DOCSLIB.ORG

Collecting to the Core — Our Common Future

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Collecting to the Core — Our Common Future Against the Grain Manuscript 8169 Collecting to the Core — Our Common Future Carla Heister Anne Doherty Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/atg Part of the Library and Information Science Commons This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. Collecting to the Core — Our Common Future by Carla Heister (Retired Forestry and Environmental Studies Librarian, Center for Science and Social Science Information, Yale University; Environmental Studies Subject Editor, Resources for College Libraries) <[email protected]> Column Editor: Anne Doherty (Resources for College Libraries Project Editor, CHOICE/ACRL) <[email protected]> Column Editor’s Note: The “Collecting resulting report, Our Common Future (also Our Common Future defined and advocated to the Core” column highlights monographic known as the Brundtland Report after the for then-nascent concepts of sustainability works that are essential to the academic li- chair of the Commission, Norwegian Prime and “sustainable development,” describing brary within a particular discipline, inspired Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland) was the latter as an approach that “meets the by the Resources for College Libraries bib- published through Oxford University Press needs of the present without compromising liography (online at http://www.rclweb.net). in 1987 and is recognized as one of the first the ability of future generations to meet their In each essay, subject specialists introduce works to define and promote sustainable own needs.”13 Prior to the publication of OCF and explain the classic titles and topics that development. The report is presented in there is little usage of the terms found in the continue to remain relevant to the undergrad- three parts — Common Concerns; Common academic literature; these terms now permeate uate curriculum and library collection. Dis- Challenges; Common Endeavours — and the environmental studies literature and can ciplinary trends may shift, but some classics outlines a pathway for supporting global be found in thousands of publications across never go out of style. — AD economic interests while sustaining shared multiple disciplines. Usage of the term “sus- environmental resources, insisting that “the tainable development” increased substantially time has come to take the decisions needed to following the publication of OCF. The Web of s an academic discipline, environmen- secure the resources to sustain this and coming Science database was used to track the growth tal studies is relatively young. Its rise generations.”9 of the term from 1981 to June 2018. Here largely coincides with the first Earth A Our Common Future (OCF) has had a “sustainable development” was searched as Day, which was observed on April 22, 1970, strong and lasting impact on environmental a bound term. Again, note that 2016-2018 is and originally promoted as an environmental only through June 2018 so by extrapolation the teach-in by United States Senator Gaylord thought, including the popularization and definitional standardization of the terms “sus- total citations for 2016-2020 should exceed the Nelson. However, a few academic programs, previous five years. events, and publications predated that inaugural tainability” and “sustainable development.” Earth Day, including the environmental studies It has greatly influenced the subdiscipline of programs at SUNY Syracuse and Middlebury environmental economics, along with environ- College; federal legislation on water pollution mental policy studies and the multidisciplinary and air pollution control passed in 1948 and field of sustainability science.10-12 The OCF 1955, respectively; and several influential report is the mortar that made the foundation environmental monographs, including Aldo of both sustainable development and sustain- Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac and Rachel ability strong and permanent. The enduring Carson’s Silent Spring.1-4 The post-World value of OCF can be quantified by looking at War II era ushered in an increasingly global citation counts in the literature over time, with perspective of Earth and humans’ relationship a breakdown of its citation history illustrating to it, influenced in part by the first views of the that its influence has not yet peaked. The data planet from space, a number of environmental referenced here is based on a Web of Science disasters (notably the 1969 Santa Barbara oil (WOS) Cited Reference Search using matches spill), and a growth in international govern- for over 900 citation variations for the Our mental cooperation through the establishment Common Future report. These results show of the United Nations (U.N.). Indeed, the a steady citation growth over the thirty years internationalization of environmental studies since the report’s publication. Note that 2016- can be chronicled partly through the formation 2018 is measured only through June 2018; by of both the United Nations Development extrapolation, the total Cited Reference Search Fig. 2 “Sustainable development” Programme in 1965 and the United Nations numbers should again exceed the previous five Environment Programme in 1972. While years within a three-year span. keyword search in WOS records both of the aforementioned works, A Sand Looking at other impact measures, within County Almanac and Silent Spring, have broad, the Scopus database, the term “sustainable multidisciplinary audiences (each is included development” is found in over 155,000 pub- in at least four RCL subject disciplines), this lications. “Sustainable development” became essay will focus on another influential and sem- a Library of Congress Subject Heading