What is sustainable development in the modern world

Best of all, the concept of sustainable development illustrates jammed Indian proverb: "We have not inherited the earth from our fathers. We have borrowed it from our children." First and foremost, it means living within your means. Consumption of natural, social and economic resources shall occur at such speed and in such volumes that it does not impact on the welfare of future generations and their ability to live and thrive on our planet.

Sustainable development (sustainable development, i.e. development which itself provides) is based on three pillars: ecology, economy and social sphere. More precisely, it appears where these concepts converge.

The economic component comes from the theory of maximum flow of comprehensive income. There is total capital, which is important to preserve and increase. Economic "kit" implies the optimal spending of scarce resources and the use of clean technologies.

The social component is aimed at the preservation and maximization of the socio-cultural capital in all its diversity, to reduce the number of conflicts, the development of ethical relations between people and the equitable distribution of benefits. From an environmental point of view, it is important to preserve and maintain ecosystems. A healthy ecosystem is able to recover and adapt to changing environmental conditions. However, natural resource degradation, environmental pollution, loss of biodiversity, irreversibly destroy them. Such influence should be avoided.

Following the global concept of sustainable development the concept of sustainable urban development. Also, this principle is actively implemented by companies around the world.

Next — great excerpt from a great article "What is sustainable development", by A. Ermakov and D. S. Ermakov, journal "Chemistry and life" №11, 2012. It is easy and tasteful describes the main points of view and approaches to the problem.

People neustoichivye exactly is sustainable development? What has led to our social and technological progress and what will he in the future?

Will look for a start, what are the characteristics of the instability of human development on our planet. The world develops economically, people get richer opportunities for learning, creative self. It would seem, what could be bad? But at the same time there are also negative trends: increasing division between rich and poor, depleting non-renewable natural resources that causes conflict, poorer flora and fauna.

The problem of instability appeared far not yesterday. There is reason to believe that approximately 12 thousand years ago, in the late Pleistocene, hunter-gatherer tribes have seriously depleted the natural stocks. As a result, disappeared from the Earth many species of animals, including representatives of the so-called megafauna — mastodons, giant sloths, mammoths, woolly rhinos and other large mammals, which served as a source of meat for our ancestors.

Over the ensuing millennia, humans have destroyed the environment even more, especially after the invention of the plow and plowing the land. Destroyed forests, soils exposed to erosion. During the Roman Empire there was a mass deforestation to build powerful Mediterranean fleet, huge plots of land went under the plow and grazing.

In modern times occurred demystification of nature — it became perceived as a mechanistic aggregate of inanimate objects, but the person ceased to be a part of it. That person is fundamentally different from all other objects of nature, wrote, for example, Rene Descartes in his philosophical writings. Such rationalistic reductionism has also led to mechanistic understanding of the human body and denial of illness as a "punishment of the Lord." The works of Adam Smith marked the beginning of the understanding of Economics as an independent sphere of activity, and the development of economic production in the XVIII–XIX centuries led to the satisfaction of the material needs of a considerable number of people. The world's population has grown rapidly from 760 million in 1750 to 1 billion in 1800-M.

However, during this progress the nature had to pay a hefty price. Natural landscapes were destroyed, and the pollution by industrial waste has grown rapidly. Ultimately, such rapid economic development and can strike at the people themselves.

A vivid example of the consequences of human greed — the so-called enclosure in England of the XV–XIX centuries, the time of formation and active development of the manufacturing industry. In England learned to make cloth from sheep's wool of very good quality, it was in great demand. Cloth needed more. Sheep were hard to breed, needed a new pasture. Landowners began to drive the peasants off the land that they cultivated. "On sheep, such manual and unpretentious in food. They become so greedy and wild that they devour the people themselves..." — wrote the preeminent English philosopher Thomas more in 1516. Fencing has led to a severe humanitarian catastrophe, and caused several uprisings.

Industrial economic development was so rapid that in Europe there have been several revolutions. In the 1930-ies Great depression happened in the United States, and the crisis of capitalism clearly showed that there is a relationship between economic, social and environmental problems. Massive soil erosion and dust storms turned into beggars and homeless thousands of farmers in the United States, and the closure of factories and plants thrown into the streets of crowds of hungry workers.

