Unit 4

AOS 1
Sustainable
Outdoor
Relationships
 Unit 4 AOS 1
You will focus on some of the key
characteristics of healthy
environments and explore some of
the threats to maintaining and
sustaining healthy environment.
What makes an Environment Healthy?
Sustainability
. What is it?

How would
YOU define it?
Sustainability
 Sustainability defined
The ongoing capacity of the
earth to maintain all Life.
By becoming sustainable, we can
reduce our environmental
footprint and help preserve the
worlds precious natural
resources.
Other Definitions
Page 231 232 of Nelson Outdoor and
Environmental Studies
1, 2, 6, 8, 10
The Brundtland Commission
(from 1987)
The Brundtland Commission's mission is to unite countries to
pursue sustainable development together.
When the World Commission on Environment and
Development (Brundtland Commission) published its report in
1987, it presented a new concept - sustainable development.
development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.
The concept became one of the most successful approaches
to be introduced in many years.
In fact, it helped to shape the international agenda and the
international community's attitude towards economic, social
and environmental development.
 Brundtland
Commission's
Continued
The concept supports strong economic and social
development, in particular for people with a low
standard of living.
At the same time it underlines the importance of
protecting the natural resource base and the
environment.
Economic and social well-being cannot be improved
with measures that destroy the environment.
The Brundtland Commission
Report
Pros: Attempted to shift peoples thinking to include the
environment as part of any other systems we develop.
Attempt to think globally rather than individually.
Attempts to promote equality between the rich and poor and
minimise the impact of the wealthy nations.
Tries to acknowledge the need for growth in education, politics,
economy etc but to avoid doing so at the expense of the
environment.

Cons: Failed to deliver clear and concise guidelines to by which

governments could measure and monitor impact and progress.
So broad that governments were able to decide on their own course
of action and loosely justify which parts of it were sustainable.
Failed to identify and protect global resources that are being
exploited by wealthier nations at the expense of those who are still
developing and trying to catch up.
World Summit 2005
Gathering of world leaders at the United Nations
World Summit in New York.
Amongst the wide range of global topics
discussed, was improving sustainable
development.
Finding of the summit related to three,
independent areas.
Ecconomic Development
Social Development
Environmental Protection
 For any development to be truly sustainable, it
must consider these 3 pillars equally.
Businesses now take into consideration each of
these pillars into their operations and decision
making, taking into account the Social and
Environmental performance of their actions. Why?
Eg. Ensuring products are manufactured without child
labour, with fair wages and having minimal impact on the
environment.
Economical Development
Refers to the promotion of standards of living and
market productivity of a country.
When focused on resource extraction and
manufacturing process for economic growth, it has
a detrimental impact on the environment.
Over half of the world lives off $2 a day
In Australia, we want bigger TVs, the latest gadgets and
bigger homes to make us happy
With consumption and population rates increasing,
the demand for products from the earth continues
at an alarming rate.
Now starting to understand that the economy we
socially depend on is a part of the environment.
Social Development
Refers to the social wellbeing of all people with an
ability to meet all basic needs of survival.
The richest 1% of the worlds population own 40%
of the world wealth, the poorest 50%, own around
1%..
A major focus of sustainability is social
equalisation, to enable all humanity access to
basic needs, education and health.
Environmental protection
So much of our social and economic development
relies on the precious resources provided by the
environment.
With the advancement of technology, we are now
able to monitor the health of the environment and
the impacts of certain practices.
Now understand the need to adopt cleaner
methods to survive.
Understanding
 Sustainable Development
or Ecologically Sustainable
Development (ESD)
Sustainable development or ESD is a
pattern of economic growth in which
resource use aims to meet human needs
while preserving the environment so that
these needs can be met not only in the
present, but also for generations to come.
The term 'sustainable development' was used by
the Brundtland Commission which coined what
has become the most often-quoted definition of
sustainable development as development that
"meets the needs of the present without
 Sustainable Development
or Ecologically Sustainable
Development (ESD)
Has received criticisms about both the
purpose and consequences of the term.
Concerns over the vagueness and
philosophical underpinnings of ESD, and
claims that ESD is an oxymoron and
therefore a meaningless term.

