More info on Wikipedia
Quick Facts
- Sustainable agriculture and sustainable development are the most frequently discussed aspects of sustainability
- Some of the antecedents of current sustainability discussion goes back to the Romantics
- The Society for Ecological Economics was an attempt towards sustainability
- The UN has initiated sustainable development programs
- Sustainability Science is a recently emerged academic discipline
Expert summary
Sustainability is a very commonly used term which designates the capacity to maintain a certain process or state indefinitely. In recent years the term has been applied frequently to living organism and systems. When it is applied to human life, it is taken to signify a state where the needs of the present are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The term has its roots in ecology suggesting the inherent ability of an ecosystem to maintain ecological processes, functions, biodiversity and productivity into the future. For that nature’s resources must only be used at a rate at which they will be replenished. That leads to a conflict with man’s modern development drives.Recommended content
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Sustainability.com
Established in 1987, SustainAbility advises clients on the risks and opportunities associated with corporate responsibility and sustainable development. Working at the interface between market forces and societal expectations, we seek solutions to social and environmental challenges that deliver long term value. We understand business and what society expects of it. -
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. -
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Ray Anderson on Sustainability
Ray Anderson discusses corporate responsibility and the environment. Extract from The Corporation - 2004 -
Permaculture & Peak Oil: Beyond "Sustainability"
David Holmgren is co-originator (with Bill Mollison) of the permaculture concept and author of the recent book, PERMACULTURE: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability. He talks about the need to move beyond the lulling hope that 'green tech' breakthroughs will allow world-wide 'sustainable consumption' to the recognition that dwindling oil supplies inevitably mean a mandatory 'energy descent' for human civilization across the planet. He argues that permaculture principles provide the best guide to a peaceful societal 'powering down." -
An Experiment in Back Yard Sustainability
our Scott McGuire's "White Sage Gardens" in the back yard of his rental home -- a demonstration site for suburban sustainability. He ponders, "How might a household produce and preserve a significant portion of its own food supply?" Composting, a water-conserving greenhouse, and seed-saving are all facets of this beautiful work in progress.
![Sustainability - Permaculture & Peak Oil: Beyond "Sustainability"](http://img.youtube.com/vi/OFjFG24BeX8/1.jpg "Sustainability - Permaculture & Peak Oil: Beyond "Sustainability"")
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The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift
appreciated both what was presented about sustainability and how carefully Edwards compares the environmentalism and sustainability movements. He doesn't "diss" environmentalism, but illuminates a lot of general principles of the sustainability movement that show it to be significantly more sustainable as a movement. -
Making Sustainability Work: Best practices in Managing and Measuring Corporate Social ,Environmental and Econmic Impacts
Epstein's book is definitely well meaning. Directed mostly towards the field of corporate social responsibility. Attentive readers may also recall a recent Economist magazine that had its central pages devoted to this theme. The book has numerous quotes from CEOs of large, prominent organisations, espousing how they pursue sustainable goals. -
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the way we make things
his doesn't feel like a book - literally. It's a different size and shape, the pages are thick, the thing feels significantly heavier than it looks, and it's waterproof. The design of the book is making a point also made in the text of the book: the current state of recycling generally turns higher quality products into lower quality ones useful only for purposes other than the original product, and then eventually discards them. This is not recycling; it's slow motion waste.
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