Advancing Sustainability Internationally
Through the Northern Arizona Model

Since its inception in 2000, CSE has been engaged in a number of international conferences and field projects in developing countries to advance grassroots innovations in sustainability.

In particular, our continuing engagement in on-the-ground projects with the Seri Indian communities of the Sonoran Desert coast in Mexico has provided our staff and students means by which to gauge whether our concepts and technologies can be transferred from rural Arizona communities to developing countries.

To be sure, each locality and culture expresses different contexts that we must carefully understand if sustainability is to be advanced at all.

Nevertheless, it is clear that our work on Indian reservations and in economically depressed rural towns in the West presents us with realities far more on par with those in developing countries than what institutes in Washington DC, San Francisco, or Phoenix typically deal with.

Soon, more than half the world's population will live in cities, potentially becoming increasingly disconnected to our natural environment and less aware of the ecosystem services that support them.

It is important that these populations have healthy models of livable cities rather than emulating the unplanned urban sprawl of Los Angeles and Phoenix that is so consumptive of land, water, and energy. That is one reason the Center for Sustainable Environments has partnered so strongly with Friends of Flagstaff's Future and the Greater Flagstaff Economic Council -- to demonstrate means of enhancing the livability, sustainability, and connectedness to the landscape still evident in the greater Flagstaff area.

CSE projects reach across several borders. This international extension of our efforts reflects our core values and goals. Some of our projects include:

Islands in Danger of Being Loved to Death:
Documenting the flora and fauna of the Bahía de los Ángeles, a project led by CSE's Patty West.

Desert Tortoise Research in the land of the Comcáac
A project that has trained indigenous para-ecologists in biological monitoring and safeguarding traditional knowledge of tortoises, sea turtles, invertebrates, and fish in on Seri tribal lands in Sonora, Mexico.

Seri Indian Projects in Conservation and Health
Blending time-honored indigenous knowledge with modern sciences for a sustainable future, this project was led by Dr. Laurie Monti with assistance from Gary Nabhan and Patty West.

CSE-Sponsored, Seri Indian Sea Turtle Conservation Efforts
Win International Conservation Award 
In February, 2005, the Seri project sponsored by CSE was awarded for their work in Sea Turtle Conservation. At the same time, they had a traditional leatherback hatchling release ceremony, the first in decades, to celebrate the release and safe return of hatchlings to the sea.

Jerusalem Foodsong
Gary Nabhan was the keynote speaker at the Society for the Protection of Nature, a project intent on "sowing the seeds of reconciliation" among Israeli and Palestinian seed savers and farmers.

Third International Biennial Conference, “Environmental Management for Sustainable Universities: Sustainable Development Education”
June 8-11, 2004 in Monterrey, Mexico

Stalking Oregano in the Wilds of Mexico by Gary Nabhan
Few American gourmands realize that most of the oregano they use to spice up sauces, meats, salads, and vinegars – whether they be Greek or Mexican in origin – are hand-harvested from wild habitats.