UNIT I

1.1 Concept of Sustainability

1.2 Carrying capacity,
1.2.1 Sustainable development
1.3 Brunt land report
1.4 Ethics and Visions of sustainability
1.5 Circles of sustainability
1.6 Eco systems, food chain and natural cycles or cradle to cradle concept

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1.1Concept of Sustainability

 Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs
 Leaving the place in the better condition than you occupied it,
 Sustainability is the ability to maintain a certain status or process in existing systems.
 The most frequent use of the term “sustainability” is connected to biological or human
systems in the context of ecology.
 The ability of an ecosystem to function and maintain productivity for a prolonged
period is also sustainability.
Sustainable city provide basic needs infrastructure of civic amenities, health & medical
care, housing , education, transportation, employment & good governance
The 4 components of Livability are
(a) Social well being (b) Economic Vitality
(c) Infrastructure availability (d) Environmental quality
Sustained development - PROCESS – not a end point
NEED OF SUSTAINABILITY

 All the choices we pursue and all the actions that we make today will affect everything
in the future.
 We need to make sound decisions at present in order to avoid limiting the choices of
generations to come.
 Fresh water
 Soil Condition
 All Elements of nature that are crucial to sustain earth equilibrium.

1.2 Sustainable Development

 Sustainable development is development which meets the needs of the present

without compromising the ability of future
generation to meet their own needs."
 This definition has been formulated by the
World Commission on Environment and
Development (WCED), led by the norwegian
prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, in
1987.
ECONOMIC DIMENSIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY:

 Creation of new markets and opportunities

for sales growth

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 Cost reduction through efficiency improvements and reduced energy and raw material
inputs
 Creation of additional added value
ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY:

 Reduced waste, effluent generation, emissions to environment

 Reduced impact on human health
 Use of renewable raw materials
 Elimination of toxic substances
SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY

 Worker health and safety

 Impacts on local communities, quality of life
 Benefits to disadvantaged groups e.g. disabled
SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION

 minimizing non-renewable resource consumption

 enhancing the natural environment
 eliminating or minimizing the use of toxins
"SUSTAINABLE BUILDING"
Those buildings that have minimum adverse impacts on the built and natural environment,
in terms of the buildings themselves, their immediate surroundings and the broader
regional and global setting.
PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

 Understanding Place
 Connecting with Nature
 Understanding Natural Processes
 Understanding Environmental Impact
 Embracing Co-creative Design Processes
 Understanding People
SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION

 Urban and land-use planning; modal mix (cars, trucks, rail, air, etc.); behavioural and
operational aspects (occupancy of vehicles, driver behavior, system characteristics);
and vehicle efficiency and fuel choice.

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1.2.1 Sustainable Development

“Development which meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs”
or
Sustainable Development means making sure that the things we
do, the goods we buy and the lifestyle we have today will not
harm the environment for us, for people in other places and for
future generations
It contains two key concepts:
 The concept of 'needs', in particular the essential needs of
the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given.
 The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on
the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.
 Development involves a progressive transformation of economy and society. A
development path that is sustainable in a physical sense could theoretically be
pursued even in a rigid social and political setting. But physical sustainability cannot
be secured unless development policies pay attention to such considerations as
changes in access to resources
 The goals of economic and social development must be defined in terms of
sustainability in all countries- developed or developing
 Development tends to simplify ecosystems and to reduce their diversity of species.
And species, once extinct, are not renewable. The loss of plant and animal species
can greatly limit the options of future generations; so sustainable development
requires the conservation of plant and animal species.
 So-called free goods like air and water are also resources. The raw materials and
energy of production processes are only partly converted to useful products. The
rest comes out as wastes. Sustainable development requires that the adverse
impacts on the quality of air, water, and other natural elements are minimized so as
to sustain the ecosystem's overall integrity.
 A society may in many ways compromise its ability to meet the essential needs of its
people in the future – by overexploiting resources, for example. The direction of
technological developments may solve some immediate problems but lead to even
greater ones. Large sections of the population may be marginalized by ill-considered
development

