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Social issues affecting sustainability are many and closely interrelated through many scales, from international law to local and individual lifestyles and ethical consumerism (see global goals in Principles and concepts section and side bars in this section):
The relationship between human rights and human development, corporate power and environmental justice, global poverty and citizen action, suggest that responsible global citizenship is an inescapable element of what may at first glance seem to be simply matters of personal consumer and moral choice.[1]
The following major social topics receive attention in the sustainability literature:
Broad-based strategies for more sustainable social systems include: improved education and the political empowerment of women, especially in developing countries; greater regard for social justice notably equity between rich and poor both within and between countries; and intergenerational equity. [2] Social disruptions like war, crime and corruption divert resources from areas of greatest human need and generally threaten human well-being and the environment[1] while diminishing resources increase the likelihood of “resource wars”:[3] this aspect of sustainability has been referred to as environmental security and partly as a result of this, management of environmental problems is becoming more global (see global environmental agreements).
Infrastructure as part of increasing urbanization and more sustainable urban planning includes sustainable building and construction, sustainable cities, sustainable transport and systems as migration and movement from rural to urban situations continues to increase and as, in some regions, there is a coalescence of urban centres into continuous built environment, the megalopolis.
At the more local levels there are many movements encouraging simpler, less consuming life-style changes (see side bar).
The problems of sustainability are often expressed in scientific terms, but solving these problems is a challenge for human societies at all scales and many different contexts from international and national law, urban planning and transport, to local and individual lifestyles, ethical consumerism etc.
The relationship between human rights and human development, corporate power and environmental justice, global poverty and citizen action, suggest that responsible global citizenship is an inescapable element of what may at first glance seem to be simply matters of personal consumer and moral choice.[1]
The following major social topics receive attention in the sustainability literature:
Social disruptions like war, crime and corruption divert resources from areas of greatest human need, damage the capacity of societies to plan for the future and generally threaten human well-being and the environment.[1] Broad-based strategies for more sustainable social systems include: improved education and the political empowerment of women, especially in developing countries; greater regard for social justice notably equity between rich and poor both within and between countries; and intergenerational equity. [4] Depletion of natural resources including fresh water[5] increases the likelihood of “resource wars”:[6] This aspect of sustainability has been referred to as environmental security and creates a clear need for global environmental agreements to manage resources such as aquifers and rivers which span political boundaries, and to protect global systems including oceans and the atmosphere.
One approach to sustainable living, embodied by urban and rural ecovillages, seeks to create self-reliant communities based on principles of simple living, which maximise self-sufficiency particularly in food production. Most real examples are small in scale, although some larger communities also aspire to become sustainable cities.
Other approaches, loosely based around new urbanism, are successfully reducing environmental impacts by altering the built environment to create and preserve livable cities which support sustainable transport. Residents in compact urban neighbourhoods drive a third fewer miles, and have significantly lower environmental impacts across a range of measures, compared with those living in sprawling suburbs.[7]
Ultimately, the degree of human progress towards sustainability will depend on large scale social movements which influence both community choices and the built environment.for change. Eco-municipalities may be one such movement. Eco-municipalities take a systems approach, based on sustainability principles.
Sustainability principles 1. Reduce dependence upon fossil fuels,
underground metals, and minerals.
2. Reduce dependence upon synthetic chemicals
and other unnatural substances.
3. Reduce encroachment upon nature.
4. Meet human needs fairly & efficiently.[8]
The eco-municipality movement is participatory, involving community members in a bottom-up approach. In Sweden, more than 70 cities and towns — 25 per cent of all municipalities in the country — have adopted a common set of sustainability principles and implemented these systematically throughout their municipal operations. There are now twelve first eco-municipalities in the United States were the municipalities of Ashland, Washburn, and Madison, Wisconsin. T and the American Planning Association has adopted sustainability objectives based on the same principles.[8] Whistler, British Columbia, recently won first place for its long-term comprehensive sustainability plan, “Whistler 2020,” in a United Nations international competition.[9] Eco-municipalities are emerging in Japan, Estonia, and New Zealand.[8]
Infrastructure as part of increasing urbanization and more sustainable urban planning includes sustainable building and construction, sustainable cities, sustainable transport and systems as migration and movement from rural to urban situations continues to increase and as, in some regions, there is a coalescence of urban centres into continuous built environment, the megalopolis.
