Friday, 13 December 2013

Harmonisation 0.0 – Sustainability


A balance must be maintained between social, economic and
environmental requirements for sustainability to be reached.
Taken from: http://www.keepoklahomabeautiful.com/sustainability


Before I delve further into the topic of harmonisation, there are some fundamental concepts that need to be defined; sustainability is the first of these. Sustainability is a word that comes up in conversation quite a lot these days but often is not entirely understood. When I asked my geology friend; “How would you define sustainability?” during our conversation on energy, he replied; “It is when you can take resources that can be replaced”. This is indeed sustainable, but sustainability has a much broader definition.

Sustainability itself stems from the term sustainable development which, in 1992, was defined as “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” in the Bruntland Reportfor the World Commission on Environment and Development. The idea of sustainability has been refined since then and is the only logical answer for future change.

There is no universally agreed definition of sustainability, but here are a few that I found online:

·      Sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment.  Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations.”
·      Sustainability is the capacity to endure. In ecology the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time. Long-lived and healthy wetlands and forests are examples of sustainable biological systems. For humans, sustainability is the potential for long-term maintenance of wellbeing, which has ecological, economic, political and cultural dimensions. Sustainability requires the reconciliation of environmental, social equity and economic demands - also referred to as the "three pillars" of sustainability or the 3 Es.”
·      Sustainability is a state of dynamic equilibrium achieved by taking responsibility for balancing long term economic, environmental and social health --for ourselves, our communities, and our world.”
From these definitions and others I have read, I would now answer my own question as so;
Sustainability is the harmony of humans and nature, where our social, economic and environmental needs are met without incurring negative impact on our world and therefore paving a positive path for future generations.”

With this in mind a better evaluation of attempts to become sustainable and therefore harmonised with nature can be attained.

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