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IT IS ABOUT DEVELOPING

that can be sustained on social, economic and

environmental terms
EQUITY AND THE COMMON INTEREST
How are individuals in the real world to be persuaded or made to act in the common
interest?
 It is not that there is one set of villains and another of victims. All would be better
off if each person took into account the effect oœ" his or her acts upon others.
 Interdependence is not simply a local phenomenon. Rapid growth in production has
extended it to the international plane
 The enforcement of common interest often suffers because areas of political
jurisdiction and areas of impact do not coincide.
 The search for common interest would be less difficult if all development and
environment problems had solutions that would leave everyone better off. This is
seldom the case, and there are usually winners and losers. Many problems arise
from inequalities in access to resources
 As a system approaches ecological limits, inequalities sharpen
 Globally, wealthier nations are better placed financially and technologically to cope
with the effects of possible climatic change.
 our inability to promote the common interest in sustainable development is often a
product of the relative neglect of economic and social justice within and amongst
nations.
STRATEGIC IMPERATIVES
Critical objectives for environment and development policies that follow from the concept
of sustainable development include:
1. Reviving Growth; developing nations focus their efforts upon eliminating poverty
and satisfying essential human needs, then domestic demand will increase for both
agricultural products and manufactured goods and some services.

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2. Changing The Quality Of Growth; Sustainable development involves more than

growth. It requires a change in the content of growth, to make it less Material- and
energy-intensive and more equitable in its impact.
3. Meeting Essential Needs For Jobs, Food, Energy, Water, And Sanitation ; The
principal development challenge is to meet the needs and aspirations of an
expanding developing world population.
4. Ensuring A Sustainable Level Of Population ; The sustainability of development is
intimately linked to the dynamics of population growth. Population policies should
be integrated with other economic and social development programmes female
education, health care, and the expansion of the livelihood base of the poor.
5. Conserving And Enhancing The Resource Base : Development policies must widen
people's options for earning a sustainable livelihood, particularly for resource-poor
households and in areas under ecological stress.
6. Reorienting Technology And Managing Risk; limits to global development are
perhaps determined by the availability of energy resources and by the biosphere's
capacity to absorb the by-products of energy use. The development of
environmentally appropriate technologies is closely related to questions of risk
management.
7. Merging Environment And Economics In Decision Making . Inter sectoral
connections create patterns of economic and ecological interdependence rarely
reflected in the ways in which policy is made. Sustainability requires the
enforcement of wider responsibilities for the impacts of decisions. This requires
changes in the legal and institutional frameworks that will enforce the common
interest.

1.3 The Brundtland Commission Report

INTRODUCTION
 She was born on 20 April 1939.
 She is a medical doctor with a public health degree. She is
former director of the World Health Organization.
 A feminist, she was Prime Minister of Norway (1981,
1986–89, 1990–96), the first woman and youngest ever.
 She was chosen to direct the U.N. World Commission on
Environment and Development.
 Since 2007, she is a special U.N. envoy on climate change.
OUR COMMON FUTURE
 The Brundtland Report (former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland),
published 27 years ago.

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 It has been successful in forming international ties between governments and

multinational corporations.
 Described sustainability as a three-legged stool with people, planet and profit taking
equal importance in the equation. 
 The report led the production of Agenda 21, an action plan of the UN with regard to
sustainable development
 Agenda 21 entailed actions to be taken globally, nationally, and locally in order to
make life on Earth more sustainable
 Our Common Future aimed to discuss the environment & development as one single
issue
 The Brundtland report (Our Common Future) defined sustainable development as
“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

The Brundtland Report highlighted the three fundamental components of sustainable

development, the environment, the economy, and society.
 Environment
We should conserve and enhance our
resource base, by gradually changing the
ways in which we develop and use
technologies.
 Social Equity
Developing nations must be allowed to
meet their basic needs of employment,
food, energy, water and sanitation. If this
is to be done in a sustainable manner,
then there is a definite need for a sustainable level of population.
 Economic Growth

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Economic growth should be revived and developing nations should be allowed a growth of
equal quality to the developed nations.
THE ENVIRONMENT A FEW FACTS

