The document discusses the concept of sustainable development, tracing its evolution from environmentalism in the late 1960s through various wake-up calls about environmental crises. It highlights key moments such as the Brundtland Commission’s definition of sustainable development and significant international conferences that shaped global policies. Additionally, it contrasts strong and weak sustainability and outlines the challenges and dimensions of sustainable development from economic, social, and environmental perspectives.

1. BIO-5006 Sustainable
Development
20.3.2013 Concept and meanings of
sustainable development
annina.takala@tut.fi

2. 2
Source: http://xkcd.com/1007/

3. SUSTAINABLE
3
DEVELOPMENT

4. Sustainable, sustainability…
• Sustainable, sustainability,
sustained…
• In 18th and 19th century
forestry and fishery
 sustainable yield
 learning to live off the
interest of the available
natural capital, not of the
capital itself
resource is not exhausted
and its use can continue (can
be sustained) indefinitely
4

5. Sustainable, sustainability
Physical sustainability  Durable
Operational sustainability  Reliable, efficient,
acceptable
Overall sustainability  Rational, preferable
(source: S. Isoaho)
5

6. Historical background
• In the end of 1960s birth of environmentalism
• Not a totally new phenomenon
– local environmental problems, e.g. water pollution
– conservation of nature, wilderness (national parks and
conservation areas have been set up all over the world
since the beginning of 19th century)
• Environmentalism was a more holistic approach
– environmental problems were no longer perceived as
separate controllable/manageable issues
– it was seen that there was a total crisis between society
and environment
– fears that the conditions for human existence were being
jeopardised
6

7. Wake-up calls
• Rachel Carson (1962): Silent Spring
 chemicalization of environment, particularly
use of pesticides in agriculture
 humans are part of the food chain
 also exposed to pesticides and other
chemicals in environment
• The Club of Rome (1972): The Limits to
Growth
 population growth, exploitation of natural
resources
 warning of reaching limits  collapse of
society
• Nuclear weapons
 fear of radioactive pollution
7

8. Wake-up call: Torrey Canyon
1967
Source: http://toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/Torrey+Canyon
Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/18/n
ewsid_4242000/4242709.stm
8

9. Wake-up call: Limits
Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/forty-years-since-the-first-
picture-of-earth-from-space-1297569.html
9

10. GAIA-hypothesis
• Formulated by James Lovelock in the 1960s
• all organisms and their inorganic surroundings on Earth are
closely integrated to form a single and self-regulating
complex system, maintaining the conditions for life on the
planet
– temperature
– chemical composition
• “Living earth”
10

11. Global environmental
problems
• In the 1980s global environmental problems
• Ozone depletion (hole)
– first research results presented in the 1970s (Sherwood
Roland and Mario Molina)
– in 1985 the ozone hole above Antarctica was discovered
 issue taken seriously
– 1987 Montreal Protocol to limit the use of CFCs
• Climate change
– long periods of warm weather and drought
11

12. SUSTAINABLE
12
DEVELOPMENT

13. Development
• Development = growth, progress, modernisation,
industrialisation?
• Qualitative or quantitative change, that can be negative,
neutral or positive (S. Isoaho)
• Development as a concept and discourse after WWII
– However, the ideas of development have been discussed
already a lot earlier (P. Valtonen)
» good life (e.g. Aristotle, Konfuce, Rousseau, Kant)
» democracy (e.g. Montesquieu, Tocqueville)
» liberalism (e.g. J.S. Mill, A. Smith, D. Ricardo)
» socialism (e.g. Saint-Simon, Marx)
» positivism and the concept of progress (e.g. A.
Comte)
» evolutionism (e.g. L. Morgan)
» early 20th century welfare-state (Hobhouse, Keynes)
13

14. …development
developed?
development
14

15. Industrial society
• Industrial society as Future (1800-1920)
– promises, expectations, fears
• Industrial society as Wealth (1920-1975)
– unquestionable belief for everlasting growth
– subordination of nature and the resources was legitimated
by industrialization as the right course of the history
– industrial society became as a standard of social and
national development
Based on Teemu Ahola’s presentation on the course Technological Development
and Society (TUT)
15

16. Questioning development
• In the 1960s and 1970s
development discourse was
questioned
– environmental problems
– problems in developing countries:
poverty, famine, wars
• 1973 oil crisis  everlasting
growth not possible?
• Industrial society as Crisis 1975-
16

17. SUSTAINABLE + DEVELOPMENT
17

18. History of “sustainable
development”
• Assembly of the World Council of
Churches (1975) sustainable development
 three dimensions: cultural, social and
environmental economics
• The International Union for Conservation
of Nature (IUCN), World Wildlife Fund
(WWF) and United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) 1980: World
Conservation Strategy – Living Resource
Conservation for Sustainable Development
18

