What Sustainability Truly Means
“Sustainability” is the ability to exist constantly. In the 21st century, it refers generally to the capacity for the biosphere and human civilization to coexist. It’s also defined as the process of people maintaining change in a homeostasis balanced environment, 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.
For many in the field, sustainability is defined through the following interconnected domains or pillars: environment, economic and social, which according to Fritjof Capra, founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California, is based on the principles of Systems Thinking. Sub-domains of sustainable development have been considered also: cultural, technological and political. According to Our Common Future, sustainable development is development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Sustainable development may be the organizing principle of sustainability, yet others may view the two terms as paradoxical (i.e., development is inherently unsustainable).
A Common Ideal
Sustainability is also defined “as a socio-ecological process characterized by the pursuit of a common ideal. An ideal is by definition unattainable in a given time and space. However, by persistently and dynamically approaching it, the process results in a sustainable system,” according to Dr. Joel Diemer. Many environmentalists and ecologists argue that sustainability is achieved through the balance of species and the resources within their environment. As is typically practiced in natural resource management, the goal is to maintain this equilibrium, available resources must not be depleted faster than resources are naturally generated.
Modern use
Modern use of the term sustainability is broad and difficult to define precisely. Robert Lackey said it best in his article “Ecosystem health, biological diversity, and sustainable development: research that makes a difference,” published in Renewable Resources Journal, 1995. Originally, sustainability meant making only such use of natural, renewable resources that people can continue to rely on their yields in the long term. The concept of sustainability, or Nachhaltigkeit in German, can be traced back to Hans Carl von Carlowitz, a German tax accountant and mining administrator, applied to forestry. His book Sylvicultura oeconomica, oder haußwirthliche Nachricht und Naturmäßige Anweisung zur wilden Baum-Zucht, written back in 1713 was the first comprehensive treatise about forestry. He is considered the father of sustainable yield forestry.
Healthy ecosystems and environments are necessary to the survival of humans and other organisms. Ways of reducing negative human impact are environmentally-friendly chemical engineering, environmental resources management and environmental protection. Information gained from green computing, green chemistry, earth science, environmental science and conservation biology. Ecological economics studies the fields of academic research that aim to address human economies and natural ecosystems.
Permaculture Over Agriculture
Our food system is broken. Here’s how regenerative agriculture can fix it. Watch this great documentary from search engine Ecosia.
The Challenge
Moving towards sustainability is also a social challenge that entails international and national law, urban planning and transport, supply chain management, local and individual lifestyles and ethical consumerism. Ways of living more sustainably can take many forms:
- Reorganizing living conditions (e.g., ecovillages, eco-municipalities and sustainable cities)
- Reappraising economic sectors (permaculture, green building, sustainable agriculture)
- Reevaluating work practices (sustainable architecture)
- Using science to develop new technologies (green technologies, renewable energy and sustainable fission and fusion power)
- Designing systems in a flexible and reversible manner, such as outlined in Fawcett, Hughes, Krieg, Albrecht, and Vennström’s article “Flexible strategies for long-term sustainability under uncertainty,” published in Building Research, 2012 and Zhang & Babovic’s article “A real options approach to the design and architecture of water supply systems using innovative water technologies under uncertainty,” published in Journal of Hydroinformatics, January 2012
- Adjusting individual lifestyles that conserve natural resources
The Goal
In sum, “the term ‘sustainability’ should be viewed as humanity’s target goal of human-ecosystem equilibrium (homeostasis), while ‘sustainable development’ refers to the holistic approach and temporal processes that lead us to the end point of sustainability.” Despite the increased popularity of the use of the term “sustainability,” the possibility that human societies will achieve environmental sustainability has been, and continues to be, questioned—in light of environmental degradation, climate change, overconsumption, population growth and societies’ pursuit of unlimited economic growth in a closed system.
Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report in recognition of former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland’s role as Chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), published in 1987 by the United Nations (UN) through the Oxford University Press (OUP).
Fusion power
A proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, while releasing energy. Devices designed to harness this energy are fusion reactors.
Generation IV reactors
A set of nuclear reactor designs currently researched for commercial applications by the Generation IV International Forum. Motivated by a variety of goals including improved safety, sustainability, efficiency, and cost.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_IV_reactor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_power
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, Sustainability, 2009
http://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Common_Future