inal work for the field of environmental studies: in 1992 and as of June 2018, over 78,000 Our Common Future, the 1987 report of the non-fiction book records contain the subject U.N.’s World Commission on Environment heading. A keyword search in the Resources and Development (WCED).5 for College Libraries database results in Early international publications that exam- 146 titles with “sustainable development” ine the human-environment interplay include in the item record (only 15 of these from the the Declaration of the United Nations Con- Environmental Studies subject list) and 498 ference on the Human Environment, World titles using the search term “sustainability” Conservation Strategy, and North-South: A (only 38 from the Environmental Studies Program for Survival.6-8 In 1983, the U.N. subject list). The breadth of subject coverage General Assembly established the WCED in these search results belies the impact of with members from twenty-one different Our Common Future and its interdependent nations and tasked it with building on these influence, with monographs from agriculture, preceding efforts by devising strategies for business, education, engineering, health sci- preserving the environment while promoting Fig. 1 WOS Cited Reference Search ences, hospitality, politics, urban studies, and worldwide economic development. The for Our Common Future continued on page 38 36 Against the Grain / November 2018 <http://www.against-the-grain.com> Collecting to the Core Endnotes from page 36 1. Federal Water Pollution Control Act. P.L. 80-845 Chap. 758, 62 Stat. 1155), June 30, 1948. 2. Air Pollution Control Act. P.L. 84–159, Chap. 360, 69 Stat. 322), July 14, 1955. more, including: Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Development; 3. Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac, and Sketches from Here and There. New York: Oxford The Age of Sustainable Development; University Press, 1949.* NAFTA and Sustainable Development: 4. Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1962.* The History, Experience, and Prospects 5. World Commission on Environment and Development. Our Common Future. Oxford: Oxford Univer- for Reform; Sustaining Abundance: En- sity Press, 1987.* Also found at the U.N. website as Report of the World Commission on Environment and vironmental Performance in Industrial Development: Our Common Future. 4 August 1987. Accessed May 2, 2018. http://www.un-documents. Democracies; and Towards Sustainable net/wced-ocf.htm Aviation.14-18 6. Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. From Report of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm, June 1972. Accessed June 28, 2018. http:// Together, the above numbers illus- www.un-documents.net/unchedec.htm trate the broad reach of the concepts in- 7. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. World Conservation Strategy: troduced in Our Common Future and its Living Resource Conservation for Sustainable Development. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN, 1980. assertion of an interlocked relationship 8. Brandt, Willy, and the Independent Commission on International Development Issues. North-South: between the global economy and ecol- A Program for Survival. Report of the Independent Commission on International Development Issues. ogy. The report has Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1983. been used in many 9. Our Common Future, Overview. environmental 10. Du Pisani, Jacobus A. “Sustainable Development – Historical Roots of the Concept.” Environmental studies curricu- Sciences 3, no. 2 (2006): 83-96. DOI: 10.1080/15693430600688831 la throughout the years as 11. National Research Council. Our Common Journey: A Transition Toward Sustainability. Washington D.C.: The National Academies Press, 1999. a course text, with the most 12. Bennett,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Agriculture and Ecosystems
    AGRICULTURE AND ECOSYSTEMS 3 LESSON PLAN Overview Estimated lesson time: 125 minutes Before this module, we recommend students become familiar with the vocabulary definitions for this module. Refer to vocabulary builders for suggested activities. We also suggest students become familiar with the material covered in History of Food. 10 min Introduction Brainstorm and discussion Students will brainstorm responses to essential questions (see below). 10 min Tracing food to soil Brainstorm and discussion Students will trace the ingredients of a meal back to their origins in the soil. 20 min Food, agriculture and ecosystems Graphic organizer and lecture Students will brainstorm facets of ecosystems that are essential to our food supply and record their responses in graphic organizers. The lecture that follows will cover the relationships between food, agriculture and ecosystems. 20 min Problems in agriculture Lecture The lecture will cover some of the health, environmental, social and economic problems facing agriculture. Before this section, it is recommended that students cover the industrialization of the U.S. food system in History of Food. 30 min Assessing and addressing problems Group activity and presentations Working in groups, students will assess the problems facing agriculture and devise plans to address them. 20 min Alternative farming systems Lecture and discussion The lecture will cover alternatives to the prevailing industrial agricultural model, including the organic and sustainable agricultural movements. 15 min Reflection Discussion and think-pair-share Students will discuss essential questions and respond to quotes about agriculture, ecosystems and health. TEACHING THE FOOD SYSTEM | A PROJECT OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR A LIVABLE FUTURE 1 AGRICULTURE AND ECOSYSTEMS | LESSON PLAN Essential questions Essential questions1 point to the big ideas of a module.