19. The World Commission on
Environment and Development
• In 1983 the General Assembly of the
United Nations set the World
Commission on Environment and
Development (“ the Brundtland
Commission”)
• to create a global agenda for change
• to propose long-term environmental
strategies for achieving sustainable
development by the year 2000 and
beyond
• Led by Gro Harlem Brundtland
19
Source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi
kipedia/commons/e/ef/Gro_H
arlem_Brundtland_2009.jpg

20. Our Common Future
• Report of the Commission Our Common Future was
published in 1987
• Combined environment and development
• “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.”
20

21. Milestones of international
politics on sustainable
development
• The UN Conference on Environment and Development
(Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro, 1992
– based on Our Common Future
– the idea of sustainable development was acknowledged on a
high political level for the first time
– Rio declaration and Agenda 21
• The World Summit on Sustainable Development,
Johannesburg 2002
– Rio + 10  follow-up on Agenda 21
– Declaration and Plan of implementation
– emphasis on the three dimensions of sustainable development
21

22. United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development 2012,
Rio de Janeiro
• Rio + 20
• 20.–22.6.2012
• Main themes:
– green economy in the context
of sustainable development
and poverty eradication
– the institutional framework
for sustainable development
• End result: New declaration
(The Future We Want), but
no binding agreements or
commitments
http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/
22
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18560734

23. Different perspectives
on sustainable
development
23

24. The traditional
representation?
24
.
Econo
mic
Environ
mental
Environment Economy
Society
Sustainable
development

25. Environment
Society
Economy
Another representation…
Juurola &
Karppinen
2003; Sterling
2001
25

26. Finnish interpretation of the
three dimensions
(www.environment.fi/sustainabledevelopment)
• Ecological sustainability
– functioning ecosystems and biodiversity form the basis of
human well-being in the long-run
– carrying capacity
– cautionary principle
• Social and cultural sustainability
– guaranteeing prerequisites of well-being also for future
generations
– challenges: population growth, poverty, food security, health
care, inequality, lack of education…
• Economic sustainability
– balanced growth not based on debt or depletion of resources
26

27. Strong vs. weak
sustainability
• Strong sustainability: emphasis on environment and
social justice. Utilisation of natural resources is
necessary but economic growth should not be of intrinsic
value
• Weak sustainability: Nature is seen merely as a
“resource base” for human beings. Markets are seen to
guide development in best possible (most sustainable)
way.
• Compare Econcentrism (biocentrism) vs.
anthropocentrism
27

28. Sustainable development from
the point of view of capital
• Human capital (e.g. competencies, science, research…)
• Physical capital (e.g. machinery, infrastructure,
buildings…)
• Social capital (e.g. institutions, legislation, governance,
social networks, trust…)
• Natural capital (e.g. ecosystem services, renewable and
non-renewable natural resources, biodiversity…)
• Are different forms of capital interchangeable? Weak vs.
Strong interpretation?
28

29. SUSTAINABLE + DEVELOPMENT
= IMPOSSIBLE? OXYMORON?
29

30. Criticism
• Vagueness of the concept, no consensus on what it
means in practice
• Can mean pretty much anything nowadays 
“greenwash”
30

31. Is this a totally useless
concept?
31

32. Potential in sustainable
development
• It has enabled first global discourse on
environmental issues, sharing at least some goals
(Hajer 1995; Macnaghten & Urry 1998; Wals &
Jickling 2002)
• Can act as a catalyst for societal discussion and
change
• Many important societal ideals (e.g. sustainable
development, equality, justice) cannot be defined
exactly  does this make them useless?
32

33. Concluding remarks on
sustainable development
• Sustainable development is a (social learning) process, not
a goal
• It is complex and dynamic in nature
– socio-economic and natural systems
– meanings change as the world changes, as our skills,
knowledge and capabilities change
• Sustainable development both requires a dialogue and is a
dialogue of values
– what we value, what we consider important and good
• We should use best available knowledge and
understanding, but be ready to change our ideas and
practices in the light of new knowledge
33

34. Sustainable development and sustainability may
productively function as a heuristic, in other words a
learning process by which people are enabled to
find things out for themselves and to fully appreciate
the contested nature of knowledge, the environment
and sustainability.
Blewitt 2008
34

35. New ways of thinking
needed?
(Noorgaard 1994, 62)
• Atomism
• Mechanism
• universalism
• Objectivism
• Monism
• Holism
• Systems
• Contextualism
• Subjectivism
• Pluralism
35

36. Challenges and
dynamics of sustainable
development
36

37. Demographic changes
• population growth
• ageing
http://www.kansanuutiset.fi/uutiset/ulkomaat/1971471/k
ehitysapu-vahenee-%E2%80%93vaestonkasvu-kiihtyy
http://yle.fi/uutiset/kotimaa/2010/04/vanhusten_kotihoit
o_takkuilee_1610627.html
37

