What is sustainable development

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What is sustainable development and
where is it going? Contemporary Art
and Sustainability Symposium
CEU Budapest 30 March 2006 Diane Warburton,
Shared Practice
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A little background Shared Practice is a
partnership founded to research and develop
creative sustainable solutions. Shared Practice
is interdisciplinary, with a range of specialisms
from design practice and education to community
regeneration, planning, anthropology and
music.
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This presentation What sustainable
development is, and how the idea has developed
over the years - with some thoughts on the
tensions that have always existed even within
the basic concept. Emerging themes of community
participation and other different forms of
politics around sustainable development
(protest, consumerism, private sector
initiatives). Where we are now - as
sustainability campaigns are focusing as much on
changing personal values, behaviour and
lifestyles as on trying to change international
policy.
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Early environmentalism There was once a town in
the heart of America where all life seemed to
live in harmony with its surroundings. The town
lay in the midst of a checkerboard of prosperous
farms, with fields of grain and hillsides of
orchards where, in spring, white clouds of bloom
drifted above the green fields. In autumn, oak
and maple and birch set up a blaze of colour that
flamed and flickered across a backdrop of pines.
The foxes barked in the hills and deer silently
cross the fields, half hidden in the mists of the
autumn mornings Rachel Carson, Silent Spring,
1962
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Early environmentalism Then a strange blight
crept over the area and everything began to
change. Some evil spell had settled on the
community mysterious maladies swept the flocks
of chickens the cattle and sheep sickened and
died. Everywhere was a shadow of death. The
farmers spoke of much illness among their
families. There was a strange stillness. The
birds, for example - where had they gone? The
roadsides, once so attractive, were now lined
with browned and withered vegetation as though
swept by fire. These, too, were silent, deserted
by all living things. Even the streams were now
lifeless Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, 1962
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Early environmentalism For the first time in the
history of the world, every human being is now
subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals,
from the moment of conception until death.
Residues of these chemicals linger in soil to
which they may have been applied a dozen years
before. They have entered and lodged in the
bodies of fish, birds, reptiles, and domestic and
wild animals so universally that scientists
carrying on animal experiments find it almost
impossible to locate subjects free from such
contamination these chemicals are now stored in
the bodies of the vast majority of human beings,
regardless of age. They occur in mother's milk,
and probably in the tissues of the unborn child.
All this has come about because of the sudden
rise and prodigious growth of an industry for the
production of man-made or synthetic chemicals
with insecticidal properties. Rachel Carson,
Silent Spring, 1962
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Environmental issues now Similarities toxic
chemicals, forests, wildlife, oceans pollution -
all lower down the agenda Differences climate
change and global warming, waste and recycling,
going green at home and work, anti-GM and
pro- organic food, energy issues - especially
anti-nuclear and pro- renewable sources of energy
eg wind power, fuel poverty, sustainable
consumption and production - all complex
issues One Planet Living to tackle sustainable
consumption and production.
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What is different about sustainable
development? First, the concept of sustainable
development is based on the idea that there is
no such thing as a purely environmental
problem. There are always political, social and
economic implications as well. Second,
sustainable development is based on the idea that
development is essential, but that it must be a
different 'quality' of development, organised
differently, that takes environment into account
- conserving or enhancing the environment is not
the sole purpose.
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• What are the main events in sustainable
  development?
• 1972 Club of Rome, Limits to Growth population,
  food production, etc.
• UN Conference on the Human Environment
  'rights' of humanity to a healthy and
  protective environment.
• 1980 Brandt Commission North / South
  development.
• World Conservation Strategy. The Strategy aimed
  to "match superficially conflicting goals of
  development and conservation - development to
  meet human needs and conservation of the
  resources to safeguard them for future
  generations.
• 1983-1987 World Commission on Environment and
  Development (known as the Brundtland
  Commission). "Humanity has 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
• 1992 The United Nations Conference on Environment
  and Development Agenda 21 - the agenda for
  sustainable development for the 21st century.