Is this true? What are your thoughts and

beliefs?
Critiques of Sustainable Development
Critiquing the term Sustainable development:
The term is to Vague (unclear, meaningless). The term sustainable
is used so often that the meaning of the term can be lost. We can
say that we are being more sustainable with our actions, yet
continue to have an impact on earths resources.
The term is a Contradiction. To be sustainable is to have no long
lasting effect on the environment, to develop means to improve or
expand. With an ever rising population and the demand to develop,
we will continue to utilize more and more of the earths resources. Is
it possible to both be sustainable and develop?
How can you measure the effectiveness of sustainable
practices? Ecological footprint calculators are a good way of
showing the impact of our demand for earths resources. But how
can we measure the changes to our way of living? There is no set
criteria to measure our actions.
It is expensive to be sustainable. To install
sustainable/renewable sources is expensive. To use renewable
energy from electricity companies comes at an extra cost.
Supporter or Critic?
One way to better understand they way people
respond to concepts such as ESD or EF is to place
them on a continuum based on similar ways of
thinking. An example might look like this
Antrpocentric
People with this view often take a very human centered
approach to the debate. While they may still care about
the environment, they will still be more likely to value it
as a resource for human benefit and therefore would be
unlikely to make changes that will inconvenience them.
People of this standpoint may believe that education,
economic growth and societal development are
essential and implement plans such as the carbon tax,
carbon offsetting etc in attempt to defer or
compensate for human impacts on the environment.
Examples might be owners and investors in oil and coal
companies, skeptics of climate change, people living an
exuberant lifestyle.
Ecocentric
People who critique ESD from this stance would
argue that the whole concept is an oxymoron.
They might raise questions such as; How can you
develop (grow, change, expand) without further
harming the environment?
In many cases, the extreme ecocentric approach
demands such a shift away from current lifestyle
choices that it actually ends up deterring the
neutral population from the idea of sustainability.
The ecocentric approach attempts to value all
living things as equal and therefore can not
support the idea of manipulating the environment.
Neural
This is most likely where the greater majority of the earths
population fit for a whole range of reasons. Many of us like
the idea of saving the planet, but are so set in our ways and
so reliant on the goods we consume, that it is very difficult
to further develop our own environmental conscience.
For the poorer portion of the population, the neutral stance
is forced due to the fact that purchasing sustainably
produced products is often too difficult or too expensive.
In developing nations, the neutral anthropocentric stance
comes from the fact that they are still striving to catch up to
western civilisation in areas such as health care and
education and economic growth, as a result the environment
can be less of a priority.
Other Definitions of Sustainability 3
Business Sustainability
Business sustainability involves strategies and
practices that aim to meet the needs of today's
society without compromising the human and
natural resources that will be needed in the future.
Business and industry has a crucial role to play in
helping Australia to become more sustainable and
competitive.
As a result, many Australian organisations and
industries are responding by reducing their
environmental impacts and risks through improved
environmental management practices and efficient
use of natural resources.
Examples of Sustainable
Development in Businesses
Gloria Jeans Coffee
Starbucks
Arnotts
Nike
Kathmandu
Apple
Patagonia

Research one of the following businesses and look

at their sustainable development strategies.
Identify and explain how they go about this.
 Ecological Footprints
People often get disillusioned by sustainability,
saying it is too complicated to understand, when in
actual fact it is really quite simple.
Think of it this way: every human activity consumes
resources from the planet and produces waste that
the planet must then deal with.
We can even measure how close we are to a
sustainable society. This is where the Ecological
Footprint has a major role to play.
In fact, we are all bound to our planet's environment
and natural resources through our Ecological
Footprint.
 Ecological Footprint
The amount of productive land appropriated on
average by each person (in the world, a country,
etc) for food, water, transport, housing, waste
management, and other purposes
Or
The Ecological Footprint is a resource accounting
tool used by governments, businesses,
educational institutions and NGOs to answer a
specific resource question: How much of the
biological capacity of the planet is required by a
given human activity or population?
 It is time to find YOUR footprint..
http://
www.epa.vic.gov.au/ecologicalfootprint/calculators/personal/introduc
tion.asp
 Answer the following
questions!
Compare
this to the
average
footprint for
Victorians?

Determine some changes

that could be made to
consumption in the school /
household to reduce the
What we need to understand:
Definition of Sustainability
Definition of Sustainable Development
Critiques of Sustainable Development
Vague term
Contradiction
How can it be measured
Expensive
Exam Question
answer this!!!
Sustainability and sustainable development are concepts
that have been much criticised. Some of the criticisms
include:
o Sustainable development is a contradictory concept.
o Sustainability is difficult to measure.
o The interdependence of all parts of the ecosystem makes
sustainability unpredictable.
o Sustainable development is a restrictive ideology
imposed on poor nations by wealthy ones.
o Sustainable development puts human needs above those
of other creatures.
Taking into account the criticisms above, evaluate the
usefulness of the concept of sustainability and sustainable
development.