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On the Compatibility of Sustainability and Economic Growth
Abstract
It is generally assumed that sustainable development and economic growth are compatible objectives. Because this assumption has been left unspecified, the debate on sustainability and growth has remained vague and confusing. Attempts at specification not only involve clarification of the interrelation of the two concepts, but also, we argue, require a philosophical approach in which the concepts of sustainability and economic growth are analyzed in the context of our frame of reference. We suggest that if the notion of sustainability is to be taken seriously, the conflicting conceptual and normative orientations between the two concepts require the reconsideration of our frame of reference.
... What is the " broad strategic framework " for achieving sustainable development? These issues will be treated within the same approach applied by Verburg and Wiegel, that is, there is much to be gained in terms of clarification by elaborating concepts and their possible connections with respect to the conceptual and normative preconditions and the implicit interrelations which shape the framework (Verburg and Wiegel, 1997). ...
... In the same fashion, Verburg and Wiegel (1997) argue that sustainable development remains anchored in the very strategies by which current economic growth was achieved. More important, however, is the fact that Verburg and Wiegel (1997) also argue that the compatibility between sustainable development and economic growth depends on the analytical content of the constituent concepts of needs and limitations , as well as other interrelated concepts. These must be specified if definitions of sustainable development " are to have any content at all " (Verburg and Wiegel, LANGHELLE: Exploring the Ethics of Our Common Future1997:251). ...
... Finally, the concept of sustainable development seems to indicate that the fulfillment of essential needs (sustenance, basic health, work, energy, housing, water supply, sanitation) should take precedence over the pursuit of personal desires in case of conflict. This principle applies to both intra-and inter-generational justice. Verburg and Wiegel (1997) argue that this, in effect, implies that solidarity is to be put on an equal footing with liberty. The concept of liberty, they argue, is often defined in relation to the concepts of needs and limitations; as, for example, in Berlin's (1968) usage of the term, where liberty is identified with " the absence of obstacles to the fulfillmen ...
The concept of sustainable development was placed on the international agenda with the release of the report Our Common Future by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987. Although considerable attention has since been devoted to the idea of sustainable development itself, the broader conceptual framework of the idea—whereby the Commission tried to integrate environmental policies and development strategies in order to create the foundation for a global partnership—has been neglected in much of the literature. The purpose of the present article is to offer an interpretation of Our Common Future, where the concept of sustainable development is linked to the broader framework of normative preconditions and empirical assumptions. The structure of the argument is to demonstrate that the relationship between sustainable development and economic growth has been over-emphasized, and that other vital aspects of the normative framework have been neglected. Social justice (both within and between generations), human istic solidarity, a concern for the world's poor, and respect for the ecolog ical limits to global development, constitute other aspects of sustainable development; aspects which are indeed relevant for the growing disparity between North and South.
... Indigenous and local institutions should be strengthened. The WCED rejected the notion that socioeconomic development deterministically required economic growth (Verburgh and Wiegel 1997) or that economic growth by itself would lead to development. It promoted the notion that social change can lead to socioeconomic development without environmental degradation. ...
... More recent efforts (such as the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development) have refined but not fundamentally changed that framework. While the internal logical contradictions of sustainable development have been richly discussed (e.g., Redclift 1987;Lélé 1991;Dovers and Handmer 1993;Verburgh and Wiegel 1997;Oates 1999), we will not repeat these arguments nor attempt to resolve them here. Instead we will explore how, in practice, these definitions of sustainable development have influenced ICD initiatives. ...
... Although the concept of sustainable economic development is advocated by many environmentalists and decision makers, a number of scholars have pointed out that the concept has problems [4][5][6]. Verburg and Wiegel [6] remarked that "The resulting ambiguity in the notion of sustainable development undermines the concept". ...
... Although the concept of sustainable economic development is advocated by many environmentalists and decision makers, a number of scholars have pointed out that the concept has problems [4][5][6]. Verburg and Wiegel [6] remarked that "The resulting ambiguity in the notion of sustainable development undermines the concept". ...
