Defining Sustainability

Sustainability is a dynamic concept that can mean different things in different contexts. It is a word in transition as the world learns to live in new ways.

At the Continuing Studies Centre for Sustainability we use sustainability to mean economic and social progress that protects and improves the natural environment, supports positive social and cultural outcomes, and enhances economic prosperity.

In other words, sustainability is about organizational and community development that has a triple-bottom line of people, planet and profits. These are often referred to as the three legs or pillars of sustainability.

This triple-bottom line of people, planet and profits is not one of balancing or making trade-offs. Rather, it is striving to achieve all three simultaneously in such a way that the success of each contributes to the success of the others.

This definition is an enhancement to one of the first (and most famous) definitions of sustainability generated by the Brundtland Commission* in 1983. Sustainability then was defined as development that "met the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

The Brundtland definition, however, has become somewhat controversial, particularly because it presumes that we can know the needs of future generations. This is obviously not possible. But we can act today in ways that we know will protect the environment, provide good social outcomes, and create wealth. If we learn to live within the world's natural ecosystems, including the Earth's ability to recycle and replenish itself, then surely we will be delivering a planet to future generations capable of supporting their highest values.

*The formal name of the Bruntland Commission is the UN World Commission on the Environment and Development.

Sustainability Translated into Various Languages