In the twentieth century, increased energy consumption, increased the number of power plants, including those using nuclear energy. The Chernobyl accident in 1986 led to serious environmental pollution, but also caused a wave of democratic environmental movement in the USSR. Another problem of modernity — cars, which are becoming more and contributing to global warming and environmental pollution. Now, in the twenty-first century, we joined with a huge number of problems and in a very unstable situation.

The history of the ideas of sustainable razvijenom would think that mankind has worried about this now. The ideas of sustainable development long story. In the seventeenth century the English philosopher John Evelyn (1620-1706) in "Silva, or a Discourse on forest trees" pointed to the fact that forests in England will disappear and you need to restore them. His German contemporary Hans Carl von Karlovice (1645-1714), which is sometimes called the founding father of forestry, developed this idea in his work "Silvicultura Oeconomica" and convincingly showed the need for "sustainable" type of forest management: people should not cut more wood than grows.

Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) has estimated that food production has not kept pace with population growth and that, if the population will increase at the same rate, there will come a time when it will begin mass hunger. Jeremiah (Jeremy) Bentham (1748-1832) was more optimistic, he believed that technological progress and a more effective device of bureaucracy will solve this problem.

Edwin Chadwick (1800-1890) suggested to combat the spread of diseases to create a structure for disposal of garbage and sewage, to wash the streets. His ideas influenced the development of urban infrastructure.

In the late nineteenth century, there the science of thermodynamics, it becomes obvious that to expend the energy necessary economically. At the same time, Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) creates and develops the science of ecology, proving that everything in this world is interconnected and human activity could adversely affect nature, and then ricocheted to hit us. A huge contribution to the understanding of the deep interconnection of all life and geochemical processes has made our compatriot V. I. Vernadsky (1863-1945), who developed the doctrine about the biosphere — Earth, populated by living organisms under their influence and filled with their waste products.

In the first half of the twentieth century Pinchot Gifford (1865-1946) and Oldo Leopold (1887-1948) showed that natural systems have a certain performance and this should be considered when developing natural resources, for example, in forestry.

A radical change in the attitude to the problem of resource constraints in the public consciousness occurred in 1972 when the club of Rome was presented the report "Limits to growth" (Dennis meadows et). Analysis of the results of computer simulation showed exactly what I wrote thinkers of previous centuries: we cannot indefinitely expand physically, it's also unwise expending resources and giving waste like we did before. The model used five parameters, each of which influenced the other — world population, industrialization, food production, natural resources and environmental pollution.

In 1992 at the UN Conference in Rio de Janeiro, representatives from 179 countries recognized that the modern world is in an unstable state that the situation of poverty, hunger, ignorance and destruction of ecological systems is only getting worse and this will affect the conditions of our existence. All these problems recognize the basic document adopted at the conference "the Agenda for XXI century". At the international level, it was recognized that humanity is faced with the necessity of the transition from unsustainable development to sustainable.

"Agenda" calls upon humanity to reflect on how we live in harmony with the surrounding world, so that people were healthy, well fed, could develop creatively. These goals should not contradict the preservation of the environment, of biodiversity. Everyone can contribute non — governmental organizations, local authorities, workers and trade unions, women, children and youth.

The Western model of development and its criticati worldview held by most people in developed countries, you can call the consumer (Western) model. At the same time for the role models come from the developed capitalist countries, primarily the United States and Western Europe. The criterion of progress is considered to be economic development, and the development of society is understood as taking new economic and technological heights, and the main measure of achievement — the level of consumption (gross domestic product per capita). The Western man is born and lives in order to consume.

The model of Western European countries and especially the United States in this type of ideology is positioned as a model of public-economic model. The main development challenge for developing countries is seen as the reproduction of elements of the device and achieving the economic level of developed countries, and then all the problems will solve themselves. In the basis of the success of the West lies, in particular, and the exploitation of the resources of the rest of the world. But is it right?

Apparently, wrong. First, progress is understood in a very primitive way, as man's dominion over nature. For their own benefit, people are destroying forests to make room for fields, "eat" coal, oil and gas and consider it progress. At nature watch just like a tool, but it's worth!

