Community Colleges: A Vital Resource for Education in the Post-Carbon Era

The post-carbon era is going to require knowledge and skills that are not commonly acquired in most formal educational settings today. There are numerous areas in which people will need to be educated, not only to meet the needs of an energy-constrained future but to develop their own useful livelihoods:

• Training in organic growing and permaculture
• Retrofitting old housing and building stock
• Refashioning metals for practical tools and machinery
• Setting up and running local businesses
• Reindustrializing for small-scale local production of needed goods
• Developing health-care delivery alternatives and establishing local currencies

The key question is, “Where in our current educational system is it possible to develop and institutionalize the kinds of education needed to prepare people for work in the post-carbon economy—and to do so relatively quickly?”

Fortuitously, the Obama administration has recognized the role that community colleges can play in the near-term future. In July 2009, President Obama announced the American Graduation Initiative (AGI), a ten-year, $12 billion plan to invest in the 1,200 community colleges across the country. Focused on a declining industrial base and the need to reeducate the American
workforce, AGI is intended to increase graduation rates and prepare students for new employment in well-paying, community-based jobs.

Why the focus on Community Colleges?

There are currently 6.5 million students enrolled in community college credit programs throughout the United States, with another 5 million enrolled in non-credit options.[1] These students account for nearly half of all students in college in the country today. The rise in popularity of community colleges during the last half century is due to several factors.

From the individual’s perspective, there are several reasons to look to the community college as an attractive educational setting. Community colleges provide students with the opportunity to acquire remedial instruction, training for specific careers, and the foundations for continuing education at four-year institutions if they wish to work toward baccalaureate degrees. The community colleges’ open-door policies allow all students entry into a college experience. In addition, many community colleges offer attractive transfer packages to four-year institutions, including excellent financial deals for those students who maintain a high
grade-point average.

From the societal perspective, there are several characteristics that make the community college a vital institution:

* Community colleges are local. Most students who attend a community college reside in the vicinity served by that institution. Very few students cross the country to attend a community college three thousand miles away. Rather, the typical community college student is tied to the local community via job and/or family and tends to remain in the geographic area of the community college after completing his or her academic work.

The rise in costs related to future energy constraints is going to result in people seeking more local options, whether it be for work, for buying local produce, or for education. The community college’s local presence in an area makes it an attractive
option for students as they seek education and training opportunities within their geographic reach.

* They are affordable. In 2008, the average yearly combined tuition and fees at public community colleges was $2,402 (with some states, such as California, charging as little as $20 per credit or less for residents).[2] Typically, the revenue sources for public community colleges come from state funds (38 percent), local funds (21 percent), and federal funds (15 percent), with only 17 percent coming from tuition and fees. Nearly half of all community college students (47 percent) receive some form of financial aid, making higher education possible for many students who otherwise could not afford to attend college.

Rising energy costs, putting greater stress on personal and household budgets, will lead many people to seek education and training programs that are at as low a cost as possible. Community colleges, already providing the “biggest bang for the buck,” are likely to become even more of an attractive option as students and their families feel squeezed by rising energy costs.

* They offer practical training. While a liberal arts education is available at most community colleges, much of the pedagogy is focused on practical knowledge. that leads to immediate employment (e.g., nursing, dental hygiene, culinary arts, criminal justice) upon graduation. Many community colleges offer certificate programs (e.g., fire science, human services, computer technology skills), qualifying students for some aspect of a specific job in less time than it takes to complete an associate degree. The
benefits of practical knowledge that leads to specific immediate work opportunities are especially attractive to students seeking to enhance their workforce credentials in a relatively short period of time and at minimal expense.

Moreover, the emphasis on work-related practical knowledge coincides with the kind of short-term training programs that will be required in the post-carbon future and that readily could be adopted within the structure of most community colleges.
 
* They are agile. Because the primary focus at community colleges is teaching, these colleges are geared toward putting new courses and programs into place relatively quickly in order to meet existing and emerging educational needs of the community. This is an important asset because while we can predict some obvious educational needs in the post-carbon era, there are likely to be some circumstances that currently are unrecognizable and, thus, unforeseen. Rapid and facile development of educational options can help to ensure relatively smooth transitioning to a post-carbon existence.

* Finally, as institutions, community colleges are connected to the community. They pride themselves in responding to local economic and societal needs apparent within the specific geographic area of the college. They develop degree and certificate programs as well as noncredit educational opportunities in response to local realities. Moreover, they often work in active partnerships with local and regional groups and organizations on service learning programs, civic engagement experiences, regional projects, and conference/colloquial gatherings.

Overall, community colleges already meet several of the requisites needed for the relocalization efforts anticipated in the post-carbon era.