In the 1980s, the concept of sustainable economic development emerged to try to deal with the complex and pervasive aspects of the environmental problem. However, an ecological perspective of sustainability requires taking a holistic approach that uses the ecosphere as a frame of reference. This paper describes the anthroposystem model that philosophically views the notion of sustainability in terms of a human‐ecological system functioning within the ecosphere with some considerations on its implications.
... The analysis revealed that the creation of a sustainable business model took shape through the network members' problem-solving when dealing with the dilemma of co-existing sustainability and profitability (De Vries, et al., 2015;Verburg & Wiegel, 1997). The breaks in the co-configuration process concerned the service for B2B customers and the building block model. ...
This paper analyses a network's learning through co-configuration. The co-configuration process of a novel business model-a cooperative in a digital printing network demonstrates that the quest for sustainability in innovations sets the network participants a learning challenge. The study draws on the conceptualization of object-oriented co-configuration and multi-level learning in the cultural-historical activity theory framework. It follows the network's object creation through six workshops by analysing the discursive breaks and turning points in the process of co-configuration. The key findings of the paper are the understanding that a sustainable business model is not a stable or final solution, but an adaptive process, which requires collective efforts from network participants on multiple levels. In order to become sustainable in various areas, including environmental, social and economic areas, novel business models should focus on learning. This study contributes to studies of work innovations by increasing the understanding and significance of learning through co-configuration for sustainable innovation in work life networks.
... 'Needs' can refer to needs essential to survive or satisfaction of needs (i.e., desires) in order to participate in (economic) development (cf. Verburg and Wiegel 1997). Next, in many definitions of sustainability, ''biophilia'' is invoked as if it had obvious meaning. ...
Definitions of sustainability—and criticisms of the definitions—abound. I argue that there are problems with the definitional approach itself and not just with any specific definition. Wittgenstein (Philosophical investigations (trans: Anscombe GEM). Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1958) argued that definitions are not sufficient to determine meaning or to legislate correct usage of words. For both singular terms and general concepts, meaning is meaning-as-use, proceeding via examples that instruct within an already existing normative structure. Once we are clear on the ways in which use presupposes a normative structure, I believe we will understand better the meaning of sustainability and its normative basis. On this view, sustainability will be vague and contested (Jacobs in Fairness and futurity. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 21–45, 1999) but not meaningless. And we will not have to be worried about the plethora of definitions.
... Knowledge cannot be identified with the ontological reality, it serves the organisation of the experiential world and should be actively built up (Allen 2004). The relationship between sustainable development and economic growth has been over-emphasised; social justice, solidarity and respect for ecological limits have been neglected (Verburg and Wiegel 1997). ...
For the diagnosis and prognosis of the problems of quality of life, a multidisciplinary ecosystemic approach encompasses four dimensions of being-in-the-world, as donors and recipients: intimate, interactive, social and biophysical. Social, cultural and environmental vulnerabilities are understood and dealt with, in different circumstances of space and time, as the conjugated effect of all dimensions of being-in-the-world, as they induce the events (deficits and assets), cope with consequences (desired or undesired) and contribute for change. Instead of fragmented and reduced representations of reality, diagnosis and prognosis of cultural, educational, environmental and health problems considers the connections (assets) and ruptures (deficits) between the different dimensions, providing a planning model to develop and evaluate research, teaching programmes, public policies and field projects. The methodology is participatory, experiential and reflexive; heuristic-hermeneutic processes unveil cultural and epistemic paradigms that orient subject-object relationships; giving people the opportunity to reflect on their own realities, engage in new experiences and find new ways to live better in a better world. The proposal is a creative model for thought and practice, providing many opportunities for discussion, debate and development of holistic projects integrating different scientific domains (social sciences, psychology, education, philosophy, etc.).
... For sustainable development, this coalescence occurs around the abridged Brundtland definition of the concept: development which "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, p. 8). This definition, although not without its limitations (see Bebbington, 1997;Benton, 1999;Hediger, 1999;Redclift, 1994;Verburg & Wiegel, 1997), is probably the most widely stated expression of sustainable development. The second level of meaning is more open to debate. ...