38. Globalisation
• mobility
• interdependence
38
http://www.seppo.net/cartoons/displayimage.php?album=25&pid=630

39. Climate change and energy
production
• global energy security
• fossil fuels
• no holistic view
http://www.seppo.net/piirrokset/displayimage.php?album=27&pos=12
39

40. Unsustainable use of natural
resources
• depletion of
biodiversity
• energy
production
• waste
• equity
http://postconflict.unep.ch/sudanreport/sudan_website/index_photos
_2.php?key=waste%20management
40

41. Depletion of social capital
• inequality
• poverty
• social exclusion
41

42. Economics
• economic systems
• business models
http://www.porssisaatio.fi/artikkelit/menovinkki-porssi-
kouluttaa-sijoittajia
42

43. The biggest challenge?
• seeing the bigger picture
43

44. The Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs)
• Internationally agreed concrete goals to lead to
sustainable development…
• Agreed upon in the year 2000 at the UN’s Millennium
Summit in New York
• Goals are to be reached by 2015
• http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
44

45. MDG1. ERADICATE EXTREME
POVERTY & HUNGER
• Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the
proportion of people whose income
is less than $1 a day
• Achieve full and productive
employment and decent work for all,
including women and young people
• Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the
proportion of people who suffer from
hunger
45

46. MDG2. ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL
PRIMARY EDUCATION
• Ensure that, by 2015,
children everywhere,
boys and girls alike, will
be able to complete a full
course of primary
schooling
46

47. MDG3. PROMOTE GENDER
EQUALITY AND EMPOWER
WOMEN
• Eliminate gender disparity
in primary and secondary
education, preferably by
2005, and in all levels of
education no later than
2015
47

48. MDG4. REDUCE CHILD
MORTALITY
• Reduce by two
thirds, between
1990 and 2015,
the under-five
mortality rate
48

49. MDG5. IMPROVE MATERNAL
HEALTH
• Reduce by three
quarters the
maternal mortality
ratio
• Achieve universal
access to
reproductive health
49

50. MDG6. COMBAT HIV/AIDS,
MALARIA AND OTHER
DISEASES
• Have halted by 2015 and
begun to reverse the spread
of HIV/AIDS
• Achieve, by 2010, universal
access to treatment for
HIV/AIDS for all those who
need it
• Have halted by 2015 and
begun to reverse the
incidence of malaria and
other major diseases
50

51. MDG7. ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY
• Integrate the principles of sustainable
development into country policies and
programmes and reverse the loss of
environmental resources
• Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a
significant reduction in the rate of loss
• Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population
without sustainable access to safe drinking water
and basic sanitation
• By 2020, to have achieved a significant
improvement in the lives of at least 100 million
slum dwellers
51

52. MDG8. DEVELOP A GLOBAL
PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT
• Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable,
non-discriminatory trading and financial system
• Address the special needs of least developed
countries
• Address the special needs of landlocked
developing countries and small island developing
States
• Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of
developing countries
• In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies,
provide access to affordable essential drugs in
developing countries
• In cooperation with the private sector, make
available benefits of new technologies,
especially information and communications
52

53. Materials
• Blewitt, J. 2008. Understanding Sustainable Development. Earthscan,
London. (Ebrary)
• Gough, S. 2002. Right answers to wrong problems? Towards a theory of
change for environmental learning. The Trumpeter 18 (1), ss. 1–15.
• Juurola, M. & Karppinen, H. 2003. Sosiaalinen kestävyys ja metsien
käyttö. Metsätieteen aikakauskirja 2/2003, pp. 129–142.
• Norgaard, R.B. 1994. Development Betrayed. The end of progress and
a coevolutionary revisioning of the future. Routledge, London.
• Scott, W. 2002. Sustainability and learning: what role for the curriculum?
http://www.bath.ac.uk/cree/resources/scott.pdf
• Sterling, S. 2001.Sustainable education. Re-visioning learning and
change. Schumacher Briefings.
• The World Commission on Environment and Development. 1987. Our
Common Future. http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm
53

54. …and still some more
• Daly, H. 1996. Beyond the Growth, The Economics of Sustainable
Economics, Beacon Press, Boston.
• Hajer, M.A. 1995. The Politics of Environmental Discourse. Ecological
Modernization and the Policy Process. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
• Lomborg, B. 2001. The Skeptical Environmentalist. Cambridge University
Press.
• Macnaghten, P. & Urry, J. 1998. Contested Natures. Sage Publications,
London.
• Wals, A.E.J & Jickling, B. 2002. “Sustainability” in higher education: from
doublethink and newspeak to critical thinking and meaningful learning.
Higher Education Policy 15, ss. 121–131.
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