What is Sustainability?
While sustainability is very real and the signs of our "positive growth" are everywhere on the Ithaca College campus, sustainability is not a "thing." Sustainability is instead a continuous improvement process with no finish line; not a "what" , but a "how."
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"Sustainability is not a product but rather an ongoing process with no endpoint." - Provost Peter Bardaglio
If you're still grappling with the meaning of sustainability or sustainable development, these are other definitions that we like:
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"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." - World Commission on Environment & Development. Our Common Future (1987)
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Chiefs are instructed that when they deliberate on the serious matters of the Council, they are to consider the impact of their decisions on the seventh generation into the future. - The Haudenosaunee Seventh Generation philosophy (comprised of the traditional leadership of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy)
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"Sustainable communities foster commitment to place, promote vitality, build resilience to stress, act as stewards, and forge connections beyond the community." - Northwest Policy Institute, Seattle, WA
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