Rethinking Curricula for a Post-Carbon World

The post-carbon era is going to require our reconceptualizing many already existing programs, extending some programs to include new areas of knowledge, and, in some cases, developing entirely new programs of study. Below are a few examples of the kinds of changes in curricula that will be needed.

Agriculture

The dominant industrial agriculture model, which is dependent on fossil fuels, is unsustainable—not only in terms of its enormous consumption of nonrenewable energy sources, but also in terms of its detrimental impact on the environment and the resulting nutrient failures. This globalized food system, racking up thousands of “food miles,” is extremely vulnerable to impending energy scarcity and thus threatens public food security.

As calculated by Richard Heinberg, some 50 million prospective farmers need to be trained in organic growing within the next twenty years if we are to stave off worst-case scenarios of food shortages.[3] Over the last half century, thousands of small-scale farms have been forced out of production, unable to compete with huge fossil-fuel-based agribusinesses. The average age of farmers in the United States today is fifty-nine and, until recently, young people have had little incentive to go into farming. Thanks in part to the works of Michael Pollan [4] and Joel Salatin [5], new interest in relocalizing agriculture via organic and free-range farming has emerged. Many communities and individuals are willing to devote land to local food production but cannot find people with the skills and knowledge to operate successful farms.

These realities point to the urgent need for community colleges to develop organic agriculture and/or permaculture certificate or degree programs. Every community must reconnect with local food production as a necessity. No program is in greater need of immediate implementation than that of teaching future farmers the basics of sustainable agriculture.

Culinary Arts

These programs typically train students for employment in conventional food settings, preparing them to work as chefs, cooks, and managers of food services such as restaurants, cafeterias, hospital kitchens, and school lunchrooms. Culinary arts in the future may have to extend their programs to include the basics in canning, root cellaring, and “know-your-foods” courses in which
students learn about the vitamin and mineral properties of different foods, as well as how to prepare them to maximize their nutritional value.

One can envision culinary arts intersecting with agriculture where students learn, for example, the basics of growing vegetables, fruits, and herbs as an integral part of their training and preparation for jobs in the food industry. Courses in organic farming, greenhouse production, vermiculture, and beekeeping could become invaluable classes to budding chefs who are
seeking to bring healthy and nutritionally dense food at affordable prices to their restaurants, cafeterias, and kitchens. One also can envision culinary arts and agriculture intersecting with the health-care sciences with emphases, for instance, on healing through herbs and on sound nutrition.

Health Sciences

Current health-care training programs in community colleges prepare students for employment in traditional medical sectors, all of which are heavily dependent on nonrenewable petroleum-based products and services, from analgesics and antibiotics to surgical plastics and petrochemicals for radiological dyes and films. In the meantime, public health dollars are spread unevenly
across states and are eroding as the recession hits state and local public health departments alike.

These realities necessitate a rethinking and an extension of educational programs preparing people for work in the health-care sector. Holistic preventive education via courses focused on healthy eating that promote good nutrition as the first step toward sound health practices may become required curricula. Health-maintenance programs that deal with issues such as stress management, emotional balance, violence prevention, physical activity, personal hygiene, and sanitation health may become integral parts of health-care training, thus preparing students to be practitioners and community public health counselors within local and even micro-level health service agencies. As federal and state budgets shrink, more responsibility will be foisted onto
communities and local public health practitioners to fill the widening gaps.

Business and Finance

Business as usual will be hard-pressed to continue in a post-carbon economy. As consumerism (characterized by energy inefficiencies and mega-waste) declines out of necessity, new forms of business will have to emerge to meet consumer needs. The community college, with its agile character and connectedness to local environs, is well positioned to help localities (re)discover local manufacturing as small, locally based businesses emerge to meet public needs. Thus, courses on how to develop and run small businesses that emphasize sustainability and that function through cooperation and interdependence via regional networking will become highly valued. The strategies initiated within the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE)—the mission of which is to “catalyze, strengthen and connect networks of locally owned independent businesses dedicated to building strong local living economies” [6]— could become the core of academic training for business majors at community colleges.

In addition, courses and programs focused on the functions and operations of publicly owned and controlled banking systems (such as credit unions, as well as regional banks and state-owned banks) will be in demand, as will educational programs on how to set up time-shares, time-banks, local currencies, and other public finance innovations.

Engineering and Industry

“Green jobs” is the growing mantra as people across the country begin to grapple with impending environmental problems brought on by climate change. Such new and alternative employment is especially attractive in the face of recessionary double-digit unemployment and the fear of mounting job losses from traditional employment sectors.

Community college engineering programs are ripe for developing both degree and nondegree opportunities to train students in “green engineering.” Such work would include job training for employment in photovoltaic installation and much-needed retrofitting skills to transform the millions of already-existing buildings and houses into energy-efficient structures. Many  communities and individuals are willing to convert to these new sustainable technologies but, as in agriculture, cannot find local people trained in the skills and knowledge to do this work.