We critically examine organizational representations of sustainable development in 197 publicly available corporate reports. Using a discourse theoretical approach, we analyze how these organizations have come to "know" sustainable development, and we consider the conditions that made this knowledge possible. Themes identified are (a) enlightened self-interest and the business case, (b) organizational sustainable development as a balancing act, (c) organizational sustainable development as necessary and important, (d) being sustainable as responsibility and/or obligation, (e) organizational sustainable development as challenge and opportunity, and (f) sustainable development as a new and an old concept. Taken-for-granted assumptions in corporate reports emphasize organizational ability to manage sustainably underpinned by optimism about technological advancements, continuous improvement, and efficiencies. The organizational construction of sustainable development "accommodates" current organizations and systems of organizing. More extensive and compelling engagement with the discourse is required by both practitioners and academics, and with each other-if an environmentally, socially, and economically enabling construction of sustainable development is to be realized.
... Since then, the number of meanings and interpretations has proliferated [12]. The term has been problematized due to its vagueness [13], the inherent contradiction between the aspirations to sustain versus to develop [14] and for the inevitable tensions between the interests representing the environmental, social and economic pillars of sustainability [15]. Others suggested de-emphasizing these contradictions and instead allowing the plurality of interpretations, while focusing on improving policies simultaneously concerned with wellbeing, equity and ecological integrity [16]. ...
The study conceptualizes economic forest sustainability as "the forest-related income and economic well-being sustained over time" and then compares Lithuania and Sweden at different scales. Sweden adopts a holistic perspective of the forest sector, where forestry and forest industries are perceived as a well-integrated economic branch. Forestry is expected to deliver raw material to forest industries, at the same time creating good preconditions for profitable forest management. Forest owners are given large freedom to act according to market signals and their own household needs, while the resulting intensive forest management cumulatively leads to a significant contribution to the country's welfare. Lithuania, in contrast, lacks an integrated sector perspective, forestry and forest industries being regarded as two separate realms. Private forest property rights are severely constrained by numerous legislative stipulations, leading to a significant reduction of economic value in production forests. On top of that, thirty percent of private owners face additional restrictions through forestland zoning, leading to further substantial loss of economic value. We suggest several measures for improving the economic forest sustainability in Lithuania, where a genuine national forest program could serve as a suitable bearing medium.
... Identifying ethical ideas that are or should be a part of sustainability initiatives has been a common theme 2 S.E. Fredericks in sustainability literature (e.g., Engel and Engel 1990;Verburg and Wiegel 1997;van Wensveen 2000). Dominant normative elements of the sustainability movement include the assumption that humans should take responsibility for their actions; that ecosystems, human societies, and sometimes individual species or entities are worthy of being sustained; and that equity or justice between people living today, between those presently alive and future generations, and potentially between humans and other biota are valuable. ...
At least since the Brundtland Report, technical assessments of what can be sustained and values about what is desirable to sustain, for whom, and for how long have been intertwined. This intersection is particularly evident in the assumption that justice among people living today and between present and future generations is a key part of sustainability. In official international policy documents and academic studies of sustainability, this justice may include the equitable distribution of environmental benefits and burdens, distributive justice, or the ability of people to meaningfully contribute to decisions that affect their lives, participatory justice. Yet, the process of developing indicators and indexes to track movement toward or away from sustainability has been dominated by technical, economic, and environmental assessments. This raises questions about whether or not indexes align with and thus will monitor and encourage progress toward sustainability in a technically possible and desirable way. To begin to answer this question, this paper identifies definitions of justice used in sustainability discourse and evaluates the degree to which sustainability indicators and indexes align with these concepts. The 2010 Environmental Performance Index, Eurostat's Sustainable Development Indicators, and a group of local indicators and indexes are examined. It is found that the indicators embody various aspects of justice, though they are still significantly limited by the available data, especially as they generally cannot monitor inequities between subpopulations and have a limited capacity to monitor progress toward participatory justice.
