SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability
• ‘Sustainability' exists when something (an
ecosystem, an economic system, an activity or
anything else) is capable of being sustained,
usually for a prolonged period of time.

• Sustainable development is maintaining a delicate

balance between the human need to improve
lifestyles and feeling of well-being on one hand,
and preserving natural resources and ecosystems,
on which we and future generations depend.
 Sustainability
• The concept of sustainable
development emerged from the post-war
environmental movement, which recognized
the negative impacts of human growth and
development on the environment and
communities.
 Sustainable Development
1987: Our Common Future

• SD: Development which meets the needs of

the present without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own
needs.
 Definitions
• Eco-System - An ecosystem consists of the
biological community that occurs in some
locale, and the physical and chemical factors
that make up its non-living or abiotic
environment.

• There are many examples of ecosystems -- a

pond, a forest, an estuary (tidal mouth of a
large river, where the tide meets the stream),
grassland.
 Definitions
• Environment - Environment may be broadly
understood to mean our surroundings.

• It can be divided into non-living and living

components.

• The Environment provides resources which

support life on the earth and which also help in the
growth of a relationship of interchange between
living organisms and the environment in which
they live.
 Definitions
• It is important to realize that humans enjoy a
unique position in nature due to their exceptional
ability to influence and mould the environment.

• Environment can be experienced as both resource

and hazard.

• Environmental conditions can protect humans and

buffer extreme events but human activity can
cause or exaggerate the effects of extreme
natural events.
 Definitions
• Human land use decisions can put settlements
and groups of people at risk.
 Sustainable
Development
• "A process of change in which the exploitation
of resources, the direction of investments, the
orientation of technological development and
institutional change are all in harmony and
enhance both current and future potential to
meet human needs and aspirations” - The
World Commission on Environment and
Developments
 Sustainable
Development
• "Sustainable development is a dynamic
process which enables people to realize their
potential and improve their quality of life in
ways which simultaneously protect and
enhance the earth's life support
systems" (Forum for the Future)
 Sustainable
Development
• "In essence sustainable development is about five
key principles: quality of life; fairness and equity;
participation and partnership; care for our
environment and respect for ecological
constraints - recognizing there are 'environmental
limits'; and thought for the future and the
precautionary principle". (From Making London
Work by Forum for the Future's Sustainable
Wealth London project)
 Sustainable
Development
• "We cannot just add sustainable development
to our current list of things to do but must
learn to integrate the concepts into
everything that we do." (The Dorset
Education for Sustainability Network)
 Sustainable
Development
• "A sustainable future is one in which a healthy
environment, economic prosperity and social
justice are pursued simultaneously to ensure
the well-being and quality of life of present
and future generations.

• Education is crucial to attaining that

future." (Learning for a Sustainable Future -
Teacher Centre)
 Sustainable
Development
• "The first and perhaps most difficult problem,
one that seldom gets addressed, is the time
frame…Is a sustainable society one that
endures for a decade, a human lifetime, or a
thousand years?" (The shaky ground of
Sustainable Development Donald Worster in
Global Ecology 1993)
 Sustainable
Development
• Sustainable development implies economic
growth together with the protection of
environmental quality, each reinforcing the
other.
 Sustainable
Development
• The essence of this form of development is a
stable relationship between human activities and
the natural world, which does not diminish the
prospects for future generations to enjoy a quality
of life at least as good as our own.
 Sustainable
Development
• The guiding rules are that people must share
with each other and care for the Earth.

• Humanity must take no more from nature

than nature can replenish.

• This in turn means adopting lifestyles and

development paths that respect and work
within nature's limits.
 Sustainable
Development
• It can be done without rejecting the many
benefits that modern technology has brought,
provided that technology also works within
those limits.

• The term refers to achieving economic and

social development in ways that do not
exhaust a country's natural resources.
 Sustainable
Development
• Sustainable development respects the limited
capacity of an ecosystem to absorb the impact
of human activities.

• Some people also believe that the concept of

sustainable development should include
preserving the environment for other species
as well as for people.