Understanding Sustainable Development

1. Understanding Sustainable Development

2. Contents • Towards sustainable development • Conservation and sustainable development • Envisioning sustainable societies and urban areas • Sustainable development and business • Tools, systems and innovation for sustainability

3. 1. What is sustainable development? • In the 1980s, the concept of sustainable development emerged as the means by which biodiversity and natural ecosystems would be saved while enabling humanity to continue to prosper. • The concept was first promoted by the World Conservation Strategy (IUCN/UNEP/WWF 1980), a global conservation blueprint that grew from the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972.

4. What is sustainable development? • Despite three decades of discussion and practice, disagreement about what sustainable development can and does achieve continues. • Sustainable development has been defined in many ways. (Table 16.1) • Most definitions have been largely anthropocentric, focusing on human aspirations and well-being, with the natural environment providing the means by which this was to be accomplished.

5. Table 16.1 A list of common concepts included in definitions of sustainable development • What is to be sustained • Nature • Human communities (groups, places) • What is to be developed • People (child survival, life expectancy, health, food security, equity, education) • Economy (living wage, wealth, consumption) • Society (stablized population, housing, institutional capacity, social capital, states, regions)

6. What is Sustainable ?

7. Sustainable Development

8. Sustainable Development Definitions • Normative definition • Development that meets the needs and aspirations of the current generation without compromising the ability to meet those of future generations. • Our definition • Development which enables individuals and communities in underdeveloped regions of the world to raise living standards through profitable products, consistent with minimizing adverse environmental effects

9. Sustainability • Major components: • Environmental • Economic • Social • Political

10. Environmental sustainability •  A state in which the demands placed on the environment can be met without reducing its capacity to allow all people to live well, now and in the future

11. Environmental Sustainability • Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • Developing countries are really GOOD at this! • Is this enough in rural Guatemala? • Is this a luxury in rural Guatemala? • Does this only delay the exhaustion of resources in the developed world (see “Cradle to Grave” McDonaugh and Braungart • Eco-efficiency • Being “less bad”

12. Economic sustainability • The use of various strategies for employing existing resources optimally so that that a responsible and beneficial balance can be achieved over the longer term;

13. Economic Sustainability • Who is paying for your product? • User • NGO • Government • Will they keep paying? • Why? • What is the value your product brings?

14. Social Sustainability • Does your product fit into its social context? • Are there people with the level of skill needed to repair/maintain your product? • Does your product make people’s lives better? • Does any part of making/using/disposing of your product harm people? • See article on building a road in Indonesia

15.  Sociopolitical sustainability •  The ability of a community to develop processes and structures which not only meet the needs of its current members but also support the ability of future generations to maintain a healthy community;

16. Why is this important? • Some of these people can affect the success of your project (government officials, prominent citizens) • Despite our mantra of making products that poor people can afford, we care about development, not just profits. But profits are the best we know of measuring the effectiveness of our products and this can be misconstrued

17. Sustainable Development Goals

18. Anthropocentric vs. bioshphere initiative • Sustainable development is almost exclusively an anthropocentric concept, and moreover one that promotes continued and even expanded economic prosperity. • Such definitions are utilitarian. • The definitions do not promote biological sustainability for it own sake. • The Ecological Society of America produced a “Sustainable Biosphere Initiative” in which a research agenda was proposed to help move the world toward sustainability.

19. Growth vs. development • Growth is a quantitative increase in the size of a system • Development is a qualitative change in its complexity and configuration. • An economic, social, political, or biophysical system can develop without growing, and thus can be sustainable.

20. 2. Conservation and sustainable development

21. How are sustainable development projects structured? • Sustainable development efforts have many additional names, including integrated conservation and development projects (ICDP), community-based conservation (CBC), community adaptation and sustainable livelihoods (CASL) projects, sustainable use, compatible use, and sustainable practices. • Sustainable agriculture and sustainable forestry.

22. Sustainable development projects typically use a number of economic tools to promote sustainability, including incentives such as certification, subsidies and grants, or job creation in sustainable enterprises, and sometimes penalties, such fines or fees for continuing unsustainable practices. • Legislation to protect key resources, and restrict or prevent damaging practices is another key tool in sustainable development. • Sustainable development projects often are part of a larger strategy for landscape-or ecosystem- scale conservation.

23. Integrated conservation and development projects (ICDP)

25. Fig. 16.3 a schematic of the logic behind community-based, enterprise-based conservation projects that seek to enhance benefits from developing and enterprise with the expectation that the local community will be more motivated to conserve biodiversity that supports that enterprise.