... The point of departure here is that how the problem is framed (which includes the way it is defined) also has implications for what is seen as necessary changes. This implies that the definition must be seen in the broader context of other concepts, conceptual and normative preconditions, and the implicit interrelations that shape the framework within the report (Verburg & Wiegel, 1997). Only by doing so can the dimensions of (the particular conception of) sustainable development in Our Common Future be identified. ...
In this paper, it is argued that there are significant differences between the concepts of ecological modernization and sustainable development. The different ways in which these concepts frame various approaches to environmental policy have important implications. They affect not only the scope, but also the goals, targets and level of ambition that environmental policy-makers should aim at. Ecological modernization should be seen as a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for sustainable development. Conflating the two is not only counterproductive for the broader agenda of sustainable development, but also for the environmental policies necessary for realizing sustainable development. Therefore, ecological modernization and sustainable development should not be conflated. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
... The report urges to promote investment for economic growth considering negative impact on the environment. But the report did not analyse the inequalities in terms of availability of resources within and between the countries (see Reid, 1995;Verbung and Weigel, 1997;Langhelle, 1999). Atkinson (2004) asserts that "no significant recommendations were made concerning the redistribution of the resources -through augmented aid packages -between the countries of the North and South". ...
Purpose
– This paper aims to provide a conceptual framework to analyse whether the global concept of sustainable city, generally produced as a goal in the cities of the global North, will be equally suitable in the cities of the global South or not.
Design/methodology/approach
– Research has been based on a review of the literature, which has been collected from books, journals, reports and soft‐materials of the internet. A simple descriptive analytical approach is followed to examine the argument. The paper argues that a sustainable city should not be a goal, but a principle of effective service provisions based on social equity and justice.
Findings
– Despite the main premise that a sustainable city is to achieve environmental, social and economic sustainability, the concept is widely criticised due to its disputable application in the cities of the South. The paper suggests that the sustainable city discourse does not include the main problems of the cities in the global South, even though, as a goal, it is efficient and effective in the developed countries of the global North. Thus, the paper concludes that a goal‐based sustainable city discourse of the global North will be misleading and inappropriate for the sustainable urban development in the cities of the global South.
Originality/value
– Despite the widespread application of the sustainable city concept in developing countries, cities are facing numerous social, economic and environmental problems. Realising this fact, it is imperative to investigate the root‐causes of the problems. In line with this thinking, the paper offers a conceptual framework to analyse urban development policies in the cities of the global South.
... According to Rawls (1993a: 14), the concept is 'the meaning of the term, while a particular conception includes as well the principles required to apply it'. To see sustainable development as a conception implies that the definition must be seen in the broader context of other concepts, conceptual and normative preconditions, and the implicit interrelations that shape the framework (Verburg and Wiegel 1997). ...
This article makes two arguments. First, that social justice constitutes an inherent part of the conception of sustainable development that the World Commission on Environment and Development outlined in Our Common Future (1987). The primary goal of the Commission was to reconcile physical sustainability, need satisfaction and equal opportunities, within and between generations. Sustainable development is what defines this reconciliation.
Second, it is argued that this conception of sustainable development is broadly compatible with liberal theories of justice. Sustainable development, however, goes beyond liberal theories of justice in many respects. It is based on three assumptions, which are for the most part ignored in liberal theories: an accelerating ecological interdependence, historical inequality in past resource use, and the 'growth of limits'. These assumptions create a conflict between intra- and intergenerational justice, which is ignored in liberal theories, but which sustainable development tries to solve. It does so by imposing duties on developed countries that goes beyond liberal demands, and by abandoning the focus 'solely on protection' that dominates non-anthropocentric approaches to environmental sustainability.