Secondly, important in the Western model of economic growth, it is a sign of proper development. This approach has been productive when capitalism was much spread. The history of the development of capitalism (last few centuries) is the story of the annexation of new territories and people to the growing system. After the fall of the USSR large territories not included in the world capitalist economy, there is not.

Third, this model assumes that private consumption — the main thing in life. But it is important not that how much one consumes, but also how he lives, what is in contrast to the level — the quality of his life.

Fourth, we must not forget that at the core of the success of the West is the exploitation of resources around the world, especially developing countries, which is why the poor and dependent. With this ideological approach, poverty is understood as the result of a lack of involvement in third world countries to the West, and in fact — just the opposite.

Fifthly, the Western model does not take into account that if everyone will try to copy the West, the resources of the planet may not be enough. Imagine a fantastic situation: to ensure the needs of every Chinese spent as much oil as an American. The quantity of oil you need, will exceed world extraction.

The concepts of sustainable respitatory sustainable development and a lot and a little, and maybe not. Today the concept of sustainable development is a conglomeration of philosophical, ecological, socio-political, economic, technical and other ideas that do not differ by unity. According to foreign studies, the concept of "sustainable development" brings together 57 definitions, 19 principles, 12 criteria, 4 concepts, 9 strategies, 28 lists of indicators. Domestic science brings here ideas of Russian cosmism, the hypothesis of the noosphere, co-evolution of society and nature and universal evolutionism, the theory of biotic regulation. While a number of scholars criticize the very formulation of the question of the sustainability of development development implies change, and the stability the stability. Others have questioned the adequacy of the translation of sustainable development (more precisely would be "supported" or "self-sustaining development").

Existing approaches, or, using a fashionable term, concepts can be divided into two groups — finalities and progressive.

First, natural-scientific nature, resorting mainly to mathematical calculations and simulations show that it is not only sustainable, but did no development for humanity soon will not be, because the human impact on the environment exceeded the permissible limits. Along with the already mentioned sensational report "Limits of growth" that would include "the theory of biotic regulation" by V. G. Gorshkov and employees ("Ecological Complexity", 2004, 1, 17-36). According to this theory, the species Homo sapiens must obey biosphere processes, reducing their numbers to values of the same order as that of other mammals of similar size. According to the authors, humanity ten times exceeded its share in lipotropin. It is necessary or urgent to reduce the population to 600 million at the current energy consumption, or to cut consumption by 10 times and reduce the population to 1.5 billion. In any case, you will need planetary birth control.

The results of the global simulations obtained by the Ukrainian researchers (M. Z. Zgurovsky, matorina T. A., Prilutsky D. O., Abrasion D. A., Systems dozen informatin technology. 2008. No. 1, pp. 7-32), demonstrate the existence in the last 2-3 thousand years, some of the waves of human development. Their cyclicity is determined by multiplying 85-87 (average) years consecutive Fibonacci numbers n. The duration of each cycle is smaller than the previous, and in the twenty-first century will end the last cycle for which n = 1!

Such approaches do their alarmist, warning function, however, since they are based on formal models, but not reality itself, can hardly serve as a theoretical basis for the practice of sustainable development.

The second group of concepts (ecological modernization, global evolutionism, noospherogenesis, etc.). considering sustainable development as an alternative to the "end of history". The evolution of humanity does not end, but, on the contrary, finds a new breath and new horizons. What are they?

Obviously, the problem is not the amount of resources and management. The current environmental crisis is primarily a crisis of governance. If at the dawn of human civilization to feed one person needed a few dozen or even hundred acres of land, now (shows the indicator of the pressure on the environment "ecological footprint" which is calculated by a special technique) it's enough about 2 hectares. it is not in quantity but in quality, effectiveness orders that we have.

For a long time it was believed (as was shown above, is considered to this day) that a universal management tool is a market based on private ownership and competition. "Kuznets curve" (named S. S. Kuznets, Nobel prize winner in Economics in 1971 "for empirically grounded interpretation of economic growth which has led to a new and deeper understanding of the economic and social structure and the development process as a whole") allegedly confirms that with the increase of the national wealth, pollution of the environment must fall, because its protection is allocated more funds. The way it is — but only in the richest countries, bringing threat of production abroad, but not on a global scale, where the total pollution is only increasing.

