1. Sustainable Development and
the Public Sector
GPS 3004
Gregory Borne

2. 2 Part Lecture
1. Sustainable Development (this week)
2. Public Sector Organisations (next week)
We will take a journey from the international to
the local level

3. Part One: Today
Learning Outcomes
• You will:
• Understand the basics of Sustainable
Development
• Understand how the concept has evolved
during the past 30 years
• Appreciate it as a fundamentally contested
concept
• Begin to see how it is applicable to the public
sector

4. Outline
1. Background to SD
2. Political evolution and time line
3. Perspectives
4. A Systems approach
5. UK Context

5. 1. Background to SD

6. • Some Introductions

7. Sustainable development
• Development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs
(Brundtland 1987-Our Common Future )
• Development?
• Needs?
• Compromise?

8. Problems with Sustainable
Development
• Oxymoron- Contradiction in terms
• Fuzzy concept –means all things to all
people
No real world relevance, ineffective for policy
development
• Worse still - A means for continuing
legitimisation of global strategies of
development which will continue the
hegemony of the northern industrialised
countries

9. Advantages of Sustainable
Development
• Acceptance- of the unsustainable nature current
developmental pathways –creation of global risks such as
global warming
• Focal Point- A concept that disparate organisations and
institutions can come together around and try to look for
solutions
• Orchestration of the sciences – Promotes inter-disciplinarity
–New world views that reflect real world problems

10. Sustainable Development
• Not just an academic subject of study but:
– a paradigmatic shift in the way we look at the
world, nature and humankind;
– a change that requires rigorous thinking about the
interconnections and interdependencies between
the physical, the social and the intellectual worlds
We will return to perspective on sustainable
development later in the lecture

11. 2. Evolution

12. Time Line
1962
•Rachel Carson publishes "Silent Spring". Detrimental effects of pesticides on the
environment, particularly on birds. Carson accused the chemical industry of spreading
disinformation, and public officials of accepting industry claims uncritically.
1968 –
•Paul Ehrlich publishes book "Population Bomb"
“The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will
starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing
can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate”
• The Club of Rome. Its goal is to pursue a holistic understanding of and solutions to the 'world
problematique'.
•The UN General Assembly authorizes the Human Environment Conference to be held in
1972.

13. 1972 Pivotal Year
Picture of the Earth by the crew of
the Apollo 17
•United Nations Conference on
Human Environment held in
Stockholm
•United Nations Environment
Programme
•Club of Rome publishes "Limits to
Growth".
•OPEC oil crisis fuels limits to
growth debate? (what impact did
this have on public services
globally)

14. 1980-2012
1980 - Independent Commission on International Development publishes "North:South - A Programme
for Survival" (Brandt Report). It asks for a re-assessment of the notion of development and calls for a
new economic relationship between North and South.
1982 - The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is adopted. It establishes material rules concerning
environmental standards as well as enforcement provisions dealing with pollution of the marine
environment.
1983 - World Commission on Environment and Development forms. Chaired by Norwegian Prime
Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, the commission works for three years to weave together a report on
social, economic, cultural, and environmental issues.
1987 - "Our Common Future" Brundtland Report published. It ties problems together and, for the first
time, gives some direction for comprehensive global solutions. It also popularizes the term "sustainable
development".
1987 - Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is adopted
1988 - Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change established with three working groups to assess the
most up-to-date scientific, technical and socio-economic research in the field of climate change.
1992 - U.N. Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro. It results in
the publication of Agenda 21 the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Framework Convention on
Climate Change, the Rio Declaration, and a statement of non-binding Forest Principles.
2002- WSSD – World Summit on Sustainable Development
2012-Rio + 20 – Institutional change for sustainable development/ Green economy

15. Time Line
Sustainable Development Timeline

16. Most recent Rio + 20
Institutional Change
Greening the economy
Sustainable Development Goals

17. Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals
SDG differ in three main ways.
• First, MDGs centred around seven
social goals and just one
environmental goal. Long-term social
and economic improvement will need
closer attention to be paid to the
environment.
Sustainable
Development Goals • Second, whereas MDGs focused on
developing countries, SDGs need buy-
in from all nations.
• Third, MDGs were hastily assembled
without thorough analysis.

18. Sustainable Development Goals
Still being decided but Jeffrey Sacks believes the goals should cover the following
• SDG 1 - By 2030 all the worlds people will have access to safe water, sanitation, nutrition, primary health
services. Basic infrastructure including , electricity, roads, and connectivity to the global information
network
• SDG 2- All nations adopt economic strategies that increasingly build on sustainable best practice
technologies, market incentives and individual responsibility. Low carbon energy systems, sustainable
urban areas and stabalisation of the worlds population through voluntary fertility choices
• SDG 3- Social inclusion - Every country will promote the well being and capabilities of all their citizens,
enabling all citizens to reach their potential. There is discussion here of improved measurement and base
lining as well a reporting on life satisfaction. Special attention is given to youth and the elderly. Sachs talks
about the inadequacy of traditional measures of economic prosperity such as Gross Domestic Product.
Bhutan is used as an example where it has introduced 'Gross National Happiness'.
• SDG 4 - Governance - here Sachs talks about the role of good governance from the global to the local level,
and inclusive and democratic system that empowers and avoids marginalization.

