Frequently Asked Questions
A literal definition of "sustainability" is simple: capable of being sustained; the ability to withstand or uphold some type of weight (or pressure). Language around sustainability has evolved as scientific advancements have allowed for greater understanding of the earth's ability to withstand the pressure of human impact and carrying capacity. Models used to illustrate this relationship between human impact and the earth's carrying capacity are grounded in a fundamental law of nature: natural systems have a limited capacity to assimilate waste and recover from the depletion of resources.
What does it mean when these models show that current trends are unsustainable? It means that humans are extracting resources faster than the earth can replenish them, emitting waste faster than the earth can absorb it, and putting increased pressure on the earth's life systems. The growing understanding of these trends has sparked an enormous amount of research on sustainability. For example, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment is a comprehensive report published in March 2005 involving the work of more than 1,360 experts worldwide that explains the unsustainable relationship between humans and our surrounding living systems. Research like this provides us with a context for sustainability. The word "sustainable," therefore, signifies a desired relationship between humans and their surrounding ecosystems that, when honored, can sustain a healthy and desirable lifestyle indefinitely.
Sustainability is most commonly referred to when talking about development, hence the phrase "sustainable development." This increasingly popular phrase has emerged in response to two converging trends:
1) natural systems of the earth (water, forests, wildlife, soil, etc.) are deteriorating, and;
2) population and consumption, and consequently the demand on these natural systems, is
increasing
Because localities are simply subsystems within a larger biosphere, these converging trends are being experienced on all levels - planetary, nationally, and locally. As these natural systems deteriorate, their capacity to provide essential services to humans also diminishes. It is through the growing understanding of these circumstances that the phrase "sustainable development" was brought to the mainstream. In 1987 United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development released a report, Our Common Future, which defined sustainable development as, "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." More recently, the city of Seattle defined sustainable development as, "improving the quality of life, within the mean of nature." There is no consensus definition for sustainable development. There is, however, universal need for a phrase that addresses the challenge of meeting growing demand with finite resources.
Although the specific definition for sustainability or sustainable development may vary from one community, corporation, or government to the next, the underlying assumption remains the same: humans live within ecosystems that are subject to fundamental laws of nature. When discussing sustainability, it is crucial to understand the context of living within a complex system. Most of us were taught in school to perceive the world primarily in terms of objects that can be individually studied and understood. This approach assumes that in every complex system, the behavior of the whole can be understood by the properties of its parts. Today, however, we understand that a complex system is a collection of parts and their interrelationships that interact over some period of time and produce a behavior. That behavior is an emergent property of the system - a function of the system that could not and would not have been understood by simply studying the system's parts and not the whole. Because of emergent properties, we now understand that in a complex system the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Consider this- "wellness" is an emergent property of the healthy relationships among the parts that make up the human body (a system in itself). Although the system cannot exist without its most vital parts - heart, lungs, liver, etc - an emergent property of the system, like wellness, cannot be found solely in its parts. In other words, one cannot understand or guess the behavior of a system based exclusively on an understanding of the properties of the individual parts. Likewise, sustainability is an emergent property of a nested hierarchy of socioeconomic and ecological systems, as wellness is an emergent property of a nested hierarchy of cells, organs, and subsystems within the physical body. A system's emergent properties arise from the pattern of interactions and relationships among the parts, just like sustainability emerges from the interactions and interrelationships of multiple subsystems in the global socioeconomic-ecological system.
Now consider this - because sustainability is an emergent property of the highly complex and interwoven global system, it is inaccurate to suggest that we can create sustainable companies or communities if society is unsustainable at the global level. And while it may seem like the most unintuitive timing, this is where the Wolfeboro Master Plan comes into play. Our sphere of influence resides in the subsystems: our households, organizations, communities, etc. If we want sustainability to be the emergent property of the larger socioeconomic-ecological system, we need to figure out what relationships among the parts are most likely to produce that outcome. With this context in mind, we can make decisions and take actions on the local level that increase the probability of a sustainable global society. Hence, Global Awareness, Local Action.
Do you have to live in Wolfeboro to get involved?
No. You can become involved with G.A.L.A. from wherever you live, and to whatever degree you wish. G.A.L.A. is 100% volunteer-based and therefore 100% dependent on your participation, so find out how to get involved now!
