Geography
Sustainability
Sustainability refers to the responsible use of resources to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It involves balancing economic, social, and environmental considerations to ensure long-term well-being. In geography, sustainability is a key concept for understanding the interactions between human societies and the natural environment.
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10 Key excerpts on "Sustainability"
eBook - ePubExploring Sustainable Development
Geographical Perspectives
- Martin Purvis, Alan Grainger(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
Studies of spatial inequality have thus encouraged attempts to develop a more sophisticated understanding of the geographical form of social and economic systems, and of socio-economic processes as an influence upon the production and reproduction of space. Particular attention has been paid to the ordering of space under capitalism, leading to a recognition that spatial inequality – often characterized as uneven development – is an integral feature of capitalist development (Smith, 1990). Such attempts to understand the causes of social and spatial inequality highlight the extent to which local conditions are shaped by the wider interplay of economic and political forces at a national and international level. It follows that measures to secure positive change must often be directed towards points in time and space that are far removed from the most obvious symptoms of social injustice and environmental stress. Crucially, too, the argument that development in one region is necessarily predicated on underdevelopment elsewhere has profound implications for aspirations to secure greater intra-generational and inter-generational equity. It helps to explain why change is often so controversial and contested, which is a reality that is not always confronted in current economic theories of sustainable development.Thinking geographically
Geography has a long record of studying both the environmental impacts and Sustainability of human activity, and the equity with which the costs and benefits of development are distributed. In this sense, geographical attention to what is now termed sustainable development long predates discussions inspired by the 1987 Brundtland Report or the ensuing 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. Geography’s record of applied work – in fields ranging from environmental management to access to welfare services – is also consistent with the desire to improve both the human condition and the health of the environment that motivates the study of sustainable development (for different perspectives on applied geography, see Burton and Kates, 1965; Pacione, 1999a; Peet, 1977; Stamp, 1963) Moreover, thinking geographically – which involves attention to the needs and circumstances of particular communities; to the spatial patterning of human activity; to the relationships that connect the human and environmental spheres; and to the links between individual localities and wider systems – has the potential to enhance and extend existing attempts to understand the theory and practice of sustainable development. In a context that demands a broad-based and integrative understanding, geography’s intellectual diversity and capacity for synthesis constitute genuine strengths. Geography does not have answers for all of the questions posed by sustainable development; but, arguably, it has the right attitude to advance knowledge in this field. The chapter now turns, therefore, to consider the attempts already made to foster explicit engagement between geography and sustainable development.
No longer available |Learn more- (Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Learning Press(Publisher)
In the mid-20th century, a gathering environmental movement pointed out that there were environmental costs associated with the many material benefits that were now being enjoyed. In the late 20th century, environmental problems became global in scale. The 1973 and 1979 energy crises demonstrated the extent to which the global community had become dependent on non-renewable energy resources. In the 21st century, there is increasing global awareness of the threat posed by the human-induced enhanced greenhouse effect, produced largely by forest clearing and the burning of fossil fuels. Principles and concepts The philosophical and analytic framework of Sustainability draws on and connects with many different disciplines and fields; in recent years an area that has come to be called Sustainability science has emerged. Sustainability science is not yet an autonomous field or discipline of its own, and has tended to be problem-driven and oriented towards guiding decision-making. Scale and context Sustainability is studied and managed over many scales (levels or frames of reference) of time and space and in many contexts of environmental, social and economic organization. The focus ranges from the total carrying capacity (Sustainability) of planet Earth to the Sustainability of economic sectors, ecosystems, countries, municipalities, neighbourhoods, home gardens, individual lives, individual goods and services, occupations, lifestyles, behaviour patterns and so on. In short, it can entail the full compass of biological and human activity or any part of it. As Daniel Botkin, author and environmentalist, has stated: We see a landscape that is always in flux, changing over many scales of time and space. Consumption — population, technology, resources A major driver of human impact on Earth systems is the destruction of biophysical resources, and especially, the Earth's ecosystems.