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What is Agenda 21? Humanity stands at a defining
moment in history. We are confronted with a
perpetuation of disparities between and within
nations, a worsening of poverty, hunger, ill
health and illiteracy, and the continuing
deterioration of the ecosystems on which we
depend for our well-being. However, integration
of environment and development concerns and
greater attention to them will lead to the
fulfilment of basic needs, improved living
standards for all, better protected and managed
ecosystems and a safer more prosperous future.
No one nation can achieve this on its own but
together we can - in a global partnership for
sustainable development. Agenda 21, paragraph
1.1
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The main themes of Agenda 21 Combating
poverty Changing consumption
patterns Human health
Human settlements
Protection of the atmosphere

Deforestation

Desertification and drought

Sustainable agriculture

Biodiversity

Protecting oceans and freshwater
Toxic
chemicals
Wastes,
especially radioactive wastes and also
Strengthening the role of
'major' groups (e.g. women, children and trade
unions)
and
means of implementation (e.g. technology
transfer and education)
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• European Community
• 1992 5th European Environmental Action
  Programme Towards Sustainability
• 1993 Maastricht Treaty 'continuous expansion'
  was changed to 'sustainable and non-inflationary
  growth respecting the environment', and a
  Community objective was introduced "to promote
  economic and social progress that is balanced and
  sustainable
• 1999 Treaty of Amsterdam signed, with a revised
  Article 2 that "seeks to promote throughout the
  Community a harmonious, balanced and sustainable
  development of economic activities
• 2001 6th European Environmental Action
  Programme, called Environment 2010 - Our
  Future, Our Choice

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• Global business
• 1995 World Business Council for Sustainable
  Development formed
• Insurance companies signed a Statement of
  Environmental Commitment

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• Global business
• 1995 World Business Council for Sustainable
  Development formed
• Insurance companies signed a Statement of
  Environmental Commitment
• National strategies and Local Agenda 21
• 1990s Most industrialised countries had national
  sustainable development strategies
• 1997 Estimated that 3,000 local governments in
  64 countries had Local Agenda 21 activity
• 2000 Estimated that 98 of UK local governments
  had completed a Local Agenda 21 strategy

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• United Nations
• 2000 United Nations summit agreed the Millennium
  Development Goals the aim was "to free our
  fellow men, women and children from the abject
  and dehumanising conditions of abject poverty
• 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in
  Johannesburg.
• 2005 UN Decade of Education for Sustainable
  Development

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Social
Environmental
SD
Economic
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What are the key themes to sustainable
development today? Meeting human needs
Equity

Environmental constraints /
limits Futurity
Democracy Local
to global
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Diverse views emerging New capitalism Jonath
an Porritt radical change to the existing model
of capitalism Too late

