MSc in Environment & Development Education
UNIT 4 DAYSCHOOL PROGRAMME
Some notes on the concept of "Sustainable Development"
This Unit is primarily concerned with looking at theories and perspectives on DEVELOPMENT and ENVIRONMENT.....
Since....the Brundtland Commission (World Commission on Environment and Development, Geneva, 1985) and The Rio Summit in 1992....the concept of Sustainable Development has increasingly come to be seen as the unifying theme linking debates on environment and development - hitherto seen as largely unconnected....
As such therefore, Sustainable Development forms the unifying theme in this Unit..
However.. the concept itself is far from "clear"......as is clear from the following examples....
Lets look at the following definitions.....
the Brundtland Commission (World Commission on Environment and Development, Geneva, 1985) provides a formulation of the concept of sustainable development that leaves a good deal of room for individual interpretation.......
The Brundtland Report states that:
"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......
It then goes on to define sustainable development as follows....
"In essence, sustainable development is a process of change in
which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development, and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and
aspirations".
Activity....
analyse the Bruntland Report statements above....
Then write down two differnet interpretations of the concept of
Sustainable Development...by defining in different ways the following terms.....
Needs of the present...
Without compromising...
Ability of future generations...
the direction of investments...
the orientation of technological development....
institutional change...
harmony in current and future aspirations....
What seems to be immediately apparent therefore is that the notion of Sustainability and Sustainable Development seem to take on different meanings when used in different disciplines...or perspectives....
However, regardless of definitional complexities...it seems clear that by implication....the use of the term "Sustainable" in conjunction with "Development" imply a particular type of "Development" which is distinguishable from its predecessors by virtue of its sustainability....
Therefore....how can we begin to understand the concept of "Development" then.....? One way is to try to understand the historical origins of the emergence/conceptualisation of "Development" .....
Historical Roots....
Nowadays the concept of `development' may be seen to be anchored in Common Sense - an idea which seems to be woven into our daily life...part of perception of world events.. thru' news/conversations ...
However.... Common Sense itself is of questionable Merit ..as an aid to our understanding of the theoretical complexities..
Our Thought Experiment....
Theory" vs."History"
The emergence of new concepts/intellectual constructions/ paradigms/theoretical frameworks
etc.... a product of history - socio-economically specific historical processes or abstract/ahistorical individual endeavour.
The emergence of Development Paradigm is no exception......
Historical Origins Of The Concept Of Development
Mainstream - Modernisation Theory; post WW2 phenomenon...
Unilinear Model: Rostow/Smelser:
Philosophical roots/economic roots
Radical/neo-Marxit aproaches...the
Development of Underdevelopment
Dependency Theories...These argue that the development of the north is the cause of the underdevelopment of the south