19. 3. Perspectives

20. Three pillars
Three Pillars approach
Emphasizes the integration between
economy, environment and society
A good starting point for
understanding SD but a more
complex perspective is needed

21. • STRONG Vs WEAK SD

22. Strong Sustainable Development
• A radical reordering of economic, social and
environmental relationships
• Changing the existing developmental processes
significantly
• Alter processes of consumption and Production
• Alterations to the capitalist ethos and what this
means –Capitalism doesn’t work
• Eco-Centric

23. Weak Sustainable Development
• Operating inside the existing system but
greening capatalism.
• Technological fixes – Green technology
(Ecological Modernisation)
• Behavioural change – Incentives, taxation
• Anthropocentric

24. • Why are perspectives on sustainable
development important when looking at
public sector organisations?

25. • How a problem is perceived will effect the
solution
• Politics and policy is about negotiating
competing view of the world
• If you view a whole system you will see that
there is uncertainty and unintended
consequences

26. 4. A Systems Approach

27. Complex Interactive System
Sir John Kay
Kay argues:
 “The most complex systems come into being, and function, without anyone having
knowledge of the whole” and “While it seems to make sense to plan everything before
you start, mostly, you can’t: objectives are not clearly enough defined, the nature of
the problem keeps shifting, it is too complex, and you lack sufficient information. The
direct approach is simply impossible.”
(J Kay, ‘Obliquity: why our goals are best achieved indirectly’, Profile, 2010)
 Mervin King director Governor of the bank of England says this approach will ‘provide
valuable insights into hoe successful decisions are made
Have a look at the TED talk at the following link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BoAtYL3OWU

28. Introduction to Systems Thinking
• Systems Thinking

29. Wicked Problems
• Why are today's problems different from previous
centuries or even decades?
Climate Change –How do public organizations
respond to this risk?
• Complex
• Uncertain
• Ambiguous
• Non –linear

30. Public Policy is Interdisciplinary
• The very nature of these problems causes
challenges traditional disciplines
• As Jeffrey Sachs recognises
• ‘The problems just refuse to arrive in the neat
categories of academic departments’
• Sachs, J. (2008) Common Wealth, Economics for a
Crowded Planet

31. A Systems Approach
• A system is a perceived as a whole whose elements are
interconnected
• Systems thinking has developed a substantial body of
knowledge drawn from a number of areas of study including:
• Cybernetics, ecology and complexity theory
• Emphasises the positive and the negative interactions within
a system.

32. Schools Fire service
Hospitals
Inland Revenue
Prisons
Local Councils Health Centres
Universities
Social Security
Public Parks
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
& SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:
Understanding the links for a better world

33. 5. UK Context

34. Why 2012-2015
Factors Impacting Public Sector Organisations
Financial Bottom Line
– Government spending round – budget deficit of 11% = cuts of 81 billion pounds by 2014
– Uncertainty over the depth and extent of the global recessions (triple dip)
Political Imperative
Lead up to the general election May 7 2015
Legislative Transition
– Consequences of Localism Act
– Changes in Planning regulations and the presumption towards sustainable development (Boles
Bungs)
Ideological Shift
– Big Society - A full system shift
– Increasing importance of sustainability and the sustainable development agenda
Delivery Mechanisms
– Public/ Private cooperation

35. Features of the Four
Main Types of Public
Body
1. Central Government
2. Local Authorities
3. National Health
Service
4. Public Corporations

36. Sustainable Development and
Principle Public Bodies
1. Central Government
Department for Food Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) - Securing the future –
Delivering the UK Sustainable Development Strategy
2. Local Authorities
Localism Act/ Sustainable Communities Act/Indicators and targets –Local Area
Agreements
3. National Health Service
NHS sustainable Development Unit (http://www.sdu.nhs.uk/)
4.Public Corporations
Royal Mail –Sustainable Development Charter (PAS 2020)
BBC – Sustainable Procurement Strategy
Environment Agency – Central role is to promote sustainable Development

37. Devolution
• Public Management in the UK is not a single
System
• Privatisation and Marketization
• Local decision Making
• Changes in the planning system
The presumption in favour of Sustainable
Development
Boles Bungs

38. BOLES BUNGS
Presumption in Favour of
Sustainable Development
Conflict of Perceptions !!!!
Source: The Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/blighty/2013/01/housing

39. Conclusion
Main Points
Sustainable Development perspectives
Connections between the global and the local
Sustainable Development is both top down and bottom up
How sustainable development relates to the public sector
Tradition way of viewing the world to a systems approach
NEXT WEEK
Organisations –traditional theories and sustainable transitions

40. Next week
Organisations in the Big Society
The localism Agenda
Local Government
Research Orientated approach
Town and Parish councils