    [Show full text]
  • Unesco's Commitment to Biodiversity
    United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO’S COMMITMENT to BIODIVERSITY Connecting people and nature for an inspiring future Published in 2018 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 7, place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 SP, France © UNESCO 2018 This publication is available in Open Access under the Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC-BY-SA 3.0 IGO) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo). By using the content of this publication, the users accept to be bound by the term of use of the UNESCO Open Access Repository www.unesco.org/open-access/terms-use- ccbysa-en). The present license applies exclusively to the text content of the publication. For the use of any material not clearly identified as belonging to UNESCO, prior permission shall be requested from: publication. [email protected] or UNESCO Publishing, 7 place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP France. This publication should be cited as UNESCO. 2018. UNESCO’s Commitment to Biodiversity - Connecting People and Nature for an Inspiring Future. Paris: UNESCO. Edited and organized by: Meriem Bouamrane with contributions from Peter Bates, Mouna Chambon, Nigel Crawhall, Ward Appeltans, Bernard Combes, Isabelle Brugnon, Mary Cardenas, Juliana Chavez Chaparro, Miguel Clüsener-Godt, John Crowley, Guy Debonnet, Bandiougou Diawara, Peter Dogse, Khalissa Ikhlef, Susanna Kari, Aude Labbe-Videau, Douglas Nakashima, Iulia Nechifor, Marie Prchalova, Noeline Raondry, Jennifer Rubis, Natalia Tolochko, Zina Skandrani, Carl Vannetelbosch and Vincent Van Ryssegem. With support from the Ministry of Environment, Government of Japan. English Editor: David McDonald French Editor: CLD Graphic and cover design, typeset, redrawn figures: CLD Cover illustration: UNESCO MAB logo for the 30th session of the MAB International coordinating Council, Palembang, Sumatra, Indonesia, 23-27 July 2018.
    [Show full text]
  • Program & Abstracts
    Geosciences and Society – Bridging the gap with GeoParks and Co March 27 to 29 at Rupprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (RKUH) and March 29 to 31 excursion to GeoParks in Baden Württemberg and Bavaria A GOAL activity, thankfully and generously supported by DAAD 1. GOAL-internal meeting (27.03.2014) 2. Expert seminar on GeoParks (28.-29.03.2014) 4. GOAL-Field Workshop GeoParks and the Anthropocene (29.-31.03.2014) a) GeoPark Schwäbische Alb. Site Aalen Urweltmuseum: an example for educational science for the general public (16:00–17:30 hrs) b) GeoPark Nördlinger Ries. Site Nördlingen with overview and city walk (suevite obser- vations) (as of 18:30 hrs) c) GeoPark Nördlinger Ries. Site Nördlingen and environs with active limestone quarry, Meteorite museum and various relics of the impact event (09–16:00 hrs) d) GeoPark Bergstraße Odenwald. Site Main-Tauber region with Michelstadt and Tertiary rock formations (as of 17:30 hrs) e) GeoPark Bergstraße Odenwald. Site Grube Messel guided tour (full day) End of the field Workshop and transfer to Frankfurt/Main airport 26 contributions from 14 countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Ec- uador, Germany, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Sweden and United States of America) allow for a fine discussion on GeoParks and some additional topics. Left: El Misti volcano near Arequipa, Peru; Right: the Future generation Detailed Program GOAL-Workshop 2014 2 How to cite this: Matschullat J (ed 2014) Geosciences and Society – Bridging the gap with GeoParks and Co; Media Centre of TU Bergakademie Freiberg, 48 p. Impressum © All contributions are intellectual property of the authors.
