What is sustainability: concepts, definitions and examples

Understand more about the "path" to creating the concept of sustainability

Sustainability

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The word sustainability comes from the Latin sustain, which means sustaining, defending, favoring, supporting, preserving and/or caring. The current concept of sustainability originated in Stockholm, Sweden, at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Unche), which took place between June 5 and 16, 1972.

The Stockholm Conference, the first conference on the environment held by the UN (United Nations), drew international attention mainly to issues related to environmental degradation and pollution.

Later, in 1992, at the Conference on Environment and Development (Eco-92 or Rio-92), which took place in Rio de Janeiro, the concept of sustainable development was consolidated; which came to be understood as long-term development, so that the natural resources used by humanity are not exhausted.

Eco-92 also gave rise to Agenda 21, a document that established the importance of the commitment of all countries to solutions to socio-environmental problems. Agenda 21 brought reflections on participatory planning at the global, national and local levels; and its aim was to encourage the creation of a new economic and civilizing organization.

Agenda 21, specifically for Brazil, has as priority actions the social inclusion programs (including income distribution, access to health and education) and sustainable development (including urban and rural sustainability; preservation of natural and mineral resources, ethics and policy for the planning).

These priority actions were reinforced in 2002 at the Earth Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, which suggested greater integration between the social, economic and environmental dimensions through programs and policies focused on social issues and, in particular, on protection systems. Social.

Since then, the term "sustainability" has been incorporated into the political, business and mass media of civil society organizations.

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However, those who use the term "sustainability" do not seem to understand the causes of unsustainability. This is because the development of countries continues to be measured through the perpetual growth of production, which takes place through the exploitation of natural resources. In contrast to this paradigm, the proposal of economic degrowth emerged. Alongside this debate, other views compete to position themselves according to sustainability. As an example of this, we have solidarity, circular, creative and regenerative economies.

Why sustainability?

The concern with sustainability, or better said, the conscious use of natural resources, new alternatives and actions in relation to the planet and the implications for collective well-being are in evidence as never before. The distant time, when we would suffer the disadvantages of the irrational use of natural resources, is already something concrete and no longer a plot of science fiction books. Now, the issue is present in our daily lives, in schools, organizations, companies and on the streets of our cities.

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The imbalance caused by an environmental unconsciousness is a problem of the present, but its origin dates back to the Ancient Age. The alleged superiority of our species and a misinterpretation of culture as something superior to nature is one of the bases of our civilization and should be discussed so that we can think of new paths for our economy, society and culture, in order to ensure the continuity of existence of our species on planet Earth.

origins of the problem

Accounts of "humanity's battle against nature" have been present since the earliest civilizations. Let's look at the example of the great epic of Gilgamesh, a text from ancient Mesopotamia, dated approximately 4700 BC In her study, Estela Ferreira shows us how this narrative is an indication of the emergence of the antagonism of the split between civilization and nature, in the midst of the emergence of Western thought . Gilgamesh's fight against Humbaba, the guardian of the forest, symbolizes humanity's supposed "victory" against the natural world, which has permeated our entire history and is still present in the architecture of our cities, in our nutrition patterns and in our daily activities .

At the beginning of the Contemporary Age, the Industrial Revolution and technological advances provided for the exploitation of natural resources on a scale never seen before. All the innovation that took place during this period generated the need to extract resources such as oil and copper systematically and in large quantities. This technological shift was responsible for improvements and economic growth, but also major problems arose from the lack of awareness of responsibility regarding the need for ecologically viable and socially equitable growth.

Immersed in the mentality of the time, the British saw factory pollution as characteristic of a victorious and prosperous civilization, and as they said at the time of the Second Industrial Revolution, "where there is pollution, there is progress" - without realizing the possible side effects of the industrial model , marked by social inequality and the poor living conditions of workers, which makes the issue more complex.

The progress of the debate

In the 1960s and 1970s, great reflections on the damage caused to the environment began, generating the first efforts towards an ecological awareness. Gradually, the theme stops being an oddity of specific groups and becomes a global challenge. The release of Rachel Carson's book "The Silent Spring" (1962) becomes one of the first best sellers on the environmental issue and marks the innovation of the alert on the indiscriminate use of pesticides.

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At the same time, there was the first appearance of the concept of sustainable development, followed by ECO 92 and its 21 proposals. These events provided an advance in the discussion on the environmental issue in different spheres of society.

Sustainability and our attitudes

The problems to be tackled are as much in business and governmental attitudes as in our daily choices. Sustainability is a concept related to life in several areas, that is, it is something systemic. The continuity of human society, its economic activities, its cultural and social aspects and, of course, environmental aspects are at stake.

In this sense, the concept of sustainable development proposes a new way of life. It is a new way of configuring human life, seeking that societies can satisfy needs and express their potential. As the thinker Henrique Rattner shows, the concept of sustainability "is not just about explaining reality, it requires the test of logical coherence in practical applications, where discourse is transformed into objective reality".

Certainly the transition to this new sustainable model will not happen abruptly. As we have already seen, it took years of history until the formation of the current system, which generated ingrained bad habits in our society. But there is no need for pessimism: some say that gradual adaptation is already underway. The functioning of the consumer society can stop being predatory and inconsequential to invest in solutions based on innovation, such as the tendency to use the ecodesign, for example. However, it is noteworthy that changing behavior is the main way to contribute to sustainability.

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