 Flooding May Change the World Map

 If global warming continues areas less than 30 feet above sea level will be vulnerable
to flooding.
 Those areas most at risk of flooding, due to the rising sea level would be island nations
like the Maldives and the UK
 10% of the world’s population lives in areas likely to be affected by rising sea levels
such as Shanghai, and Lagos and The Atlantic Gulf Coasts of the USA.
 Scientists project as much as a 3 foot sea level rise, by 2100.
 Also threatened are Holland, Belgium, Denmark, & parts of China and India.
THE ENVIRONMENT – ENERGY SECURITY
UK Government report states:

 ‘a secure energy system is one that is able to meet the needs of people and
organisations ……..in a reliable and affordable way both now and in the future’
 Just three countries supply the vast majority of EU gas imports—Russia (40%), Algeria
(30%) and Norway (25%).
 The UK will need to replace around 25% of its firm capacity over the next decade if it is
to continue to meet demand
 There is a risk that not enough gas capacity will be built in the UK as investors seek
more certain returns elsewhere. Government is therefore concerned that the UK will
not have enough ‘firm’ capacity over the coming decade to ensure that the UK’s
electricity supplies remain secure.
THE ECONOMY
The Bruntland Reports says..

 Economic growth should be revived and developing nations should be allowed a

growth of equal quality to the developed nations.
 China’s economy is projected to grow by about 8% a year, with India averaging 7.8%
annual growth and Brazil 4.9%. By contrast, North America will experience annual
growth of about 3%, Europe, 2% and Japan about 1%.
Some facts to consider…

 In recent years the world's food production has increased by 24 per cent, outpacing
the rate of population growth.
 However, this increase was not evenly distributed throughout the world. For example,
in Africa, food production decreased, while population increased.
 Most experts agree that there is no shortage of food, and that equitable distribution
should be sufficient to meet all needs for the future.
 Lack of money to buy food is the problem of malnourishment.

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TIME INTERVAL NUMBER OF YEARS WORLD POPULATION

___________________________________________________________
?-1850 to 1 Billion 1850 years +
___________________________________________________________
1850-1930 2 Billion 80 years
___________________________________________________________
1930-1975 4 Billion 45 years
___________________________________________________________
1975-1987 5 Billion 12 years
___________________________________________________________
1987-2000 6 Billion 13 years
2013 – 10:50 AM Wednesday 27th Feb – 7.1 Billion…and rising
___________________________________________________________
*We currently are adding 90 million annually and will continue to do so through to 2015 and
beyond.
POVERTY
 Poverty is a condition of chronic deprivation and need at the family level.
 Poverty, is a major concern of humankind, because poverty everywhere reduces
human beings to a low level of existence.
 Poor people lack access to enough land and income to meet basic needs.
 A lack of basic needs results in physical weakness and poor health.
 Poor health decreases the ability of the poor to work and put them deeper into
poverty.
 The priorities for getting rid of poverty, improving food supply, ending malnutrition,
and providing adequate housing coincide at all points with those required for
balanced population growth.
GROWTH
 Many of the products and technologies that have gone into this improvement are
raw material- and energy-intensive and entail a substantial amount of pollution.
 Environmental stresses also arise from more traditional forms of production. More
land has been cleared for settled cultivation in the past 100 years than in all the

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previous centuries of human existence. Interventions in the water cycles have

increased greatly.
 In recent years, industrial countries have been able to achieve economic growth
using less energy and raw materials per unit of output. This, along with the efforts to
reduce the emission of pollutants, will help to contain the pressure on the biosphere.
SURVIVAL
The scale and complexity of our requirements for
natural resources have increased greatly with the
rising levels of population and production.
 Greenhouse effect
 Ozon layer deletion
 Air pollution
 Deforestation
 Diposal of toxic waste
 Desertification
 extinguishes species of plants and animals
ELEMENTS / DIMENSIONS OF SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
 Political
 Economic
 Institutional
 Technological
 Socio-cultural
 Ecological
PARAMETERS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMIC
 Maintaining a sustainable population
 Maintaining productivity and profitability of environment and natural resources
ECOLOGICAL
 Adopting environmental management weapons in policy and decision making
 Protecting the environment and conserving natural resources

