DIMENSIONAL SUSTAINABILITY

CONCEPTS
with particular focus on the three dimensional
concept and its practical application
 SESSION 1

CEREA
CONTENT- EXPERIENCE-REFLECTION-EVALUATION-
ACTION
OVERVIEW
SESSION 1

 What is sustainability?
 Historical milestones of sustainability

 Sustainability concepts – one, two, three or more

dimensions?

 An example:
Waste management and sustainability
WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY? What do
you think?

Which important aspects might

sustainability/ a sustainable development
contain?

How could sustainability/ a sustainable

development be defined?
HISTORICAL MILESTONES OF
SUSTAINABILITY
HISTORICAL MILESTONES OF SUSTAINABILITY

1713 1984-87
Forestry Brundtland Commission
Carl von Carlowitz
“Sustainable development is development
 1st definition of that meets the needs of the present without
sustainability compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs“ (UN
1987)

18th century 1970-1980 1980-1990

1972
End of 18th Stockholm Conference
century
First international
Industrialisation Conference of the UN on
human environment

Source: Heinrichs et al. 2016

HISTORICAL MILESTONES OF SUSTAINABILITY
1992 2015
2002
Earth Summit UN Sustainable
World Summit in
in Rio de Janeiro Development
Johannesburg
Summit in New
UN Conference on York
World Summit on
Environment and Sustainable
Development Sustainable
Development by the UN
Development Goals
 Agenda 21

1990-2000 2000-2010 2010-2020

2012
2000 Rio +20
1994-97 Millenium Assembly
Following Conference
Conferences Millennium UN Conference on
Development Goals Sustainable
Development

Source: Heinrichs et al. 2016

DIMENSIONAL SUSTAINABILITY
CONCEPTS
DIMENSIONAL SUSTAINABILITY
CONCEPTS

 Different approaches of sustainability concepts

 Sustainability topics can be structured in

different dimensions

 General hints:
 Different perspectives on the number of
dimensions and their weighting
 Generally consensus about the integration of
different dimensions

Source: Heinrichs et al. 2016

 ONE DIMENSION

 Priority for one dimension

 Original concepts

 But still today applied:

 Developed countries normally focus on the
ecological dimension.
 Developing countries rather focus on the social or
economic dimension.

 Other dimensions‘ aspects just as causes or

consequences
Source: Heinrichs et al. 2016
 TWO DIMENSIONS

 2001 introduced by IUCN in ‚Wellbeing of Nations‘

 Ecological dimension:
 Soil, Water, Air, Biodiversity,
Ressource use

 Socio-economic dimension:
 Health and population, Wealth,
Knowledge and culture,
Community, Allocation of resources

Source: Wachter 2014

 THREE DIMENSIONS

 Most common model

 Ecological, social and economic dimension

 Normally equally weighted

 Arguments:
 Ecological ressources as well as societal and economic
factors play a role in satisfaction of human needs.
 The society can be endangered by ecological, social
and economic risks.
 Sustainability aim:
 Avoiding irreversible damage in any of the dimension

Source: Heinrichs et al. 2016

ECOLOGICAL DIMENSION

Possible aspects:
 Spare use of resources

 Regenerative capacity (e.g. regenerative energies)

 Disruption of ecological circulatory systems

 Avoidance of environmental pollution through

gaseous, liquid and solid pollutants/ waste
 Biodiversity

 Precautionary principle

Source: Heinrichs et al. 2016

SOCIAL DIMENSION

Possible aspects:
 Human health

 Same rights for all humans

 Democratisation and participation of all ethnic

groups
 Fair wage

 Consideration of future human generations and

their interests ( see Brundtland definition)

Source: Heinrichs et al. 2016

ECONOMIC DIMENSION

Possible aspects:
 the production, development and management of
material wealth of a…
 country

 household

 business enterprise

Source: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2015

THREE DIMENSIONS

Three dimensional concept

Source: Wu 2013
THREE DIMENSIONS

Which is your favourite? And why?

Source: Wu 2013
THREE DIMENSIONS- EXAMPLE
Waste management
Did you know that every
person from Albania or
Kosovo produces about
335 kg of waste per year?

Sources: EEA (2013), EEA (2015)

 FOUR OR MORE DIMENSIONS

 Up to eight dimensions

 Additional dimensions to the common three ones:

 Cultural
 Institutional
 Political
 etc.

