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Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Definitions of Sustainable Development

Although originally envisioned as a model of coral reef and forest Conservation, the Micronesian Challenge is also a model of Sustainable Development.

Here are some definitions:

World Commission on Environment & Development, 1987:

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Edward B. Barbier, 1987:

To maximize simultaneously the biological system goals (genetic diversity, resilience, biological productivity), economic system goals (satisfaction of basic needs, enhancement of equity, increasing useful goods & services), and social system goals (cultural diversity, institutional sustainability, social justice, participation).

Dag Hammarskjold Foundation of Sweden:

NEED - not profit - or growth-oriented; endogenous (accords with values of each culture and leaves people of that culture free to determine those values); stresses self-reliance rather than increased dependence on the world market; ecologically sound (tailors itself to local, regional, global capacities); and based on transforming existing power structures such that self-management and participatory democracy replace the current system of entrenched ecoonomic and political privilege.

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