Moreover, there is a plethora of opportunities to learn and invent within the realm of low-tech engineering, which readily could become core curricula of engineering programs at community colleges. For example, Amy Smith, a senior lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT who specializes in engineering design and appropriate technology, has produced several inventions that are sustainable and useful in poor, resource-constrained countries [7]—technologies that we may find suited to our own energy-constrained needs in the future.

Conflict Resolution

Several four-year colleges and universities have academic programs in peace studies and conflict resolution. However, only 1 percent of such programs are available at community colleges. Undoubtedly, numerous disputes and conflicts are likely to arise as we transition from the current large-corporate dominant system to a post-carbon energy system. For example, much of agriculture, out of necessity, is going to have to become local and urban, disturbing the “normality” of green lawns, open spaces, and public lands. Land use will have to be reconceptualized as well as rezoned to meet the new food-production needs. Such changes are likely to induce conflicts, especially, for example, as some residents in neighborhoods attempt to turn their green lawns into agricultural plots or small animal-production sites. There will be numerous incidents calling for the skills of mediators and arbitrators who are locally based to help manage and negotiate these community and neighborhood disputes. In addition,
larger-scale environmental-impact conflicts, such as a recent dispute in Massachusetts over the placement of wind turbines for the offshore wind farm in Nantucket Sound, [8] will become more numerous as we confront the challenges of transitioning to a sustainable, post-carbon energy system.

Community colleges could provide the necessary training and expertise for relatively short-term, two-year degree programs that prepare students for careers in conflict management and dispute resolution of local neighborhood, community, and regional issues. Such a program could have tracks—agriculture, environmental, social welfare—in which students concentrate their area of expertise. Furthermore, even shorter-term training via certificate programs could be established, preparing students for micro-level dispute resolution such as conflict between neighbors.

Community Colleges Can Begin Post-Carbon Educational Transitions Now

While the curricula of most community colleges have yet to reflect the growing energy constraints awaiting us, the educational structure of the community college makes it a viable medium through which to offer majors and programs that will be necessary in the future. A workforce trained in these areas will be needed as we begin the descent from the peak of global oil production. The time to put such critical programs into place is now, while we still have a window of opportunity to prepare for the imminent challenges of a post-carbon future. The community college can and should be at the center of these efforts.

Endnotes

1. American Association of Community Colleges, “CC STATS,” http://www2.aacc.nche.edu/research/index.htm (accessed April 1, 2010).
2. The College Board, Trends in College Pricing 2008, Washington, DC, http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/trends-in-college-pri....
3. Richard Heinberg, “Fifty Million Farmers,” from a lecture delivered to the E. F. Schumacher Society in Stockbridge, MA, on October 28, 2006, http://www.energybulletin.net/node/22584.
4. See, for example, Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food (New York: Penguin, 2008) and The Omnivore’s Dilemma (New York: Penguin, 2006).
5. See Tom M. Purdum, “The High Priest of Pasture,” New York Times, May 1, 2005.
6. See http://www.livingeconomies.org/aboutus/mission-and-principles.
7. Logan Ward, “MIT’s Guru of Low-Tech Engineering Fixes the World on $2 a day,” Popular Mechanics, August 1,2008, http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/gonzo/4273674.
8. See http://www.capewind.org/.

About the Author
Nancy Lee Wood is a professor of sociology and director of the Institute for Sustainability and Post-Carbon Education (ISPE) at Bristol Community College in Fall River, Massachusetts. After winning her college’s prestigious Presidential Fellowship in 2007, she developed ISPE and spearheaded a new course of study, the Organic Agriculture Technician Certificate Program, which premiered in fall 2009. She lectures frequently throughout southeastern Massachusetts.

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Edited by Richard Heinberg and Daniel Lerch

In the 20th century, cheap and abundant energy brought previously unimaginable advances in health, wealth, and technology, and fed an explosion in population and consumption. But this growth came at an incredible cost. Climate change, peak oil, freshwater depletion, species extinction, and a host of economic and social problems now challenge us as never before. The Post Carbon Reader features articles by some of the world’s most provocative thinkers on the key drivers shaping this new century, from renewable energy and urban agriculture to social justice and systems resilience. This unprecedented collection takes a hard-nosed look at the interconnected threats of our global sustainability quandary—as well as the most promising responses. The Post Carbon Reader is a valuable resource for policymakers, college classrooms, and concerned citizens.

Richard Heinberg is Senior Fellow in Residence at Post Carbon Institute and the author of nine books, including The Party’s Over
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PUBLISHED FALL 2010
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