Sustainability Office
Kagin Commons
1600 Grand Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55105
651-696-8138
Comments & questions to:
sustainability@macalester.edu

What does Sustainability at Macalester Mean?
   

The Webster’s Dictionary defines “sustainability” as: 1: capable of being sustained (keep up, prolong, confirm ). 2 a: of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged <sustainable techniques> <sustainable agriculture> b: of or relating to a lifestyle involving the use of sustainable methods <sustainable society>.

The term evolved from “sustainable development”, most often described as “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Our Common Future. England: Oxford University Press). The United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development was created in 1983 and published the Our Common Future Report in 1987. The report is often referred to as the Brundtland Report.

The Brundtland report first articulated the concept of sustainable development as the interaction of three areas: ecology/environment, economy/employment, and equity/equality. These are known today as the three E’s. The area that is the intersection of all of the three circles (shown in black in figure one) is sees as the goal of sustainable development

Fig. 1: Graphic from Sustainable Measures (http://www.sustainablemeasures.com/)

This concept of including economy and equity along with ecology showed that sustainable development was a distinct shift from the previous concept of environmentalism.

The fourth E, education, is often addressed as the way to gain knowledge and establish sustainability as a long term approach to systematic global problems. In fact the United Nations has declared 2005-2014 a Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.

Another graphic that tries to show the concept of sustainability uses concentric circles to show that the economy is a subset of society and both are dependent on the environment.

The term, sustainable development, has also been defined in Minnesota State Statues, Section 4A.07 as: "development that maintains or enhances economic opportunity and community well-being while protecting and restoring the natural environment upon which people and economies depend. Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

For additional information of sustainable development, See Sustainable Development:  The Very Idea.

Themes in sustainable development tend to include:

• Using renewable resources, such as timber and fish, at a rate that can be maintained over time.
• Gradually reduce reliance on nonrenewable natural resources, such as coal and oil.
• Reduce reliance on and limit the release of toxic substances that do not readily break down in nature.
• Use all resources as efficiently and fairly as possible so that present and future generations can meet their needs.
• Use land — a finite resource that has no substitute — in ways that meet peoples’ diverse needs, conserve financial and natural resources, and preserve the land’s ability to meet future needs.
• Reflect the interdependence of social, economic and environmental conditions.
• Preserve the integrity of ecological processes and biological diversity.

Macalester College · 1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105  USA · 651-696-6000
Comments and questions to webmaster@macalester.edu