Elinor Ostrom, Nobel laureate in Economics 2009, has debunked the widespread view that collective management of property is ineffective and should either privatize or nationalize. Examining numerous examples of social regulation of fishing, use of pastures, forests, lakes and groundwater, Ostrom has shown that in many cases the results of collective management are significantly better.

When used together, clearly defined boundaries of resources, terms of use naturally evolyutsioniruet and adapted to local conditions, conflict resolution mechanism effective. Community organized on the principle of self-determination can be recognized by the official authorities and included in a larger system of resource consumption as the basic elements. For example, residents of the village on the shore of a lake or river can fish in accordance with their traditions and at the same time sell part of the fish in the local market. As a result, it will appear on the tables of citizens. Thus the economic system of the village included in the region's economy.

The salvation of the world economy is not in its globalisation and not the deification of private enterprise, and in the dissemination of various modifications of the collective communities, from communes and villages to small towns and cooperatives. They are the most efficient and conflict-free entities.

Elinor Ostrom has identified key principles that contribute to successful cooperation in managing shared resources: 1) direct communication between parties allocation of shared resources; 2) reputation of the participants in the management of common resources should be known to all members of the community; 3) a longer time horizon promotes the most effective rules for resource use; 4) the rules clearly enshrine the rights of all members of the community; 5) users agree on a mechanism of sanctions (in case of violation of the rules); 6) establishes a gradation of sanctions (depending on the severity and frequency of the violations); 7) the right of consumers of shared resources for self-organization is recognized by an external authority. How these principles work, the reader himself may present as "homework".

An analysis of the above concepts suggests that the most adequate would be the following definition of sustainability: "social technology aimed at the resolution of the contradiction between growing human needs and opportunities of the environment."

Part of sustainable Razvitie the last decade the dead end of Western ideological paradigm becomes more apparent. It is important not only material benefits, but also the relationship of people with nature and with each other.

Sustainable development as an ideological model attempts to combine environmental, social and economic dimensions of the environment from a global perspective. The model focused on the needs of individuals and the common good.

The task of society is not only to reduce the consumption of resources, but also to change the structure of consumption. Sustainable development goal — the survival of humanity as a whole and improving the quality of life for each person separately. The result should be the following procedure.

In the social sphere — the government is decentralized, citizens and governments are able to resolve conflicts without violence, justice and righteousness are the highest values, material wealth and social security for all secured, the media objectively reflect the events and tie together people and cultures.

In the environmental field — a stable population, preservation of ecosystems, the diversity and coexistence of nature and human cultures in mutual harmony, organic food.

In the economic sphere — the minimum environmental pollution and minimum waste, work, uplifting people, and a worthy reward, intellectual activity, social and technical innovations, the expansion of human knowledge, creative self-realization of man.

What can we, ordinary people, for the approximation of this ideal future?Many people try to act intuitively and even make steps in the right direction, but more effective to work systematically. You need to create a "peace corps" — a community of initiators of sustainable change, leaders who are willing to work to prevent the impending catastrophe and try to create a new design for maintaining sustainable peace. It can be decorated as bureaucratic organizations, and just good people who sometimes get together.

Swedish environmentalist, writer and thinker, Advisor of the UN Commission on sustainable development Alan Atkisson proposes the following algorithm to achieve sustainability.

First, you need to understand the overall concept of the system, and for this we need to develop systems thinking. The system is a set of elements, interconnected and collectively forming a network of causal relationships, resulting in new system quality — in our case sustainability. Systems thinking is a basic human skill. Even intuitively, we understand that forest, field, plant, and our work is a complex system consisting of smaller systems. It is important to develop the ability to see and understand key relationships of cause and effect. To achieve sustainability we must stop and reflect on what is happening. When solving specific problems to approach to him should be as wide as possible, moving to tasks of increasing scale and ultimately going global. Let's say you flooded stream on your garden, launched the fry of carp and decided to start a small family fishing business. First you need to understand that it is not just water, in which swims a fish that a pond is an ecosystem in which there are complex relationships between plants, animals, microorganisms and factors of inanimate nature.