    [Show full text]
  • The Brundtland Report – 20 Years On
    JljkX`eXYc\;\m\cfgd\ek`eXZk`feJljkX`eXYc\;\m\cfgd\ek`eXZk`fe Le`k\[Le`k\[EXk`fejEXk`fej:fdd`jj`fe:fdd`jj`fefeJljkX`eXYc\feJljkX`eXYc\;\m\cfgd\ek;\m\cfgd\ek GI<JJI<C<8J<s8GI@C)''-BACKGROUNDERGI<JJI<C<8J<s8GI@C)''. Framing Sustainable Development The Brundtland Report – 20 Years On “What is needed now is a new era of economic growth – growth that is forceful and at the same time socially and environmentally sustainable.” This call in the foreword of the 1987 Brundtland Report, “Our Common Future,” still rings true twenty years later. Sustainable development – defined by the Brundtland Commission asdevelopment that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs – has been enshrined in documents approved at the highest political level, but “the commitment to sustainable development has not gone much beyond environmental authorities,” says Nitin Desai, a senior adviser to the Brundtland Commission and a key draftsman of the report. Current consumption and production levels are 25 percent higher than the earth’s sustainable carrying capacity, according to the Ecological Footprint Sustainability Measure, an independent measure based on United Nations statistics. If everyone in the world were to live like an average person in the high-income countries, we would need 2.6 additional planets to support us all. A Groundbreaking Concept The World Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, alerted the world twenty years ago to the urgency of making progress toward economic development that could be sustained without depleting natural resources or harming the environment.
    [Show full text]
  • A Critical Reading of Permaculture Literature
    Master thesis in Sustainable Development 2018/14 Examensarbete i Hållbar utveckling The quest for sustainability – a critical reading of permaculture literature ‘ Tove Janzon DEPARTMENT OF EARTH SCIENCES INSTITUTIONEN FÖR GEOVETENSKAPER Master thesis in Sustainable Development 2018/14 Examensarbete i Hållbar utveckling The quest for sustainability – a critical reading of permaculture literature Tove Janzon Supervisor: Frans Lenglet Evaluator: Petra Hansson Copyright © Tove Janzon and the Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University Published at Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University (www.geo.uu.se), Uppsala, 2018 Content 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Background ........................................................................................................................................ 1 2.1 The sustainable development concept ........................................................................................... 1 2.1.1 History .................................................................................................................................... 1 2.1.2 Definitions .............................................................................................................................. 2 2.2 The permaculture concept ............................................................................................................. 2 2.2.1 History ...................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • 40 Years of Sustainable Development : Key Dates
    40 Years of sustainable Development : Key Dates 1972 : 1st UN Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) Creation of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). For the first time, the various links between global environment and development needs were discussed. 1980 : The concept of sustainable development appeared for the first time in world conservation Strategy (WCS) The WCS defines the four main factors in natural resource destruction : Poverty Population pressure Social inequalities International trade conditions 1987 : “Our Common Future” Report (Brundtland Report) For the first time “sustainable development” was defined establishing links between social, economic, cultural and environment issues. “Sustainable development is a development mode that fulfills the needs of present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to fulfill theirs.” 1988 : Creation of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) It is responsible for the scientific processes of global warming. 1992 : Earth Summit – United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro 173 Heads of State adopted the “Agenda 21” action program containing : The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) The forest management statement Creation of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) 1994 : International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo Goals : Universal access to family planning by 2015 Strengthening women’s autonomy 1995 : World Summit on Social Development in Copenhagen 128 Heads of State and Government adopted the Declaration on Social Development, which aims to address the 3 scourges that affect every country in the world : poverty, unemployment, and social disintegration.