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TECHNOLOGICAL
 Promoting proper management of wastes and residuals
 Adopting environment-friendly technologies
POLITICAL
 Empowering the people
 Maintaining peace and order
SOCIO-CULTURE
 Promoting resource access and upholding property rights
 Promoting environmental awareness, inculcating environment ethics and supporting
environment management action
INSTITUTIONAL
 Improving institutional capacity/ capability to manage sustainable development

1.4Ethics & Visions of Sustainability

 REASON FOR DEVELOPING AN ETHICS OF SUSTAINABILITY The best known definition

of sustainability is the one stated in Our Common Future, more commonly known as
the Brundtland Report: “..meeting the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”

 Inherent in this definition is the proposed responsibility of contemporary society for

the quality of life of today’s population plus the preservation of resources, the
environment, and other ingredients needed for future populations to also
experience a good quality of life.

 This is an enormous and daunting task and requires enormous changes in thinking,
policy, and basic assumptions about the economy for its full implementation. For the
present, it would mean that wealthier, more technologically sophisticated societies
would have to contribute materially and through a wide range of assistance
programs to increase the wealth of poorer nations, to aid them in developing the
capability to provide the basic needs of their population.

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 For future generations it means ensuring the availability of a wide range of

resources: natural, cultural, mineral, educational, food, clean air and water, genetic
diversity, and numerous others that support a good quality of life. The natural
question to ask is: why apply the sustainability framework? In answering this
question, vocabulary such as rights, obligations, and interdependence must be used.
Everyone on the Earth has a right to having their needs for food, shelter, and
clothing met.

 Present people have an obligation to future generations to provide them an intact

and functioning planet in at least as good state as they received it. And we are all
interdependent, present and future generations, but it is the present, wealthier
countries that control the fate of everyone else, present and future. The application
of the sustainability framework therefore requires a better understanding of the
ethical concepts which support it.

 Among these ethical concepts are the Precautionary Principle, the Chain of
Obligation, the Distributional Principle, the Land Ethic, and the Rights of the Other
Species. Through a better understanding of the ethics of sustainability, it becomes
clear why the sustainability framework is not only an approach to addressing and
solving the many difficult problems facing us, but why it is in fact the right approach,
the right thing to do.
CONCLUSION
 The strategy for sustainable development aims to promote harmony among
 Human brings and between humanity and nature.
 The pursuit of sustainable development requires:
 A political system that secures effective citizen participation in decision making.
 An economic system that is able to generate surpluses and technical knowledge on
a self-reliant and
 Sustained basis
 A social system that provides for solutions for the tensions arising from
disharmonious development.
 A production system that respects the obligation to preserve the ecological base for
development,
 A technological system that can search continuously for new solutions,
 An international system that fosters sustainable patterns of trade and finance, and
 An administrative system that is flexible and has the capacity for self-correction.

1.5Circles of Sustainability

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Circles of Sustainability are a method for understanding and assessing sustainability, and for
managing projects directed towards socially sustainable outcomes. It is intended to handle
'seemingly intractable problems’ such as outlined in sustainable development debates. The
method is mostly used for cities and urban settlements.

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1.6Cradle to Cradle

Cradle-to-cradle design (also referred to as 2CC2, C2C, cradle 2 cradle, or regenerative

design) is a biomimetic approach to the design of products and systems that models human
industry on nature's processes, where materials are viewed as nutrients circulating in
healthy, safe metabolisms. The term itself is a play on the popular corporate phrase "cradle
to grave", implying that the C2C model is sustainable and considerate of life and future
generations—from the birth, or "cradle", of one generation to the next generation, versus
from birth to death, or "grave", within the same generation.
C2C suggests that industry must protect and enrich ecosystems and nature's biological
metabolism while also maintaining a safe, productive technical metabolism for the high-
quality use and circulation of organic and technical nutrients. It is a holistic, economic,
industrial and social framework that seeks to create systems that are not only efficient but
also essentially waste free.[2] Building off the whole systems approach of John T. Lyle's
regenerative design, the model in its broadest sense is not limited to industrial design and
manufacturing; it can be applied to many aspects of human civilization such as urban
environments, buildings, economics and social systems.

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