As a resident of New York, I find myself close to the UN. I am fortunate enough to be able to do an internship in this international body. I am sitting in room 4 as we speak, listening to deliberations regarding agriculture and rural development. As usual, many new concepts that require looking into. For instance, what is sustainable development? Someone mentioned that they did a survey and asked people around a certain city what sustainable development meant to them...the result: not one answer worth of mention! I could not believe it.
I think we all need to educate ourselves. Let's see... Sustainable Development is:
- The Brundtland Commission’s brief definition of sustainable development as the “ability to make development sustainable—to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, Volume 47, Number 3, page 3. Robert W. Kates, Thomas M. Parris, and Anthony A. Leiserowitz, 2005).
- And of course...according to Wikipedia; it is a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for future generations to come.
-All definitions of sustainable development require that we see the world as a system—a system that connects space; and a system that connects time (IISD-International Institute for Sustainable Development).
Are we all clear now? More coming up soon!