a different obsticle as we strive for a sustainable and equitable future. Crisis of information, heavy metals in the dry desert air, a shrinking Great Salt Lake, water rights, housing crisis, and the reality that growth is unsustainable. I rendered these concepts using blue and white ink, as well as acrylic paint.

Watch the session from February 2, 2024.

Where Rubber Meets the Road: Case Studies and Perspectives

Each of the three chairs depicted here represent a panelist and what they had to say about economic growth and sustainability. Top left chair is accompanied by an illustration of a Chilean Copper Mine and illustrates our current dependence on copper for green-energy technology. Top right chair depicts a panelist’s second hand boots, illustrating the point that no one needs to do everything to move toward a more sustainable future, but everyone should do something- in this case, give new life to an old pair of boots. At the bottom chair is an electric toothbrush which represents the fact that increased energy efficiency doesn’t lead to decreased energy consumption.

Watch the session from February 9, 2024.

What's the Plan? Facing the Realities of the Future

For this final piece I included disparate visuals to capture as much of the discussion as possible. I utilized a limited paint color pallete to make decisions immediatly. The first visual I added was a computer to represnt the Y2K situation as a panelist talked about her experience fighting a battle of information and how that applied to the climate crisis. Darren Perry gave such a powerful argument for the end of capitalism and the importance of respecting Indigenous knowledge and land use practices. He made it clear that our priority should be community, not individualism. I depicted him with a magenta aura because I felt so much power from his words. The palm tree and orangutan represent comments made about deforestation to harvest palm oil which leads to habitat loss for this species of primate.

Watch the session from February 16, 2024.

Artist description of storyboards

Join the Conversation!

How are growth and wellbeing related?

decorative image of five diverse people team bonding

Can economies be decoupled from energy? From materials?

decorative image of solar panels and wind turbines against a cityscape

What should we prioritize?

How can we make communities more resilient?

Decorative Image of a community cheering

Featured Panel Speakers

Kat Bilicka, Lars Peter Hansen Endowed Associate Professor of Economics and Statistics
Rob Davies Associate Professor of Physics
Jim Feigenbaum, Professor of Economics and Finance
Courtney Flint, Professor of Environment and Society
Antje Graul, Assistant Professor of Marketing and Strategy
Jeannie Johnson, Associate Professor of Political Science
Ros McCann, Professor of Environment and Society
Anna McEntire, Associate Director for the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, & Air
Caitlin McLennan, USU Sustainability Coordinator
Craig Palsson, Assistant Professor of Economics and Finance
Darren Parry, Shoshone Nation Tribal Leader
Jeff Reece, Social Entrepreneur
Ken Snyder, Executive Director, Shingo Institute & Senior Lecturer
Brian Steed, Executive Director for the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water & Air
David Zook, Cache County Executive

Event Organizers

Patrick Belmont, Professor of Watershed Sciences
Frank Caliendo, Senior Associate Dean and Professor of Economics and Finance
Ben Blau, Department Head and Professor of Economics and Finance