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I am a member of the New England (Australia) Ecological Economics Group and
I am researching sustainable regional development. My intention is to model
the problem using the system dynamics / learning organisation framework
described in Morecroft and Stermans edition of Modelling for Learning
Organisations. This research has led me to at least try and get the concept
of sustainability clear for myself so that I can more adequately define the
problem. The Brundtland definition is the most widely accepted meet the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs. The general acceptance of this definition is
largely due to its vaugeness; get acceptance largely because it means
different things to different people. Will depend on your point of view of
the potential of technological progress and the regenerative capacity of
the environment in addition to views on equity and welfare andother things.


Sustainability is used over a wide range of contexts from sustainable
growth (?) to pristine environments; rather than in the context of a
process which would seem to offer some hope for moving forward in the
debate. The following describes my attempt at articulation:

Sustainability describes a state that is in transition constantly.

* the activity or objective of sustainability is not to win or lose
and the intention is not to arrive at a particular point.

* the approach can be said to have been applied to any activity in
which explicit account is taken of perspective (worldview, mindset), this
implicitely requires participation (dialogue).

* success is determined retrospectively, so the emphasis is no
longer on forward looking sights or mindsets, things are viewed more from a
systems perspective.

I have found quantum and complexity to create much the same problems of
definition as sustainability. Collectively these appear to be more concept
words with necessarily vague boundaries that relate to a systems worldview.
The sustainability debate has grown in the socio-economics literature with
little attention being given to defining context. This is in contrast to
much of the new science literature on quantum and complexity which places
strong effort on context to articulate a new world view. It has been
suggested that information in context is the comparative advantage of the
future; so that perhaps it is time for the sustainability debate to focus
on the context of use of sustainability to avoid the current confusion
regarding its application.

I a postgraduate student and would welcome feedback on these thoughts.

Regards

Tony Meppem

CWPR (EE)
University of New England
Armidale 2351
Australia
ameppem@metz.une.edu.au

Brundtland definition seems quite precise to me. Check out following papers:


Acharya, S. R., and Saeed, K. , An Attempt to Operationalize the
Recommendations of the "Limits to Growth" Study to Sustain Future of
Mankind. System Dynamics Review. (12)4. 1996 (forthcoming)

Saeed, K. An Attempt to Determine Criteria for Sensible rates of Use of
Material Resources. Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 28(4).
1985


Khalid Saeed
Professor and Program Coordinator
Infrastructure Planning & Management Program
School of Civil Engineering
ASIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
P.O. Box 4, Klongluang, Pathumthani, THAILAND 12120
phones: (66-2)524-5681, (66-2)524-5785; fax: (66-2)524-5776
email saeed@ait.ac.th

Visit our program website at: http://www.ipm.ait.ac.th/