Anthony Davis, director of the Center for Forest Nursery and Seedling research at the University of Idaho, said after several chance encounters with Emmanuel Stefanakis, he knew they were meant to work together.
Davis said the two met on a flight to Haiti, where they were both leading projects to promote sustainability. They remained in contact, and by complete coincidence ended up sitting next to each other on the same flight home. Davis said their continued contact and projects in Haiti have opened up opportunities for collaboration.
Stefanakis, the principal of Sustainable Strategies International, spoke at UI as one of nine expert guests for the 2016 Borah Symposium, “Waging Peace.”
Stefanakis said he has had over 45 years of experience working in the field of sustainability, but began his presentation by questioning whether sustainability is an appropriate goal. He compared society”s relationship with nature to interpersonal relationships, saying we shouldn”t aim to sustain – we should aim to thrive.
Stefanakis defined the terms of the symposium title, Waging Peace. He said waging is the act of pledging to an ideal and peace is a state of quiet and tranquility.
“We are pledging quiet and tranquility through sustainable development,” he said.
Stefanakis said the primary cause of conflict is a lack of resources and the likelihood of conflict increases each day. He said specifically areas with a lack of water directly parallel areas of conflict. He said areas like Syria that lack rainfall see a lack of grown resources, and that this has contributed to the recent conflicts.
“I think we can all agree that poor parts of the world are environments where conflict begins,” Stefanakis said.
Another contributing factor to conflict in developing countries, he said, is a lack of support from stable countries like the U.S.
“Two days of the United States Department of Defense budget could solve malaria globally,” Stefanakis said.
As a way of combating conflicts, Stefanakis began working in Haiti on a 300-acre plot of land. He said he was hired by the Central Bank of Haiti with the goal of using the land to provide housing, vocational education, and to promote the creation of livelihoods while creating models for economic development and social inclusion.
Davis said for the past five years, UI has had its own plant nursery in Haiti that has created an avenue for collaboration with Stefanakis and his projects.
“I think as his project on the planning side moves forward, my projects on the small business development, agro-forestry and nursery production piece are moving forward and providing some expertise that we can plug into this sustainable community that he”s created,” Davis said.
Stefanakis said the primary use of his land is to reduce and utilize the waste produced in the mango farming industry. By using the estimated 33 percent of wasted product for profit, he said they could accomplish his team”s goals.
“This would be the Silicon Valley of Haiti,” Stefanakis said.
After Stefanakis” presentation, Borah Foundation Director Bill Smith said he and his staff were incredibly excited to work with Stefanakis.
“He has an incredible legacy but a fairly low profile,” he said. “I loved the intersection of disciplines and ideas inherited in Emmanuel”s talk.”
Austin Maas can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @austindmaas