About the University

Sustainability

Definition of Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is about improving the quality of life for everyone and ensuring that whatever we do, we seek to ensure that we do not detract from other peoples' enjoyment of the planet, now or in the future.

A broadly-encompassing definition, which reflects the breadth of concerns, is provided by the Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, published by the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987): 'Development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.' (Brundtland Report, 1987).

There are many alternative definitions of sustainable development.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

Most people in the world today have an immediate and intuitive sense of the urgent need to build a sustainable future. They may not be able to precisely define ‘sustainable development’ or ‘sustainability’ - even experts debate that issue - but they clearly sense the danger and need for informed action. (UNESCO 1997)

Education for Sustainable Development aims to raise awareness of sustainable development and to ensure that learning enables people to make responsible decisions to ensure the best outcome for our fragile world.

The concept of sustainable development continues to evolve and part of the learning process is to debate and explore the concepts.

The Draft Implementation Scheme for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development outlines three key interdependent areas:

society
environment
economy with the underlying dimension of culture.

Education alone will not achieve sustainable development; good governance, economic policy and citizen participation etc. are also required.

However, learning is central to all that we do if we are to change. Without learning we are unlikely to shift perspectives!

It is suggested that the key role for education is to:

Play a transformative role in society by increasing peoples' awareness of the issues and developing their personal capacity for change
Foster the values, beliefs and behaviours which are important to a sustainable future (developing the global citizen)
Enable us to understand how our lives are linked with others throughout the world, and the 'interconnectedness' of our planet
Enable learners to make decisions that consider the long-term future of all communities, protecting the ecology, ensuring equity and social justice as well as ensuring success of the economy
Build capacity for 'futures-oriented' thinking so that one generation is not using resources at the expense of future generations.

Everyone is a stakeholder in ESD and the learning that needs to take place extends beyond education systems into our daily lives and communities.

Learning about sustainable development is central to achieving sustainability.

'Like other important concepts such as equity and justice, sustainability can be thought of as both a destination (something worth aiming for) and a journey (that has no pre-ordained route).' ( New Zealand Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, 2004)

For further information about ongoing work to incorporate the principles of sustainable development into the curriculum across all subject areas at Bournemouth University, please visit the Global Perspectives website:

Ecological Footprints

The average person in the UK currently has an ecological footprint of around 5.4 hectares, or three times the global per capita target.

This means that if everyone on the planet consumed as much as the average UK citizen we'd need three planets to support us.

If we in the UK decided to live within our fair share of the Earth's resources, we'd need to reduce our ecological footprint by two-thirds.

You can calculate your own ecological footprint online, for example www.myfootprint.org.