Sustainable Development

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“Sustainable development is a socio-ecological process characterized by the fulfilment of human needs while maintaining the quality of the natural environment indefinitely. The linkage between environment and development was globally recognized in 1980, when the International Union for the Conservation of Nature published the World Conservation Strategy and used the term "sustainable development." The concept came into general usage following publication of the 1987 report of the Brundtland Commission — formally, the World Commission on Environment and Development. Set up by the United Nations General Assembly, the Brundtland Commission coined what was to become the most often-quoted definition of sustainable development as development that "meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.". Although commendable, this definition is not operational and has created much antagonism and cognitive dissonance. Hence, the following operational definition.

The field of sustainable development can be conceptually broken into three constituent parts: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, social-political sustainability.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_development

Government Sustainable Development Website

http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/what/index.htm

UK Sustainable Indicators in your Pocket 2007

http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/progress/data-resources/documents/sdiyp2007_a6.pdf

International Institute for Sustainable Development – Dashboard of Sustainability

http://www.iisd.org/cgsdi/dashboard.asp

UK Sustainable Development Commission

http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/aboutsd.html

UK Sustainable Development Commission – Definitions

http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/definitions.html

UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs – Division for Sustainable Development

http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/