11 things people get wrong about Sustainable Development… and frankly they’ll all shock you.
Sustainable Development. It’s been on my mind a lot recently, after a couple of podcast interviews I’ve done (for example this one with Ilona Mooney from Work Ahead), and with COLLISION, The Shortcut’s Sustainable Entrepreneurship Week, coming up. It’s one of those subjects that I feel as a responsible adult in the 21st century that I should be aware of. I should care about it. I should be actively participating in, even. The truth is, it’s a subject I only have the woolliest notion of.
Fortunately, I can fix that. A friend and writing colleague of mine is pretty much the perfect person to tap for this. His name is Ricardo Victoria and he is a full-time lecturer and researcher at the School of Architecture & Design, at the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico. He focuses on teaching and researching Sustainable Design.
I started with, perhaps, an overly naïve question: what is the essence of Sustainable Development?
“Solving the real needs of people,” Ricardo replied, “without compromising the needs of future generations, within a frame of equality and protection to the environment and other living beings.”
It’s a subject Ricardo cares deeply about; if I had any doubts about it, they didn’t last long. I suggested we could have a bit of fun back-and-forth banter and come up with a list on Things people misunderstand about Sustainable Design. The reply he gave me… well, it speaks for itself really. Here it is in full.
- Climate change is fake.
No, it’s actually quite real and becoming a deadly serious threat, just check the rise of temperatures in Europe for the past decade as an example. 99.99% of the scientific community around the world agrees that it is real. - Sustainable Development is expensive.
No, in reality, many measures for sustainable development are low tech, and accessible. It requires common sense though. - Sustainable Development is the duty of the government.
No, everybody has to chip in as is the responsibility of the whole planet. The only way to force companies and governments to change is through organized communities. - Sustainable Development refers only to environmental protection.
No, to really talk about sustainability, you need to consider the ‘triple bottom line’: ecology, society, and economy (regardless of the economic system). The three of them act as a system. If one fails, the other two will follow right away (e.g. in a given region if temperatures rise/too many pollutants in the water, drinkable water sources disappear, affecting society in ways that go from migration to wars, which in turn collapse the economic system of the region). - Sustainable Development is not possible within capitalism.
No, Sustainable Development works (or should work) within any economic system, as at the core the aim is to solve the basic needs of people. It does require a reframing of how the economic system works to offer bigger equality and how we as consumers value things and each other. Basically, recognizing that every person and living being have rights and needs and all are equally important and more important than corporate needs by orders of magnitude. - Sustainable Development is a fashion, a trend.
No, it is actually the future of civilization, as it is at its core a change of philosophy on how we see things. And how we value things. - Sustainable Development will force us to change our lifestyles.
Actually, yes it requires some changes in our lifestyles (like reducing the amount of red meat we consume, buying local produce, reuse as much as we can, etc). But above all, requires that we understand that lifestyle and quality of life are two different things and we should procure the latter rather than the former. - Sustainable Development is a new topic.
No, the basic concept has been around since 1713, by a man named Hans Carl von Carlowitz. The current definition of Sustainable Development though is from 1987, when it appeared in the Brundtland Report, commissioned by UN. And the environmental movement has existed since the 60s at least, when books such as ‘Silent Spring’ and ‘The Population Bomb’ were published. There is also a third book that motivated and inspired many members of the early environmental movement: The Lord of the Rings, believe it or not. It does touch environmental destruction and recovery (mostly in the epilogue with the hobbits returning to the Shire and Saruman’s last actions). - Sustainable Development is not compatible with industry.
Actually, it is. It needs to rethink the way we solve needs, the way we produce things and the way we use them though. Objects have a life cycle *cue the Circle of Life song from the Lion King* and thus we need to make said cycle more similar to nature’s one, where nothing gets wasted, everything gest reused to feed others. - Sustainable Development is easy.
Sadly, no, it does require well-thought ideas and solutions, systemic thinking and understatement of both the environment and the sociocultural context as well as a lot of empathy for others and respect for their rights. That’s why it is important for everyone in every community to pitch in. - There is still time to be sustainable.
No. There is no time to waste. Change is needed now. It is a moral imperative and in some cases, it might become a survival imperative. We only have one planet, we need to take care of if for us being able to still live in this beautiful planet and allow future generations to live as well.
In addition to his day job, Ricardo is also a writer of Science Fiction and Fantasy, often blending the two in wonderfully imaginative ways. I was curious, did his passion for Sustainable Design ever creep into his stories?
“Not always, I’m afraid. I tend to keep my day job and my work as a writer a bit separate. I do make mention of social issues such as equality and diversity in my stories though. But I need and want to write more stories about sustainability and that’s my goal this year, as I realize that writers can shape culture and thus is our duty to address these environmental and social issues.”
In the grand tradition of talk shows the world over, after Ricardo had been so generous with his time to help me with this, I thought the least I could do was help him plug his book. “You have a novel coming out this year, that’s exciting,” I said.
“Yes, my novel ‘Tempest Blades: The Withered King’, published by Shadow Dragon Press (an Artemesia Publishing imprint and currently available for preorder on Amazon and Barnes & Noble) will be released on August 20th. The book blends science fiction, fantasy, and anime action in a thrilling story about saving the world while battling your own past and training a new generation, without dying in the attempt. As well, the novel draws inspiration from old school jrpgs (think Final Fantasy). It took me a couple of years to write and another couple to get it published. Basically, I wrote the book that I would like to buy at the bookstore.”
Check out Ricardo’s stories, including his upcoming novel on his Amazon page.
