Sustainability On All Fronts

The Basic Issue

Jacki Skelton , Director of the ACC Rural Development Program in Brandon has an interesting way of describing the Sustainability issue. In her program, which is very applied in nature, she has her students look at a situation and "close the circle". There are social environmental and business / economic aspects to life each of which needs to be looked at in order for the community to be sustainable. So, if you look at where the gap is, and find the hole, then close the circle. To me, that's pure genius. It takes all the high-sounding talk and brings it down to earth. Even if one defines the circle somewhat differently, the same principle applies: all of life must work in each of its parts, for it to work for anybody.

In practice, it is a term which often doubles for the ecology movement in its various forms. As with so many buzzwords, they lose their meaning with everybody using it from their own perspectives, and for their own often-contradictory ends. Then of course there are those who want to purify the term, and reclaim its definitional rigor, but that is a heard task at the best of times. In research at times like that, it is best to be careful to spell out one's own meanings for the context, if the term must be used.

Off-Line Resources

• Ferrazzi, Gabe. "Sustainable Development" . Rural Community Development Introductory Modules,(WebCT class notes). Brandon University, Fall, 2001.Module #2-b .
  Gabe's notes on the issue of sustainable development pick up on its origin and the boost it got in the UN Brundtland Report in 1987. He notes that there are several spin-off terms, and outlines their common ground. He notes the "family farm" orientation the echoes as overtones to the term's use in connection with communities, and raises questions about the contradictions inherent in the term's loose definition and usage. He provides a wealth of informational leads.

On-Line Resources