... Arguably, however, the prevailing contribution of the report has been its definition of sustainable development: " development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs " (WCED, 1987, p.8). This definition, while having obvious limitations (see Redclift, 1994; Bebbington, 1997; Verburg & Wiegel, 1997; Hediger, 1999) remains the most commonly referred to. Humans impact the natural environment in many ways, but through business and organisations the scale of those impacts can be immense (Shrivastava, 1994). ...
... It is apparent that there is only a limited amount of 'green accounting' literature that engages the possibilities of more 'radical' environmental perspectives^. This may indicate a number of things, one of them may be tbe implicit acceptance of the sustainable development or reformist approach^ to accounting for environmental issues; secondly, it may be indicative of a broader academic tendency towards pragmatism; and thirdly, it could also implicitly assume an ethical perspective that ties our relationship with nature to the prevailing discourses of economics (there has been significant discussion of these issues, see for example, Wambsganss and Sanford 1996, Gibson 1996, Lehman 1996, Milne 1996, Verburg and Weigel 1997, Beder 1998, Luke 1998). Certainly there is significant tension between what has emerged as the dominant trend in environmental theory^, and the more radical possibilities that are still struggling to garner validity and acceptability (see Lebman 1999). ...
If the purpose of environmental accounting research is to develop, suggest and analyse ways out of the environmental crisis, then it is fundamental that the ethical positions informing our research are developed and explored fully before we make choices about the path and direction of our own work. This paper reviews two alternative approaches to environmental ethics, namely, radical ecology (of which deep ecology, social ecology and eco-feminism are regarded as subdivisions) and the emerging area of post-modern environmentalism. The aim is to encourage environmental accounting researchers to consider and explicitly state the ethical position adopted within their work.
Bu çalışmanın amacı, sürdürülebilir ekonomik büyüme ve yeşil ekonomi çerçevesinde dünya geneli ile düşük, orta ve yüksek gelirli ülke gruplarının karşılaştırılmasıdır. Yapılan karşılaştırmada dünya geneli ve bu ülke gruplarının iktisadi büyüme rakamları, karbon (CO2) salınım değerleri, yenilenebilir enerji üretim rakamları, yenilenebilir enerji tüketim rakamları ve yeşil (ormanlık) alanlar kullanılmıştır. Yapılan karşılaştırmada yöntem olarak ise zaman serisi grafikleri kullanılmıştır. Ayrıca bu çalışma, Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma hedefi göstergeleri ile günümüzde dünyanın yeşil ekonomiye erişebilme ve ülke gruplarının gösterge hedeflerdeki başarısını karşılaştırmalı olarak değerlendirerek literatüre katkıda bulunmayı amaçlamaktadır.
Despite all kinds of environmental goals and programmes, there has been a severe overshooting of the planet's ecological boundaries. The paper investigates various conceptual barriers contributing to the lack of ecological sustainability. The concepts discussed are weak sustainability, eco‐efficiency, ecological modernization, and neoliberalism. This paper's empirical field comprises the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and what preceded them. It is about the report Our Common Future, the green economy, ecological modernization and the Millennium Development Goals. Even with partially positive effects, these programmes have not fulfilled their promises. The various conceptual barriers are recognizable in these programmes; they are exponents of an unshaken belief in efficient markets and conventional economic growth. This appears to be the overriding issue as economic growth in terms of GDP does not respect ecological boundaries, so that ecological sustainability comes closer to being realized. Neoliberalism—coupled with the power of the World Bank and the IMF and their long maintained “market fundamentalism”—has produced unsatisfactory outcomes in the social and ecological domains. The various crises during the last decades have caused governments to expand their roles, but every time this happened under the promise of a speedy return to normal, that is, small government and austerity. Ecological sustainability requires strong governmental roles. This paper does not provide a complete path towards ecological sustainability but discusses three possible conceptual foundations for it: steady‐state economics, eco‐development, and post‐growth economics.