    [Show full text]
  • Our Common Future
    Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future Table of Contents Acronyms and Note on Terminology Chairman's Foreword From One Earth to One World Part I. Common Concerns 1. A Threatened Future I. Symptoms and Causes II. New Approaches to Environment and Development 2. Towards Sustainable Development I. The Concept of Sustainable Development II. Equity and the Common Interest III. Strategic Imperatives IV. Conclusion 3. The Role of the International Economy I. The International Economy, the Environment, and Development II. Decline in the 1980s III. Enabling Sustainable Development IV. A Sustainable World Economy Part II. Common Challenges 4. Population and Human Resources I. The Links with Environment and Development II. The Population Perspective III. A Policy Framework 5. Food Security: Sustaining the Potential I. Achievements II. Signs of Crisis III. The Challenge IV. Strategies for Sustainable Food Security V. Food for the Future 6. Species and Ecosystems: Resources for Development I. The Problem: Character and Extent II. Extinction Patterns and Trends III. Some Causes of Extinction IV. Economic Values at Stake V. New Approach: Anticipate and Prevent VI. International Action for National Species VII. Scope for National Action VIII. The Need for Action 7. Energy: Choices for Environment and Development I. Energy, Economy, and Environment II. Fossil Fuels: The Continuing Dilemma III. Nuclear Energy: Unsolved Problems IV. Wood Fuels: The Vanishing Resource V. Renewable Energy: The Untapped Potential VI. Energy Efficiency: Maintaining the Momentum VII. Energy Conservation Measures VIII. Conclusion 8. Industry: Producing More With Less I. Industrial Growth and its Impact II. Sustainable Industrial Development in a Global Context III.
    [Show full text]
  • Informed Geoheritage Conservation: Determinant Analysis Based on Bibliometric and Sustainability Indicators Using Ordination Techniques
    land Article Informed Geoheritage Conservation: Determinant Analysis Based on Bibliometric and Sustainability Indicators Using Ordination Techniques Boglárka Németh, Károly Németh * and Jon N. Procter School of Agriculture and Environment, Volcanic Risk Solutions, Turitea Campus, Massey University, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand; [email protected] (B.N.); [email protected] (J.N.P.) * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +64-27-479-1484 Abstract: Ordination methods are used in ecological multivariate statistics in order to reduce the number of dimensions and arrange individual variables along environmental variables. Geoheritage designation is a new challenge for conservation planning. Quantification of geoheritage to date is used explicitly for site selection, however, it also carries significant potential to be one of the indicators of sustainable development that is delivered through geosystem services. In order to achieve such a dominant position, geoheritage needs to be included in the business as usual model of conservation planning. Questions about the quantification process that have typically been addressed in geoheritage studies can be answered more directly by their relationships to world development indicators. We aim to relate the major informative geoheritage practices to underlying trends of successful geoheritage implementation through statistical analysis of countries with the highest trackable geoheritage interest. Correspondence analysis (CA) was used to obtain information on how certain indicators bundle together. Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) was used Citation: Németh, B.; Németh, K.; to detect sets of factors to determine positive geoheritage conservation outcomes. The analysis Procter, J.N. Informed Geoheritage Conservation: Determinant Analysis resulted in ordination diagrams that visualize correlations among determinant variables translated Based on Bibliometric and to links between socio-economic background and geoheritage conservation outcomes.
    [Show full text]
  • Sustainable Development
    Sustainable development ACRONYMS AREAS COUNTRIES MARINE TERMS DEFINITION Development that 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[1] KEY POINTS The term “sustainable development” dates to the 1987 Brundtland Commissions’ report “Our Common Future”. The concept was a key driver behind the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. New sustainable development goals will be developed and take effect as of 2015, as was decided during the Rio+20 summit (2012), held to review the progress of implementation of agreements taken during the first Rio Earth Summit (1992). Sustainable development is an overarching theme of the three Rio Conventions: The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Sustainable development has recently been identified as one of five key priorities by the United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in the UN Secretary-General’s five year action agenda. INTRODUCTION Sustainable development is a core concept within global environmental policy. It provides a mechanism through which society can interact with the environment while not risking damaging the resource for the future. FIRST UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE The history of sustainable development in the UN can be traced back to 1972 with the United Nations (UN) Conference on the Human Environment (CHE), the first UN conference to focus on environmental issues. At this conference the Stockholm Declaration and Principles were developed, which incorporate the idea of sustainable development although the phrase itself was not included 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Sustainability and Ecological Civilization in the Age Of