Secondly, it is necessary to know and understand what is meant by "sustainable development": this is the ability of a system to continue to operate and develop for a long time. The system can be a forest, a national economy or our body, but there are a number of conditions and restrictions that determine whether or not such a system to function. In our pond — it is a stable condition for several days does not guarantee stability for the entire year or several years. For example, if the pond is very shallow, it will freeze in the frosty winter to the bottom and the fish will die.

Thirdly, we must be able to distinguish between "development" and "growth". Development implies a qualitative change, and growth — a quantitative increase in size over time. Growth is a type of development, but development cannot be reduced to it. Often, the stability of the system it is necessary to have something in her grew. But sometimes in order for development to continue, we need to stop growth or even to reduce anything. For example, you cannot expect to achieve global sustainability if we continue to increase carbon dioxide emissions. And the carp in the pond must not only grow, but multiply, not only carp, but also other ecosystem parameters must be in harmony to change.

Fourth, it is necessary to have adequate information about what is happening in the system that we are trying to make more stable — you should understand the major trends associated with it to determine what the internal elements, structures, and processes are essential for the system. We need a good understanding of biology and to understand what is happening with the inhabitants of the pond.

Fifth, we must understand the inner workings of the system. Where in this system appeared "manic" cycles and cycles, bringing the benefit? When a person knows it, he knows where to intervene and where necessary make changes. For example, it is important to understand how to multiply carp are the species of plants and invertebrates on which they feed, but it is equally important to know under what conditions could begin a so-called bloom of the pond — the excessive multiplication of unicellular algae.

Sixthly, it is necessary to determine the specific changes that will improve the development of the system and put it on a sustainable course. If you understand how the system works, you'll know where she needs to change, and then to begin work on what would need to change. To indicate this kind of change uses the word "innovation". Changes can include new goals, projects, technologies and approaches, and new ways of thinking or paradigm. The choice of innovations should be driven by a combination of criteria: the expected systemic effect of the planned reforms, the probability of success and the ability to save the results of changes in the long term. In the case of the pond can say, for example, the creation of places of natural spawning grounds, which will allow to achieve the sustainable reproduction of populations of carp.

Seventh, you need to understand how to successfully begin your planned changes and to bring them to the end. A very important transition from understanding how the system works, to how to change it. You have to know the people, organization and use of physical and technical processes. You should be able to determine which elements of the system are more open for change and where there is likely to be resistance to proposed solutions. Sustainable development system can help or hinder the colonization of the pond by other species. For example, seemingly innocuous rotan-a burner can for a few years to eat all of your competitors, and your business will come to a sad end. And you can settle in a pond invertebrates, which feed on carp, or other fish species that can give the system stability.

Eighth,the need to successfully carry out the program changes. This requires strategy, resources, involvement of leaders, support of allies, skills, and the ability to adapt plans to changing circumstances. The most important element of success is flexibility and continuous learning. You have to be ready to change plans and adapt to changing situations. For example, instead of selling fish to sell crayfish, if any, will survive.

In the ninth, it is necessary to constantly track the results, improve signals, improve the received information, and on this basis — understanding the nature of the problem. Sustainable development is a process that never ends because the development itself endlessly. You need to understand where we currently moving? Why? What should we change or do to ensure movement in the right direction for a long time? And how do we know if we achieve success on this path? Act boldly, uninhibited! Not gone fishing — organize ecotourism, for example!

Live with a joyful awareness of the complexity of our wonderful world, watch the deep mutual relationships between the phenomena and do not forget to constantly ask ourselves these important questions.

On the temple walls in the ancient Greek city of Delphi was written seven short sayings: "Know thyself", "Nothing beyond measure", "Measure — first", "time", "the Main thing in life — the end", "the Worst most everywhere", "for anyone not ruchaika". Whether sustainable development is something to add to these treasures of the wisdom of life? It is possible that no. But, reading these verses today, repeat after the historian of antiquity, academician M. L. by Gasparovi: "You say it so everyone knows? Yes, but all you do?"

Source: greenhunter.ru/item?id=4164