The meaning of sustainability is the subject of intense debate among environmental tal and resource economists. Perhaps no other issue separates more clearly the traditional economic view from the views of most natural scientists. The debate currently focuses on the substitutability between the economy and the environ ment or between "natural capital" and "manufactured capital"-a debate captured in terms of M elk versus strong sustainability. In this article, we examine the various interpretations of these concepts. We conclude that natural science and economic perspectives on sustainability are inconsistent. The market-based Hartwick-Solow "weak sustainability' approach is Far removed from both the ecosystem-based "Holling sustainabilily' and the "strong sustainability" approach of Daly and others. Each of these sustainability criteria implies a specific valuation approach, and thus an ethical position, to support monetary indicators of sustainability such as a green or sustainable Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The conflict between "weak sustainability" and "strong sustainability" is more evident in the context of centralized than decentralized decision making. In particular, Firms selling "services" instead of material goods and regarding the latter as "capital" leads to decisions more or less consistent with either type or sustainability. Finally, we discuss the implications of global sustainability for such open systems as regions and countries. Open systems have not been dealt with systematically for any of the sustainability criteria.
A critical review of open literature and of institutional reports is given on the current discourse on 'sustainable development' (SD), and to its ascendant term 'sustainability' (SIB). Results of the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, which reiterated its commitment to Agenda 2 1, did show the differences between the developed North, who favors environmental issues, and the less developed South, whose primary problems are development and equity in resource use. One of the major problems is also absence of a clear distinction between science and policy advice, which results in politicization of science. In the second part of the paper the environmental issues are discussed for the concept of 'sustainable tourism' and for 'ecotourism', a development activity considered of prime Importance for economic advancement of Croatia, in particular for its Adriatic coastal regions. Croatia's tourist industry has not established complex monitoring services, nor adopted a useful determination of the carrying capacity, not even for the major Adriatic islands, or some National parks. As a substitute there are some attempts to institutionalize environmental impact assessment, although maintenance of environmental quality seems of more importance for the tourist market. The extension into the future of the present form of management, promoted as 'sustainable', concentrating mainly on profit making, would result in environmental degradation and loss of market value of the Croatian tourist locations.
After nature had become a "political question" in the 1960's, as conventional political institutions have not too much understanding for environmental problems, the environmental movements put on the public agenda the issue of life as such, and not only of the human life. Promoting the hightening of the level of the ecological consciousness in public, these movements made an impact also on promoting this consciousness within the framework of various scientific disciplines. The consequence of the interdisciplinary approach was putting together of various environmental questions by social scientists on the relationships within the human society in the bio-cultural-political complex. Together with this phenomenon emerged also a new discipline called political ecology, which actually represents the interdisciplinary development of common fundaments of disciplines such as culture, politics, economy, ecology and biology. Believing in transcending of separated dimensions of multiple structures of life such as ecology and politics, the political ecology attempts at revitalizing the holistic approach of thought and action thus promoting a new ecological political culture based on the discoveries of physical sciences of the first half of the 20th century. At the same time, it insists on interconnections within the organizational complexity of cosmos so that nothing can be conceived without interrelations with its environment. This concept of environmentalism implies the introduction of completely new dimensions into the political culture to which the society will be obliged to respond by a different structure of political and social power and influence.
Montreal Process Criterion 6 - maintenance and enhancement of long-term multiple socio-economic benefits to meet the needs of society - can be subdivided in five categories: production and consumption, recreation and tourism, investment in the rangeland sector, cultural and spiritual needs and values, and employment and community needs. We review the philosophical and practical considerations in applying the 19 indicators to rangelands at the national scale. Many of them are appropriate for rangelands and are being monitored by various agencies and organizations. However, some indicators only seem measurable at a local level and may be difficult to quantify at the national scale. In addition, some indicators may be difficult to measure at all, especially in a repeatable manner. The goal of sustainability is development that provides a good quality of life while staying within environmental limits. These indicators, with some additions and substantial research, can help determine if we are moving closer to that goal.
