Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Unit 6: Economic development and its environmental risk - Sustainable development

Sustainable development

Three pillars of sustainability
Source: http://www.thwink.org/sustain/glossary/ThreePillarsOfSustainability.htm

Defining sustainable development

Meeting the needs of today's population without compromising the needs of future generations. Today sustainable development is usually considered to include environmental, social and economic sustainability (see definitions below). If development includes social, economic and environmental aspects then it is considered to be sustainable development. 
Source: http://greenfieldgeography.wikispaces.com/Sustainability+and+the+environment

Sustainability can be met in three ways: (Twink.org)

  • Environmentally Environmental sustainability icon
  • Economically Economic sustainability icon
  • Socially Environmental sustainability icon
Three pillars of sustainability

Environmental Sustainability
Environmental sustainability is the ability of the environment to support a defined level of environmental quality and natural resource extraction rates indefinitely. This is the world's biggest actual problem, though since the consequences of not solving the problem now are delayed, the problem receives too low a priority to solve.
Economic Sustainability
Economic sustainability is the ability of an economy to support a defined level of economic production indefinitely. Since the Great Recession of 2008 this is the world's biggest apparent problem, which endangers progress on the environmental sustainability problem.
Social Sustainability
Social sustainability is the ability of a social system, such as a country, family, or organization, to function at a defined level of social well being and harmony indefinitely. Problems like war, endemic poverty, widespread injustice, and low education rates are symptoms a system is socially unsustainable.
Source: http://www.thwink.org/sustain/glossary/ThreePillarsOfSustainability.htm

Follow the link bellow for more input on the need for sustainable development:


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