Issues and Dimensions of Sustainability

Abstract

As outlined in Chapter 1, sustainability comprises interlinked environmental, societal, political and economic dimensions (see also UNESCO, 2010). What is happening in relation to any one dimension will affect, and be affected by, what is happening in all the other dimensions. For example, a local water shortage (environmental dimension) could lead to loss of income for people relying on that source (economic dimension), demographic changes if people move out of the area (social dimension) and conflict between different water users (political dimension). This is not a hypothetical example. Situations such as this have occurred in some parts of Australia; for example, in the Murray-Darling Basin, and analogous problems continue to occur across the globe. Hence, the sustainability of our future is enhanced by actions that jointly conserve our natural environment, build social systems that are peaceful and concerned with equality and human rights, and implement democratic political arrangements and appropriate economic development that takes into account the constraints and limits of our planet.