The paper aims to establish the normative connection between sustainability and global social justice. In order to do so it (a) claims that the concept of sustainability is itself a normative concept, because it refers to our substantive disagreements about 'what should be sustained' or 'what matters for current and future generations' - it has both an intragenerational and an inter-generational dimension, although the intra-generational dimension will be our only focus here (b) involves equally physical sustainability and the conditions of justice itself. A sustainable society which is unjust can hardly be worth sustaining. A just society that is physically unsustainable is self-defeating. Humanity now has the responsibility to make a deliberate transition to a just and sustainable global society. The effort to provide a connection between sustainability and global social justice should be based on interdependence (which has an economic and an ecological aspect, but cannot be reduced to its being only a fact) and the physical limits of the carrying-capacity of the life-support systems of the planet. Based on an interpretation of Kant's republicanism and Philip Pettit's modern republican thought we try to justify sustainability using the notion of common liberty that expands distributional duties across the globe (and generations). Here, Kant's telling metaphor of the spherical shape of the earth is crucial. Humanity is, under this interpretation, a just and sustainable political community under construction. Climate change provides perhaps the best illustration of such a normative basis.
Of the pedagogical system based on knowledge of the Tatar people on the nature, implemented on the lessons of natural sciences and geography of Tatarstan is an interconnected set of means, methods and processes that contribute to the formation of ecological culture of the students. The funds of the national pedagogies, traditions, rites and customs of the people of their environmental content establish stable norms and rules of behavior of children in nature, contribute to the education of ecological culture.
Sustainable development is notoriously difficult to grasp for students and professionals. Multidimensional, encompassing social, ecological and economic theories, policies and practice, it can be a maze of complexity and contradiction.This powerful new textbook, by a topic instructor in the field, is the first to unravel sustainable development and provide readers with the deep understanding so often missing in other texts. The book adopts a multi-perspective approach designed specifically to allow access to the topic from a wide range of educational and professional backgrounds and to develop understanding of a diversity of approaches and traditions at different levels. It features multiple entry points, explains jargon and explores controversies. Also offering boxed examples from the local to the global, Understanding Sustainable Development is the most complete guide to the subject for course leaders, students and self-learners.
Definitions of sustainability—and criticisms of the definitions—abound. I argue that there are problems with the definitional approach itself and not just with any specific definition. Wittgenstein (Philosophical investigations (trans: Anscombe GEM). Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1958) argued that definitions are not sufficient to determine meaning or to legislate correct usage of words. For both singular terms and general concepts, meaning is meaning-as-use, proceeding via examples that instruct within an already existing normative structure. Once we are clear on the ways in which use presupposes a normative structure, I believe we will understand better the meaning of sustainability and its normative basis. On this view, sustainability will be vague and contested (Jacobs in Fairness and futurity. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 21–45, 1999) but not meaningless. And we will not have to be worried about the plethora of definitions.
For the diagnosis and prognosis of the problems of quality of life, a multidisciplin ary ecosystemic approach encompasses four dimensions of being-in-the-world, as donors and recipients: intimate, interactive, social and biophysical. Social, cultural and environmental vulnerabilities are understood and dealt with, in different circumstances of space and time, as the conjugated effect of all dimensions of being-in-the-world, as they induce the events (deficits and assets), cope with consequences (desired or undesired) and contribute for change. Instead of fragmented and reduced representations of reality, diagnosis and prognosis of cultural, educational, environmental and health problems considers the connections (assets) and ruptures (deficits) between the different dimensions, providing a planning model to develop and evaluate research, teaching programmes, public policies and field projects. The methodology is participatory , experiential and reflexive; heuristic- hermeneutic processes unveil cultural and epistemic paradigms that orient subject-object relationships; giving people the opportunity to reflect on their own realities, engage in new experiences and find new ways to live better in a better world. The proposal is a creative model for thought and practice, providing many opportunities for discussion, debate and development of holistic projects integrating different scientific domains (social sciences, psychology, education, philosophy, politics, etc.).
