I have been thinking over “what sustainability means” for a while now. I suspect that there is no universal definition for the term. Let’s try to examine it from first principles, then. We might break up the word into “sustain-ability” – the ability of a system of interest – whether a local community, a corporation, a society, the world – to sustain, or continue operating, into the future.
If we could measure it somehow, we would probably find that the sustain-ability of a system wouldn’t be perfectly constant. It might be more, or less at particular times, depending on the configuration of the system as it evolves. For example, a community might have more sustain-ability if its members had more savings, secure and well-paying jobs, good health and ample resources of food, water, clean air and local biodiversity. And less sustain-ability if any of these started to be depleted for any reason, for example by a difficult economy with significant unemployment, or significant pollution from an industry that comes up nearby.
If sustain-ability of a system could be measured, say with a number between zero and 100 percent, we might want it to be greater than a certain threshold value at all times. And to transition to a high maximum value, ideally approaching 100%, to support continued operation of the system over the long term (think thousands or tens of thousands of years). There might also be some systems that we do not want to sustain over the long term, of course! Can you think of some examples? 🙂
At this point, you may rightfully interject – “what do you mean by ‘system’, anyway? We need more clarity on that”. It’s true that I have been using the term rather loosely. Can we pin it down precisely? Rather than attempt a formal, academic definition of ‘system’ (which even the experts disagree over), let us try to intuitively understand it for ourselves with a few homely examples. What are some of the systems you can see around you and which play a role in your life? I can think of – the electricity system. The education system. The food system. The transportation system. The political system of democracy.
Regardless of the particular ‘system’ under consideration, it seems that there are several interesting questions we can ask generally. For example – who, if anyone, designed the system? With what intention? Is the system producing the intended outcomes it was designed for? Are there any unintended outcomes it has created that were not part of the design? Is it possible that certain components or actors or agents in the system have divergent intentions or objectives? Does the system have ‘outputs’? How does the system ‘create’ these ‘outputs’, and does it ‘regulate’ them? How do these lead to the outcomes – intended, unintended, observed, hidden? How do we describe or ‘write down’ the system so that we can interrogate it in discussion with others? Can we use computer programs and modelling to help us with this? Can we compute and monitor the ‘sustain-ability’ of a system? How would we use such a signal if it was available?
The central point I would like to make is that in order to “achieve sustainability” – whether in ten, a hundred or a thousand years from now – we will have to undertake a deep quest to understand the systems that produce the unsustainable outcomes we see today. And use this understanding to shape a better way, a better world.
This article is part of a series of blog posts exploring sustainability, systems science and the information society. Was there anything that jumped out? Any question you feel was missed? Do share your comments and suggestions, I will integrate these into further writings and articles!
Leave a Reply