Source: Heinrichs et al. 2016

FOUR OR MORE DIMENSIONS-
EXAMPLE
Waste management

?
??
SUMMARY
Number of
Content of dimension(s)
dimension(s)

Ecological (normally in industrialized countries),

One social or economic (normally in developing
countries)

Two Normally ecological and socio-economic

Three Ecological, social and economic

Ecological, social, economic, as well as cultural,

Four or more
institutional, political and/ or others

Sources: Heinrichs et al. 2016, Wachter 2014

 NOW IT‘S YOUR TURN

 What kind of regional (sustainability) topic/

problem are you interested in?

Nutrition, water supply, energy supply,

infrastructure, mobility, cloths etc.
 NOW IT‘S YOUR TURN

 And which of the three dimensions do you find

most interesting?

Ecological, social or economic dimension.

 NOW IT‘S YOUR TURN

So try to find out as much as possible about “your”

dimension according to the commonly chosen
topic.

Ask stakeholders, surf on the internet, take a look

in the newspaper, check your library etc.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
See you next time!
SESSION 2
OVERVIEW
SESSION 2

 Work in focus-groups (ecological, social and

economic)
 Work in mixed groups

 Presentation of results

 Reflection
 Approximately
WORK IN FOCUS-GROUPS 20-25 min
ECOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC GROUP

Come together in your focus group and discuss the

following question:

Which aspects did you and your classmates find

out concerning your dimension of the chosen
topic?
 Approximately
WORK IN MIXED GROUPS 20-30 min
SUSTAINABLE GROUPS

Mix your groups so that in every group is at least

one student of one focus group (dimension) and
discuss the following questions:

Which ecological, social and economic aspects did

your classmates find out? Which problems occur?
Which problems are the major ones in the long
run?
 Approximately
WORK IN MIXED GROUPS 20-40 min
SUSTAINABLE GROUPS

Stay in your mixed groups and discuss the

following questions:

What has to be done to solve these problems by

their own? How could a possible sustainable
solution with an improvement in all dimensions
look like?
PRESENTATION OF THE RESULTS
SUSTAINABLE GROUPS

Please present your approaches with regard to the

following questions:

What kind of sustainable solution approach did

your group develop? Does it really take care of all
identified problems in all three dimensions?
REFLECTION
NO GROUPS

Please leave your groups and your role (dimension) -

mentally- and think about the following questions:

What did you realize regarding the negotiation

process or your role?
Was it difficult to find consensus? Was it possible to
take all dimensions equally into account while
developing a solution approach? And why?
REFLECTION
NO GROUPS

…and think about the following questions:

Did the different dimensions help to structure the

complexity of the chosen topic?
Are these three dimensions appropriate in this case?
Is any dimension missing? Or is another
classification better? And why?

 What do you take home from this experience?

? ? ?
GOOD BYE
NO GROUPS

Thank you for your attention and participation!

? ? ?
SOURCES
EEA (2013): Municipal waste management in Albania. Online:
http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/managing-municipal-solid-
waste/albania-municipal-waste-management.
EEA (2015): Kosovo. Key findings of the State of Environment report. Online:
http://www.eea.europa.eu/soer-2015/countries/kosovo.
Eurostat (2009): Municipal waste. Half a ton of municipal waste generated per
person in the EU27 in 2007. Online: europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STAT-09-
31_en.pdf.
Heinrichs, H., Martens, P., Michelsen, G. & Wiek, A. (Eds.) (2016): Sustainability
Science. An Introduction. Heidelberg, New York, London. Springer.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2015): The American Heritage Dictionary of the
English Language. Online:
https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=economic.
Wachter, D. (2014): Stand der Nachhaltigkeitsdiskussion-Denkmodelle der
Nachhaltigkeit. Schweiz Z Forstwes, 165(3), 53-60.
Worldwatch Institute (2015): Environmental Milestones. Online:
https://www.worldwatch.org/brain/features/timeline/timeline.htm.
Wu, J. (2013): Landscape sustainability science. Ecosystem services and human
well-being in changing landscapes. Landscape Ecology, 28(6), 999-1023.
GRAPHICS
The shown graphics are either taken from the
mentioned sources (see beneath the graphics) or
from Microsoft Powerpoint‘s ClipArt.