eBook - PDFFutures Research and Environmental Sustainability
Theory and Method
- James K. Lein(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
1 1 Environmental Sustainability: The Art and Science The Sustainability concept promises to be a significant goal for the fore- seeable future as development agendas continue to stress environmental systems while at the same time demonstrating an ever-increasing reliance on support from critical environmental services. The question of what it may mean to be “sustainable” and what specifically will insure that pat- terns of human development can be sustained within their environmental setting is both complex and complicated. This chapter provides a cursory summary of the complicated relationship between human activity and the developing theory of Sustainability. By examining the origins of this con- cept and the definitions that have emerged to unify Sustainability think- ing, this chapter presents the argument that regardless of definition, the environment rests at the core of the Sustainability challenge and suggests that by understanding the ecosystem base on top of which all development activities assemble a sharper focus of what it means to be sustainable can be understood. 1.1 Defining the Challenge From the vantage point of an earth-observational satellite, the landscape resembles a patchwork of colors, shapes, and textures that explain both the natural features that define the ecological system and those uniquely human elements that characterize our built environment. The interplay between these two distinctive footprints has been a focus of study and concern since the emergence of the conservation movement of the mid-nineteenth century and has been carried forward by an expanding array of philosophies, pro- grams, and scientific observations (Simmons, 1993; Ludwig, 1993; Martens, 2006; Guha, 2014).
- Sushila Sinha(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Society Publishing(Publisher)
The word sustainable is included in the dictionary (of the English language) and this occurred in the year 1987 (Newton and Freyfogle, 2005). As such, in the period from 1713 to 1987, the idea of sustainable was used in a number of publications and discussions, but without having a consistent conceptualization of its meaning. The term sustainable can be conceptualized as a basis, also, as an umbrella term, which provides support and further, includes the idea of Sustainability and sustainable development (SD), having the worry about the future existence of natural resources in order to support the continuation of human life as its foundation. According to Bell and Morse (2008), Moldan et al. (2012), Sartori et al. (2014), the Sustainability can be understood which consists in the capacity of the global system, containing the integration of human environment with an indissoluble system, for maintaining its quality and/or property in a level close, either equal or superior to the historic average, and also, considering the dynamic alterations which are provoked by variables throughout time. Introduction To Sustainability: A Global Perspective 5 As per the highlights which are provided by Horbach (2005), and Dempsey et al. (2011), the Sustainability is considered as the union of three types of interests at the same time and in balance, further including the environmental, economic and social aspects. Faber, Jorna and Van Engelen (2005), defend that Sustainability comprehends the balance as well as the mutual interactions in between the object and its supporting environment, without having any harmful effects on both.According to Ferreira (2010), the concept of Sustainability is a condition or quality of something and this condition can sustain, defend, maintain or conserve something else.
eBook - PDFDefining Sustainability
Special Issue of Land Economics 73:4 (November 1997)
- Richard B. Howarth(Author)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- University of Wisconsin Press(Publisher)
Dimensions of Sustainability: Geographical, Temporal, Institutional, and Psychological Charles W.Howe ABSTRACT. Well-being depends on produced goods, natural amenities, and preferences. Each can be influenced throughpolicies and education. Pro- duction of goods exhibits a hierarchical structure similar to ecosystems: subsystems adapt while sus- taining system productivity, that is, higher levels have greater resilience. In agriculture, the farm has little adaptability, the region can shift production among locations, and a nation can shift among regions. Forests exhibit an intertemporal-geo- graphical hierarchy in which harvests are replaced by growth elsewhere and later regrowth. This struc- ture is useful in responding to change and uncer- tainty. Preferences, too, can and must be informed through education. (JEL Q2) I. BACKGROUND Sustainability, for purposes of this paper, refers to the supply side of intergenera- tional linkages, that is, to the capability of a society to maintainor increase the level of some measure of aggregate utility. The Brundtland Report (WCED 1987) coined the phrase "sustainable development" and defined it as: meeting the needs of the present without com- promising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (p. 8) While this famous definition has been justly criticized as a counsel of perfection, it serves to emphasize the responsiblities of the cur- rent generation towardthe future while ad- monishing the future to determinehow best to use its inheritance from the past. The Brundtland definitionwas extended significantly by Robert Solow in his 1992 Resourcesfor the Future lecture: The duty imposed by Sustainability is to bequeath to posterity not any particular thing-with rare exceptions such as Yosemite, for example-but rather to endow them with whatever it takes to achieve a standard of living at least as good as our own and to look after their next generation similarly.
