Sustainability

Sustainability means that a process or state can be maintained at a certain level for as long as is wanted.

One common definition of sustainability was from the Brundtland Commission, led by the former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. The Commission defined sustainable development as development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." So sustainability seeks to consider the present with the future in mind.

Sustainability often relates to the connection between economic, social and environmental aspects of human society, as well as the non-human (e.g. animal or plant) environment. Some overarching principles of sustainability include minimalism, efficiency, resilience and self-sufficiency. Sustainability is key to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the SDGs.

Related pages

• Environmentalism
• Renewable energy
• Second law of thermodynamics
• Simple living
• Sustainable energy

Notes and references

Bibliography

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Other websites

• Sustainability | Definition of Sustainability at Dictionary.com
• Encyclopedia of Earth: Sustainability
• (ISC) The Institute for Sustainable Communication—Dedicated to raising awareness and capacity for the sustainable use of print and other communication media.
• Grant Thornton International Business Report Energy & Environment focus Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
• SustainLane US City Rankings^{[permanent dead link]} A flyover tour and comparative sustainability ranking of the 50 largest US cities.
• SustainLane Government^{[permanent dead link]} Urban sustainability "best practices" database (public) and peer network (private; government practitioners).
• Appropedia, an active wiki on sustainability, appropriate technology and international development.
• SustainUS The U.S. Youth Network for Sustainable Development
• Green Progress Archived 2007-05-02 at the Wayback Machine—Green building and sustainable development news.
• WWW—Virtual Library—sustainable development—links.
• iNSnet—Portal site for sustainable development.
• Sustainable Living Foundation
• Sustainability news coverage—from American Public Media.
• "The Next Green Revolution" (Wired Magazine)
• Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy—ejournal.nbii.org Archived 2008-05-14 at the Wayback Machine: a peer-reviewed, open access journal that provides a platform for the dissemination of new practices and for dialogue emerging out of the field of sustainability.