The case for developing a "transit management regime" for the Northwest Passage has apparently been strengthened by recent events: the end of the Cold War, the emergence of the circumpolar North as a relatively normal region, where interstate diplomacy can be applied to common problems under the aegis of the Arctic Council; and, of course, the prospect of a lengthening summer season for surface transit as a result of global warming. But the scenario is complicated by other considerations, such as the evolution of different sovereignty concepts and sentiments in Canada, continuing environmental concerns, Inuit ambivalence, law and diplomacy constraints, and new uncertainties over the outcome of Canadian-U.S. energy policy diplomacy and the impact of the world security crisis. The success of the International Northern Sea Route Project suggests that the time for a similar initiative in the Northwest Passage may have arrived.
The present paper endeavours to discuss some of the potential issues inherent in the developmental work for indigenous psychologies, especially in the Western context. The discussion is made around two topical issues, sustainability and local knowledge. The developmental processes in indigenous psychologies are influenced by the inter- and intracommunity environment. It is important to trace the development of local knowledge in a sustained community environment. The cross-fertilization of ecological perspectives with indigenous psychological knowledge can enlighten our understandings of global issues in psychology as well as the applications of psychological knowledge to a local context. A theoretical model is proposed to highlight major social psychological processes in a participatory community environment − the model is expected to address essential contentious issues to the future of a globalized psychology, especially the way integrated local knowledge can lay the foundations of a globalized indigenous psychology.
For the diagnosis and prognosis of the problems of quality of life, a multidisciplinary ecosystemic approach encompasses four
dimensions of being-in-the-world, as donors and recipients: intimate, interactive, social and biophysical. Social, cultural
and environmental vulnerabilities are understood and dealt with, in different circumstances of space and time, as the conjugated
effect of all dimensions of being-in-the-world, as they induce the events (deficits and assets), cope with consequences (desired
or undesired) and contribute for change. Instead of fragmented and reduced representations of reality, diagnosis and prognosis
of cultural, educational, environmental and health problems considers the connections (assets) and ruptures (deficits) between
the different dimensions, providing a planning model to develop and evaluate research, teaching programmes, public policies
and field projects. The methodology is participatory, experiential and reflexive; heuristic-hermeneutic processes unveil cultural
and epistemic paradigms that orient subject-object relationships; giving people the opportunity to reflect on their own realities,
engage in new experiences and find new ways to live better in a better world. The proposal is a creative model for thought
and practice, providing many opportunities for discussion, debate and development of holistic projects integrating different
scientific domains (social sciences, psychology, education, philosophy, etc.).
Despite the urgency of the ecological crisis the steady continuation of environmental degradation suggests that new ways of interpreting problems and acting with environmental integrity may need to be considered. This paper draws on a broad range of contemporary theory to argue that the conventional conceptualization of environmental problems has remained a largely disciplinary-based exercise that has relied on abstracting the environmental issues from their real-world complexity. A practical articulation of the main environmental narratives reveals self-referential discourses whose disciplinary-based practices have insulated these approaches from a broad range of contemporary theorising and different ways of knowing. The dominance of these approaches in environmental policy development has led to the continued acceleration of environmental degradation despite widespread political and social interest in its abatement. This paper provides a critique of methodologies derived from the assumptions of instrumental rationalism, and contemplates the potential for alternative ‘communicative’ approaches and strategies for dealing with environmental policy development and implementation. It is argued that a communicative approach to planning for sustainability represents a more appropriate strategy for mobilising a currently impotent environmental movement. A communicative approach by explicitly dealing with the assumptions and motivations of contested positions in the sustainability debate, it is argued, offers the most pragmatic way of developing change strategies to deal with the complex issues surrounding environmental policy development and implementation.
If the purpose of environmental accounting research is to develop, suggest ad analyse ways out fo the environmental crisis, then it is fundamental that the ethical positions informing our research are developed and explored fully before we make choices about the path and direction of our own work. This paper reviews two alternative approaches to environmental ethics, namely, radical ecology (of which deep ecology, social ecology and eco-feminism are regarded as sub-divisions) and the emerging area of postmodern environmentalism. The aim is to encourage environmental accounting researchers to consider and explicitly state the ethical position adopted within their work.