Defining Sustainability & Planning's Role
August 17, 2013 at 01:30PM A Formative Moment
Society finds itself in the midst of a formative step in forging approaches to sustainability. Many approaches have been tried, from those of the first-generation environmental movement of the 1960s to those of the post-1992 Rio period. They continue to be developed for businesses, organizations, municipalities, and communities. As a result, an ever-expanding set of bewidering options confronts anyone seeking to begin or enhance their sustainability initiative. This creates the challenge of choosing the "right" approach. On which basis is one to choose? These approaches differ in many respects, but one useful way of evaluating their efficacy is according to the definition of sustainability used and the role that the resulting understanding plays in success. This post explores the role that the definition of sustainability plays in an approach and then develops the implications for urban sustainability planning practice.
