A Framework for Application: Three Concrete, Scalable Strategies to Accelerate Sustainability
Book Chapter in Rethinking Sustainable Development to Meet the Climate Change Challenge, Keith Hirokawa & Jessica Owley eds. (ELI Press, 2014).
24 Pages Posted: 9 Nov 2013 Last revised: 14 Dec 2016
Date Written: November 7, 2013
Abstract
This Chapter identifies some, but not all, concrete, scalable strategies that are embedded in the term “sustainability.” It looks across existing broadly-worded definitions of sustainability to extract themes that can provide practical advice, regardless of context, to facilitate a move beyond definitions toward application. The Chapter begins by recognizing that the existing definitions of sustainability are highly generalized, making their application to a specific context difficult. The Chapter continues by exploring how existing definitions can be made more useful to policymakers (public and private) and can help facilitate the implementation of sustainability initiatives to meet the climate change challenge. It explores three themes inherent in highly generalized definitions of sustainability that may provide useful guidance in achieving sustainability in a variety of contexts: i) integration of an ecosystem management approach to public and private governance, ii) implementation and identification of baselines and metrics, and iii) collaboration as a means of overcoming institutional obstacles. The focus is primarily on whether these themes can be translated into understandable principles that bridge the gap between a highly conceptual and, at times, theoretical concept, “sustainability,” and the need for applying it to real world solutions.
Keywords: sustainable, sustainability, ecosystem, ecosystem services, climate change, baseline, metric
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