Redefining Sustainability
The term sustainability is the framework used now to express the political, social, and economic trends in which we engage in the world. It is used to back up political legislation, urban design plans, the daily decisions of some, and even, yes, the products we buy. It is presented on a Venn Diagram that highlights what is known as a "Triple Bottom Line," or the three E's of Sustainability (economics, environment, equity). Yet, there is something missing.... an approach like this focuses on compromises between separate areas as opposed to a continually improving system of governance, civic engagement, and green rehabilitation.
No doubt in the end there is a problem with the term in what we think is sustainable and what actually is. Mainly, as a product of Westernized-thinking, sustainable development has been ultimately designed to look a lot more like this:
To contest the western definition of sustainability as the Triple Bottom Line, it is worth looking at alternative ways where sustainability goes beyond the simplified model and that perceive it from another point-of-view besides economics. As Albert Einstein pointed out, "we can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." There are other ways of doing. While engaging in the discourse of the architectural practice of social engagement as evident in the Global South, other ways of defining sustainability arise
Sustainability in relation to psychology:
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Sustainability as a Process
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Sustainability as a system:
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Part of the solution to the environmental crisis involves changing the common conceptions that we have created that have led us to where we are now, the environmental crisis itself. By engaging analytically in exploring "other ways of doing," one can start to piece together a sustainability movement that is not westernized and instead a holistic reaction to the dire problems plaguing many cities, politics, and cultures. |