View our 'What is Sustainability' resources offlineDownload the one-page primer on sustainability (also below) (PDF) Download a two-page overview of 'Studying Sustainability' (PDF) Download the 5 minute Powerpoint 'Sustainability 101' (in your Downloads Folder; view in Powerpoint) A Sustainability PrimerThis is one of many interpretations of sustainability. If you wish to comment, please email sustainability@hamline.edu There is no single definition of sustainability or definitive list of sustainability topics. Example definitions: “Sustainability is improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems.” (Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living) “A sustainable global society [is] founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace.” (The Earth Charter) Sustainability has three components, often called the pillars of sustainability: Social sustainability, Environmental sustainability, and Economic sustainability. A system is not truly sustainable unless all three components are sustainable. The interactions among the three components of sustainability are therefore of crucial importance.
Sustainable systems will maintain or improve the desirable qualities of the three components over time. The desirable qualities of a system can be described in many ways. Sustainability initiatives aspire to create systems that are, for example: Environmentally Sound Socially Just Economically Prosperous In addition, the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability is shifting toward an understanding that expands the "environment" circle to encompass everything within it, and to also focus on wellness as part of the circles of sustainability. The sustainability of a system can be measured by benchmarks.
Benchmarks of Socially Just systems include:
Human well-being
Universal human rights and equity
Democratic government
Democratic civil society
Benchmarks of Environmentally Sound systems include:
Wise use of renewable biological and physical resources
Minimal use of non-renewable resources
Effective waste management
Benchmarks of Economically Prosperous systems include:
Efficient use of natural, human, physical, and intangible capital
Equitable distribution of wealth and resources
Generalized capacity to create well-being
Efficient markets Sustainability may be studied at different scales: Institutional, Local, Regional, National, or Global.
The crucial question in the study of sustainability:
How does the issue being studied affect the long term sustainability of the environmental, economic, or social system(s) in question, as measured by benchmarks?
Examples:
More information? Download Studying Sustainability (PDF)
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