Sustainability

Rethinking the Discourse

Kevin Gibson wants to revise an influential way of thinking about sustainability.

“I know that nothing which truly concerns man is calculable, weighable, measurable.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

Since the influential 1987 Brundtland report on behalf of the United Nations, Our Common Future, the concept of sustainability has gained traction in scholarly work and university life. That report defined development as sustainable when it “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The urgency of action for sustainability comes from indisputable data about the world: the population is growing exponentially, and people have greater material aspirations.

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