    sustainability Article Sustainability and Ecological Civilization in the Age of Anthropocene: An Epistemological Analysis of the Psychosocial and “Culturalist” Interpretations of Global Environmental Risks Jean-Yves Heurtebise 1,2 1 Department of French, FuJen Catholic University, Taipei 24205, Taiwan; [email protected] 2 Centre d’Etudes Français sur la Chine Contemporaine (The French Centre for Research on Contemporary China—CEFC), UMIFRE 18, MAEE-CNRS, Hong-Kong, China Received: 20 April 2017; Accepted: 26 June 2017; Published: 1 August 2017 Abstract: The aim of this article is to assess the validity of the culturalist explanation of unsustainability by critically examining the social–cultural interpretation of the risks on which it is epistemologically based. First, we will explore the different ways in which the notion of Anthropocene is changing our perception of risks. Second, we will analyze the limits of the social–cultural explanation of risks relative to the global (non-linear) interdependence between human activities and environmental processes that defines the Anthropocene. Third, we will introduce the Chinese concept of Ecological Civilization and analyze its cultural foundations and culturalist assumptions. Finally, we will develop the practical consequences of this critic of the social-cultural interpretation of risks and of culturalist explanations of unsustainability. Keywords: risks; Anthropocene; social construct; Planetary Risks; risk perception; environmental sociology; ecological civilization; Asian ethos; Culturalism 1. Introduction: Anthropocene, Planetary Risks and the Limits of Culturalist Interpretations Our current mode of production and consumption of goods, in addition to our exploitation of organic resources, all modeled with regard to human economic productivity and not to bio-capacity, is endangering man’s living environment, but all the while transforming human’s social institutions: “The science is clear that a significant part of recent global warming is driven by human activities.
    [Show full text]
  • Our Common Future, Chapter 2: Towards Sustainable Development ­ A/42/427 Annex, Chapter 2 ­ UN Documents: Gathering a Body of Global A…
    3/21/2017 Our Common Future, Chapter 2: Towards Sustainable Development ­ A/42/427 Annex, Chapter 2 ­ UN Documents: Gathering a body of global a… Our Common Future, Chapter 2: Towards Sustainable Development I. The Concept of Sustainable Development II. Equity and the Common Interest III. Strategic Imperatives 1. Reviving Growth 2. Changing the quality of Growth 3. Meeting Essential Human Needs 4. Ensuring a Sustainable Level of Population 5. Conserving and Enhancing the Resource Base 6. Reorienting Technology and Managing Risk 7. Merging Environment and Economics in Decision Making IV. Conclusion 1. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts: the concept of 'needs', in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs. 2. Thus the goals of economic and social development must be defined in terms of sustainability in all countries ­ developed or developing, market­oriented or centrally planned. Interpretations will vary, but must share certain general features and must flow from a consensus on the basic concept of sustainable development and on a broad strategic framework for achieving it. 3. Development involves a progressive transformation of economy and society. A development path that is sustainable in a physical sense could theoretically be pursued even in a rigid social and political setting. But physical sustainability cannot be secured unless development policies pay attention to such considerations as changes in access to resources and in the distribution of costs and benefits.
    [Show full text]
  • Sustainable Food System Assessment: Lessons from Global Practice
    1 1 Sustainable food system assessment Lessons from global practice Alison Blay- Palmer, Damien Conaré, Ken Meter, and Amanda Di Battista Introduction Sustainable Food System Assessment: Lessons from Global Practice has its roots in workshops with participants in the Food: Locally Embedded, Globally Engaged (FLEdGE) Partnership as part of the work by the Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (LCSFS). The first workshop took place in Toronto, Canada in June 2016 with a follow-up meeting in Waterloo in September 2017. The goal of the gatherings was to share lessons learned and develop collective insights for moving forward with the various projects and the expert participants exploring opportunities for comparative work. These meetings provided a rich starting point, given the broad inclusion of academics and practitioners working on assessment projects developed from the city region to the national scale in both the Global South and North. Central observations, considerations, and questions from these meetings can be grouped as: (1) conceptual consid- erations including sense- making, vision, and place; (2) operationalization of metrics specifically developing frameworks and representations, deter- mining degrees of complexity, the challenges of working within and across scales, and dealing with practical constraints such as data availability; and (3) outcomes and goals for assessment projects including policy generation, community inclusion and participation, building connections between initiatives, embedding change in communities, and knowledge dissemin- ation. Taken together, these three overlapping themes capture the process of developing sustainable food systems assessment (SFSA) approaches from vision and concept, through operationalization, to ending with outputs (and in some cases, impacts). As such, these themes provide the framework for our book.
    [Show full text]