eBook - PDF- Stephen Scoffham(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
While time will tell the effectiveness of the Sustainable Development Goals, the proactive language sets out a clear agenda for the role of education and institutions in actively promoting sustainable development. Sustainable development is commonly thought of as having three mutually support- ing dimensions – economic, social and environmental. These work together and link to the idea of quality of life for all, recognising that we live in an interconnected world. They also relate to some of the ‘big’ questions that geography seeks to answer, namely: n Where is this place? What is it like and why? n Why and how is it changing? What will it be like in the future? What kinds of futures do we want? n What do people do here? How are their actions influenced by, and how do they impact on, environments at different scales? n How is this place connected to other places? How am I connected to other people and places? n Who gets what, where, when and how? Who decides? n What’s it got to do with me? Why should I care? Sustainability education is relevant across the entire curriculum and is best approached through holistic teaching and learning. It has a particular association with geography and requires careful underpinning with geographical thinking and knowledge. Issues concern- ing Sustainability and the environment have a values-led and affective base, often articulated as a need to ‘care for the world’, which can sometimes eclipse other necessary components of knowledge and critical thinking. While values and emotions are intrinsic and inescapable facets of Sustainability, being properly equipped to respond to these issues also demands some degree of cognitive understanding about how and why human, biological and physical worlds interact with and affect each other.
- Jane Silberstein M.A., Chris Maser(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
Adapting our lives and our processes to fit within these limits is the goal, all the while factoring in the inseparability of our human presence. Everything we do alters our environment, and the systems we create take us further from the biophysical balance that characterized the prehuman con-dition. And, since change is a continual, irreversible process, we must keep in mind that restoration of a specific condition is not possible, in spite of its broad use as a label for projects aimed at environmental repair. In addition, we must keep in mind that Sustainability is not a condition in which compromise can be struck, although decisions leading toward sus-tainability often require compromise. Seeking Sustainability to a degree, which appears like an innocuous compromise, defeats Sustainability alto-gether. Leave one process out of the equation or in some other way alter a feedback loop, and the system as a whole will gradually be deflected toward an outcome other than that which was originally intended. It is thus critical during any planning process to consider carefully the elements of sustain-ability, understand and accept their inviolability, and thus remain within the biophysical limitations that make them work, if a given land use plan is to be viable through time. The following nonnegotiable elements of Sustainability cover only those that we have found to be common impediments to sustainable land use planning. 3 Sustainable Development: The Concept First Element: The Water Bed Principle We are an inseparable part of nature, and just as with a water bed, touching any part affects the whole. Air, for example, is the interactive thread con-necting soils, water, biodiversity, human population density, sunlight, and climate. (Biodiversity refers to the variety of living species and their biophys-ical functions and processes.) Our earthly survival, and that of our children and their children unto all generations, depends on clean air.
