Chapter 25
The Prospect of Sustainable Development

Introduction

Content

Objectives

Quiz

Links

Graphs

glossary

Corrections

Updates

Amendments

Introduction

How can we deal with the environmental dilemma? The question from the beginning of the book has got many answers in the preceding chapters. Most of them, however, do not go to the root of the problem - the way our societies work. The paradigm of sustainable development attempts to do just this.

Instead of combating pollution as an isolated problem sustainability deals with the way resources are used in society. It emphasizes that resources should be efficiently used and not be turned into pollution. After use resources should be returned to the biogeochemical cycles. Resources should, in particular, be renewable to make their long term use possible.

The same applies for land use. A sustainable use of land needs to take into account the long-term productivity of land as well as the return of all resources, e.g. nutrients, as part of the recycling of resources. This is again the long-term use approach.

Sustainability requires that man and nature be viewed holistically, as part of a single system. This system has several subsystems that each has to be viewed from the point of view of sustainability. Even if we here will focus on the ecological aspects we need to bear in mind that the economic and social dimension of the society are such subsystems. The social aspects refer importantly to the political institutions, where democracy is especially crucial to sustainability.

The introduction of sustainability in our societies was the topic of the Rio conference in 1992. At this occasion the Agenda 21 document was agreed on by almost all countries on earth. Agenda 21, an agenda for developing sustainability during the 21st century, underlines participatory democracy as an important component.

Sustainability is, however, most importantly a new way to see our lives and our societies. This thinking is relevant in all areas of life. It is a long-term project for humanity as a whole. It is a result of the concern for our global environment but it needs to be introduced on a local level. It is a concern for all levels of society from the global institutions to the municipalities to each individual.

In this final chapter we will search the roots, the meaning and the practice of sustainability. We will review how sustainable strategies are developed in energy and materials management, in housing and transport, and in industry, agriculture, forestry and fishery. In so doing we will partly review the entire book, since many of these topics have been discussed before, but in the perspective of sustainability. We will, however, do it in the spirit of a positive criticism of society and its organization.

If sustainable development, this new project of humankind, will be successful we are on our way to a new civilization, where finally the environmental dilemma will be resolved.