James Lovelock hot world Alternative
lifestyles
Others innovative practical
experiments in sustainable living
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The importance of participation A political
system that secures effective citizen
participation in decision making The law alone
cannot enforce the common interest. It
principally needs community knowledge and
support, which entails greater public
participation in the decisions which affect the
environment. This is best secured by
decentralising the management of resources upon
which local communities depend, and giving these
communities an effective say over the use of the
resources. It will also require promoting
citizens' initiatives, empowering people's
organisations, and strengthening local
democracy Brundtland Commission
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The importance of participation The broadest
public participation ... should also be
encouraged Agenda 21, 1.3
Focus on the empowerment of local and community
groups through the principle of delegating
authority, accountability and resources Agenda
21, 3.5 Governments, in co-operation with
appropriate international and non-governmental
organisations, should support a community-driven
approach to sustainability
Agenda 21,
3.7 The public must be
informed about the issue and means for protecting
the environment and, crucially, involved in the
process EC 5th Environmental Action Programme
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What are the new campaign styles? Consumer
power (eg GM)
Collective community action (eg housing
improvement) Mass
protests (eg Seattle and Genoa)
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What are the new campaign styles? Consumer
power (eg GM)
Collective community action (eg housing
improvement) Mass
protests (eg Seattle and Genoa) What are the
questions raised? How much do successful mass
campaigns like these reflect shifts in attitudes
by governments and the public, rather than
change people's minds?
How much are these environmental organisations
simply mobilising existing concerns, rather
than offering new ideas and challenges to the
current state of unsustainability?
How far can international
environmental and other organisations go before
they are no longer acceptable to governments and
how much can they work with governments before
they lose their independence?
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Where is sustainable development now? The
international policy rhetoric is good, and the
battle of principle has largely been won
Business developing new
initiatives to behave more sustainability
The World Business Council for
Sustainable Development, Cement Sustainability
Initiative
Arups, new sustainable city in
China Sustainable design of new products
Development and
environmental organisations being members of
international institutions
Anti-globalisation movements and protests
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New sustainability initiatives Projects that
create economic development through practical
improvements to degraded landscapes
Projects to insulate people's
homes to reduce energy consumption and tackle
fuel poverty Housing
developments that aim for zero carbon emissions
during construction as well as when the houses
are lived in
New farming methods
that support local economies by sharing labour
and skills and resources
New technologies that enable the sharing of
design and technological innovation
Community-run projects to
generate energy from renewable sources
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What does sustainability look like? Sustainabilit
y is not easy to recognise, partly because it
will not stand still. New approaches to
thinking about sustainability start with that
sense of constant change, and are based on new
forms of learning that can change people's
attitudes and behaviours. No solution that can
simply be taken off the shelf will always be the
right answer. So the focus has to be on helping
people find new ways of adapting constantly.
The environmental movement is now thinking
about how people behave, why they behave in the
ways they do, and how to change that to tackle
unsustainable local production and consumption.
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Working with people Behaviour change alone is
not enough. The focus now is on working with
groups of people to explore how they can develop
more sustainable lifestyles. The aim is to find
out how values can be shifted, so that permanent
attitude and behaviour change results. This is
all very new and experimental...working with
local people to define their own sustainable
lifestyle, rather than imposing a model designed
somewhere else.
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New sustainability thinking Sustainability
thinking so far has focused mainly around the
intellectual and the political - the spiritual
and aesthetic has been largely ignored it needs
to reach people's hearts as well as their minds.
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New sustainability thinking Sustainability
thinking so far has focused mainly around the
intellectual and the political - the spiritual
and aesthetic has been largely ignored it needs
to reach people's hearts as well as their minds.
The questions now are
How to link the great potential in people's
real experiences - the 'authenticity' of real
life - with the global challenges that face
everyone?
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New sustainability thinking Sustainability
thinking so far has focused mainly around the
intellectual and the political - the spiritual
and aesthetic has been largely ignored it needs
to reach people's hearts as well as their minds.
The questions now are
How to link the great potential in people's
real experiences - the 'authenticity' of real
life - with the global challenges that face
everyone? How can
creative thinking contribute to the picture of
what sustainability might look like?
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New sustainability thinking Sustainability
thinking so far has focused mainly around the
intellectual and the political - the spiritual
and aesthetic has been largely ignored it needs
to reach people's hearts as well as their minds.
The questions now are
How to link the great potential in people's
real experiences - the 'authenticity' of real
life - with the global challenges that face
everyone? How can
creative thinking contribute to the picture of
what sustainability might look like?

How to make the connections between global
environmental problems, and people's own
wellbeing and happiness?
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New sustainability thinking Sustainability
thinking so far has focused mainly around the
intellectual and the political - the spiritual
and aesthetic has been largely ignored it needs
to reach people's hearts as well as their minds.
The questions now are
How to link the great potential in people's
real experiences - the 'authenticity' of real
life - with the global challenges that face
everyone? How can
creative thinking contribute to the picture of
what sustainability might look like?

How to make the connections between global
environmental problems, and people's own
wellbeing and happiness?
How to help people connect what they know is
right, with doing the right thing?
38
New sustainability thinking Sustainability
thinking so far has focused mainly around the
intellectual and the political - the spiritual
and aesthetic has been largely ignored it needs
to reach people's hearts as well as their minds.
The questions now are
How to link the great potential in people's
real experiences - the 'authenticity' of real
life - with the global challenges that face
everyone? How can
creative thinking contribute to the picture of
what sustainability might look like?

How to make the connections between global
environmental problems, and people's own
wellbeing and happiness?
How to help people connect what they know is
right, with doing the right thing?
What can really reach people's
hearts so that they begin to make the sorts of
changes that will begin to move towards a
sustainable world?
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Diane Warburton Shared Practice LLP

Brighton


UK BN1 3PH



44 (0)1273 774557
www.sharedpractice.org.uk

diane_at_sharedpractice.org.uk
March 2006