26. How can we best promote sustainability? • Ecological principles of sustainability • Nature should be understood to be an irreplaceable source of knowledge, from which we can learn potential solutions to some of our problems • We should understand that issues of environmental deterioration and human oppression and violence are linked in analysis and action. Gender and racial oppression, and efforts to dominate nature have a common root. • Humility must guide our actions; good stewardship begins with restraint

27. We must appreciate the importance of “proper scale”. Place and locality are the foundation for all durable economies, and must be the starting point of action to deal with our problems. Solutions are local and scale-dependent. • Sufficiency must replace economic efficiency. Earth’s resources are finite, and this fact must be accepted in order for humanity to adopt limits. Living within our needs on a planetary scales does not mean a life of sacrifice, but of greater fulfillment. We must distinguish between “needs” and “wants”. • Community is essential for survival. The “global community” should reflect and encourage diversity while being interdependent. • Biological and cultural diversity must be preserved, defended, and encouraged.

28. The evolution of sustainable tourism and ecotourism concepts • Tourism caused impacts • Social impacts (cause disruption of social structures) • Cultural impacts (motivating people to compromise their practices or dignity for tourist dollars) • Economic impacts (negative) • Environmental impacts

29. Ecotourism and sustainable tourism development • Ecotourism, defined broadly as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local peoples. • Contributes actively to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage • Includes local and indigenous communities in its planning, development, and operation, contributing to their well-being • Interprets and natural and cultural heritage of the destination to visitor(s). • Lends itself better to independent travelers, as well as to organized tours for small size groups.

30. The terms “sustainable tourism”, “nature-based tourism” and “ecotourism” are used interchangeably. • Ecotourism help ensure environmental protection, cultural integrity, and community benefit. • The ecotourism industry promotes standards through voluntary mechanisms such as certification, which audits businesses for performance in use of environmentally-sustainable practices. • Examples of certification efforts include global programs such as Green Globe 21, the National Ecotourism Accreditation Program in Australia, Costa Rica’s Certificate of Sustainable Tourism, and Smart Voyager in the Galapagos.

31. Planning ecotourism development for biodiversity conservation • Stakeholder participation • Government leadership • Assessments • Attractions inventory • Site and infrastructure analysis • Market demand • Supply and competitiveness • Available capacity • Socioeconomic linkages to biodiversity conservation • Tourism impacts

33. At the core of the idea of sustainability is the matter of meeting people’s needs – for a home, for a decent job, for education for their children, for good health care, and for a safe and healthy neighborhood to live in. • Most people in the rich nations have most of these needs, but there are still many people living in poverty and in poor quality homes.

34. Even if these basic needs are met there are still plenty of ways in which their ‘quality of life’ is under threat: from crime, from pollution, or from living in neighborhoods where no-one in authority seems to care.

36. 7 ways religious Freedom Contributes to Sustainable Development • Fosters respect • Reduces corruption • Engenders peace • Encourages broader freedoms • Develops the economy • Overcomes over – regulation • Multiplies trust

38. 3. Envisioning sustainable societies and urban areas

39. What is a sustainable society? • To be able to meet the needs of the present generation, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

40. Sustainable Society • A sustainable society is one that ensures the health and vitality of human life and culture and nature’s capital, for present and future generations. Such a society acts to stop the activities that serve to destroy human life and culture and nature’s capital, and to encourage those activities that serve to conserve what exists, restore what has been damaged, and prevent future harm

42. SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT • Urban development should be guided by a sustainable planning and management vision that promotes interconnected green space, a multi-modal transportation system, and mixed-use development. • Diverse public and private partnerships should be used to create sustainable and livable communities that protect historic, cultural, and environmental resources.

43. In addition, policymakers, regulators and developers should support sustainable site planning and construction techniques that reduce pollution and create a balance between built and natural systems. 

44. Urban development should be guided by a sustainable planning and management vision that promotes interconnected green space, a multi-modal transportation system, and mixed-use development. Diverse public and private partnerships should be used to create sustainable and livable communities that protect historic, cultural, and environmental resources. In addition, policymakers, regulators and developers should support sustainable site planning and construction techniques that reduce pollution and create a balance between built and natural systems.

45. 4. Sustainable development and business

46. Sustainable development and business • For the business community, sustainability is more than mere window-dressing. By adopting sustainable practices, companies can gain competitive edge, increase their market share, and boost shareholder value

47. What's more, the growing demand for 'green' products has created major new markets in which sharp-eyed eco-entrepreneurs are reaping rewards.

48. Sustainable development: a business definition • The concept of sustainable development has received growing recognition, but it is a new idea for many business executives. For most, the concept remains abstract and theoretical. Protecting an organization’s capital base is a well-accepted business principle. Yet organizations do not generally recognize the possibility of extending this notion to the world’s natural and human resources.

49. If sustainable development is to achieve its potential, it must be integrated into the planning and measurement systems of business enterprises. And for that to happen, the concept must be articulated in terms that are familiar to business leaders.

50. Sustainable Organizations “A sustainable enterprise is one that contributes to sustainable development by delivering simultaneously economic, social, and environmental benefits—the so-called triple bottom line.”