===Local efforts===
At the more local levels there are many movements encouraging simpler, less consuming life-style changes (see side bar).
This is remaining material that fits under a social banner of some sort - it is just a suggestion so that we have "slots" for remaining topics. Please make suggestions for more appropriate organisation, headings etc. Granitethighs (talk) 21:55, 22 January 2009 (UTC)
This page is not a forum for general discussion about Sustainability/social. Any such comments may be removed or refactored. Please limit discussion to improvement of this page. You may wish to ask factual questions about Sustainability/social at the Reference desk. |
Wikipedia is not a blog... Please refrain from promoting your advising, paid or unpaid... this is way to much personal information. skip sievert (talk) 17:48, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
This page is not a forum for general discussion about Sustainability/social. Any such comments may be removed or refactored. Please limit discussion to improvement of this page. You may wish to ask factual questions about Sustainability/social at the Reference desk. |
It looks like everyone has given their seal of approval for the current version. I agree with GT we can (and will) continue tweaking and editing. So I will put it up now. Sunray (talk) 16:23, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
The problems of sustainability are often expressed in scientific terms, but solving these problems is a social challenge, at all scales and many different contexts,[1] from international and national law, urban planning and transport, to local and individual lifestyles and ethical consumerism.
The relationship between human rights and human development, corporate power and environmental justice, global poverty and citizen action, suggest that responsible global citizenship is an inescapable element of what may at first glance seem to be simply matters of personal consumer and moral choice.[2]
Social disruptions like war, crime and corruption divert resources from areas of greatest human need, damage the capacity of societies to plan for the future and generally threaten human well-being and the environment.[2] Broad-based strategies for more sustainable social systems include: improved education and the political empowerment of women, especially in developing countries; greater regard for social justice notably equity between rich and poor both within and between countries; and intergenerational equity. [3] Depletion of natural resources including fresh water[4] increases the likelihood of “resource wars”:[5] This aspect of sustainability has been referred to as environmental security and creates a clear need for global environmental agreements to manage resources such as aquifers and rivers which span political boundaries, and to protect global systems including oceans and the atmosphere.
One approach to sustainable living, embodied by urban and rural ecovillages, seeks to create self-reliant communities based on principles of simple living, which maximise self-sufficiency particularly in food production. Most real examples are small in scale, although some larger communities also aspire to become sustainable cities.
Other approaches, loosely based around new urbanism, are successfully reducing environmental impacts by altering the built environment to create and preserve livable cities which support sustainable transport. Residents in compact urban neighbourhoods drive a third fewer miles, and have significantly lower environmental impacts across a range of measures, compared with those living in sprawling suburbs.[6]
Ultimately, the degree of human progress towards sustainability will depend on large scale social movements which influence both community choices and the built environment. Eco-municipalities may be one such movement. Eco-municipalities take a systems approach, based on sustainability principles.
Sustainability principles 1. Reduce dependence upon fossil fuels,
underground metals, and minerals.
2. Reduce dependence upon synthetic chemicals
and other unnatural substances.
3. Reduce encroachment upon nature.
4. Meet human needs fairly & efficiently.[7]
The eco-municipality movement is participatory, involving community members in a bottom-up approach. In Sweden, more than 70 cities and towns — 25 per cent of all municipalities in the country — have adopted a common set of sustainability principles and implemented these systematically throughout their municipal operations. There are now twelve eco-municipalities in the United States and the American Planning Association has adopted sustainability objectives based on the same principles.[7] The resort community of Whistler in Canada recently won first place in a United Nations international competition for its long-term comprehensive sustainability plan, “Whistler 2020.”[8] Eco-municipalities are emerging in Japan, Estonia, and New Zealand.[7]
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