- Anita L. Wenden(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- SUNY Press(Publisher)
These four values, which interact dynamically, will be defined and explained in terms of what they imply for human relationships and extended, where practicable, to the Earth-human relationships. Selected illustrations related to food will suggest how youngsters in the middle grades can be helped to understand and appreciate these values as guides to action. Ecological Sustainability. Ecological sustainabilit y is defined, here, as the abilit y of the Earth and all her life to survive and thrive by maintaining and strengthening the dynamic integrity of her cycling of matter, webbing of life, and f low of energy. It is the core value of the CSE framework. Applied to an economy, ecological sustainabilit y implies that it (the econ- omy) function in support of the environment and that environmental factors take a leading role in economic decision making (Chambers, Simmons, & Wacker- nagel, 2001, p. 5–7). This view stands in contrast to anthropocentric views in the technocratic sustainabilit y literature, which consider sustainable (economic) devel- opment as meeting “the needs of the present without compromising the abilit y of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987). 3 Ecological econo- mists (Elkington, 1998; Daly, 1996; Hawken, 1993 and other members of the In- ternational Society of Ecological Economists) have pointed to the three minimum requirements of economies that are necessary to sustain the Earth’s life-supporting processes. That is, an economy should not use up all the resources that the global ecosystem provides or undermine the delivery by the Earth of her ecological ser- vices of photosynthesis, atmospheric gas regulation, climate and water regulation, soil formation, and pest control. Nor should an economy overwhelm the waste- absorbing capacit y of the Earth (Prugh et al., 2000). These minimum requirements CONTEXTUAL Sustainability EDUCATION 59
eBook - PDF- David M. Hassenzahl, Mary Catherine Hager, Nancy Y. Gift, Linda R. Berg, Peter H. Raven(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
What are the three foundations of sustainable development? Environmental Science LEARNING OBJECTIVES • Define environmental science, including the role of Earth systems in environmental science. • Outline the scientific method. Environmental science encompasses the many interconnected issues involving human population, Earth’s natural resources, and environmental pollution. Environmental science combines information from many disciplines, such as biology, geography, chemistry, geology, physics, economics, sociology, demo- graphy (the study of populations), cultural anthropology, natural resources management, agriculture, engineering, law, politics, and ethics. Ecology, the branch of biology that studies the in- terrelationships between organisms and their environment, is a basic tool of environmental science. Environmental scientists try to establish general princi- ples about how the natural world functions. They use these principles to develop viable solutions to environmental problems—solutions based as much as possible on scientific knowledge. Environmental problems are generally complex, so our understanding of them is often less complete than we would like it to be. Environmental scientists are often asked to reach a consensus before they fully understand the systems that they study. As a result, they often make recommenda- tions based on probabilities rather than precise answers. Many of the environmental problems discussed in this book are serious, but environmental science is not sim- ply a “doom-and-gloom” listing of problems coupled with In addition, the Rio participants adopted Agenda 21, an action plan of sustainable development in which future eco- nomic development, particularly in developing countries, will be reconciled with environmental protection.
eBook - PDF- G. Miller, Scott Spoolman(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
646 CHAPTER 25 ENVIRONMENTAL WORLDVIEWS, ETHICS, AND Sustainability Figure 25.10 lists 12 guidelines—the “Sustainability dozen”—developed by environmental scientists and ethi- cists for living more sustainably by converting environ- mental concerns, literacy, and lessons from the earth into environmentally responsible actions for current and future generations. Significant scientific and other evidence indi- cates that human activities are degrading the earth’s life- support system at an increasing rate. Reversing this path to unSustainability means creating a society that lives within the earth’s ecological limits. In doing this, time is our scarc- est resource. Some analysts urge people who have a habit of consum- ing excessively to live more simply and sustainably. Seeking happiness through the pursuit of material things is consid- ered folly by almost every major religion and philosophy. Yet, today’s avalanche of advertising messages encourages people to buy more and more things to fill a growing list of wants as a way to achieve happiness. As American humorist and writer Mark Twain (1835–1910) observed: “Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.” American comedian George Carlin (1937–2008) put it another way: “A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. It is a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff.” However, to others, the more stuff we possess, the more we are possessed by stuff. According to research by psy- chologists, what a growing number of people really want, deep down, is more community, not more stuff. They want greater and more fulfilling interactions with family, friends, and neighbors. Some people are adopting a lifestyle of FIGURE 25.10 Sustainability dozen: Guidelines for living more sustainably. Mimic the ways nature sustains itself by using the earth as a model and teacher. Protect the earth’s natural capital and repair ecological damage caused by human activities.
Index pages curate the most relevant extracts from our library of academic textbooks. They’ve been created using an in-house natural language model (NLM), each adding context and meaning to key research topics.
