Journal Article. Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Board of Trustees, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Truman’s 1949 ‘Point Four’ marked the first large-scale technical assistance development programme, notions of building up capital followed, and by 1961 the United Nations declared “International Trade as the primary instrument for economic development” (ibid. Scholarship and projects emphasizing the need to match the scope and scale of law to our planetary boundaries and the ecological challenges of sustainability are certainly on target [22] . Laws, governance, and regulations often play important roles that initiate opportunities ahead of the other two sustainability pillars. 2002). As Dryzek has argued, we then see a wide range of actors who see the emergence of ‘sustainability’ as a dominant discourse and recognise it as ripe for shaping in terms that are favourable to them (Dryzek 2005, p146). This is mirrored in the documents of the UN and may be seen too within organisations such as the OECD, which, in a 2000 report on indicators, heavily emphasise the need to better understand the “complex synergies and trade-offs” between the “three dimensions” of sustainable development (OECD 2000, p19). These indicators were categorised under the four aspects presented in the 1995 workshop (UN 1996). Coupled with an environmental critique of the economic growth paradigm in the West was a broad criticism of economic development programmes being implemented in the developing world for their lack of environmental considerations. The three pillars of sustainability are broken up into, you guessed it, three sections: social, economic, and environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2012.01.035, O’Riordan T (1985) Research policy and review 6. This work marks what seems to be the first explicit conceptualisation of the pillars, complete with diagram, and discussion of inherent ‘trade-offs’. By comparison, the three pillars framework anchors the most crucial components for the implementation of sustainability solutions and applied projects, and therefore also helps identify crucial break points. The successor to the World Conservation Strategy, ‘Caring for the Earth’, calls for development that is “both people-centered … and conservation-based” (IUCN, UNEP, WWF 1991). 2007; Brand 2012). Notable too is Hirsch’s ‘Social Limits to Growth’ (1976), which probes the pursuit of growth and its fetishisation at the societal level, arguing that it acts to perpetuate inequalities, and that in fact the social limits to e.g. The authors argue for a model whereby ‘economic welfare’ is a component of the quality of life, which in turn is ultimately constrained by ‘environmental limits’. The inherently political nature of sustainability can often be forgotten, and we should be careful to avoid reproducing models without carefully considering their theoretical basis and the embedded ideology within them. Ben Purvis. Environ Impact Assess Rev 20:381–392. But what does sustainability mean? GAIA Ecol Perspect Sci Soc 21:5, Brown BJ, Hanson ME, Liverman DM, Merideth RW (1987) Global sustainability: toward definition. 1. Of the various works discussed here, it is possible to broadly distinguish between two ways in which the pillars have been conceptualised. Indeed, when the General Assembly adopted the finalised SDGs in 2015, it is stated how the goals are “integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental” (UN 2015, p1). Fast forward to the 2005 World Summit on Social Development and the inception of The 3 Pillars of Sustainability: Environmental protection; Social sustainability; Economic sustainability; In essence, sustainability implies a responsible approach that minimizes the negative environmental impact, while trying to maintain balance between all 3 ‘pillars’. If any one of these elements is out of balance then holistic sustainability cannot be achieved. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.281, Rome A (2003) “Give earth a chance”: the environmental movement and the sixties. Account Forum 29:7–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2009.07.013, The Ecology Party (1975) Manifesto for a sustainable society. Figure 2. Cities may be the source of many of our sustainability problems, but they are also among the most diverse, dynamic, and economically efficient places on the planet. Seers argued that indicators of poverty, unemployment, and inequality provided a truer depiction of the state of ‘development’ or ‘progress’ (Seers 1969; Arndt 1987, p91). DOI: 10.4236/jep.2018.93015 212 Journal of Environmental Protection for determining project priorities. In the interests of brevity, we leave much of the earlier discussion to authors already mentioned. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The objective of sustainable development then is to “maximise the goals across all these systems through an adaptive process of trade-offs” (p104). As Thompson puts it, “much of the…discourse around sustainability…is organized around…the three-circle rubric without much disciplined thought about how it does and does not translate into a more comprehensive understanding of sustainability” (Thompson 2017). Instead we pick up the narrative at the cusp of the 1960s environmental movements, choosing to focus on the strand of ‘development’ and how its critique contributed to the rise of ‘sustainable development’ in the 1980s. Oxford University Press, Oxford, Carruthers D (2001) From opposition to orthodoxy: the remaking of sustainable development. This logic is at best simplistic (Lélé 1991), and at worst smuggling an inherently ideological agenda under the guise of benign necessity (Tulloch 2013), clearly running in direct opposition to the earlier growth-critical works. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.02471.x, Dixon JA, Fallon LA (1989) The concept of sustainability: origins, extensions, and usefulness for policy. In contrary, all indicates that circumstances of the moment, very critical in the three levels, make our life in the planet not sustainable at a very early time, as it is very easy to demonstrate. simultaneously. An Academic Publisher, The Three Pillars of Sustainability Framework: Approaches for Laws and Governance (). Environ Conserv 11:299–308. ... On that premise, the objective of this study is to establish the missing link between the conventional concept of sustainability with its three pillars of environment, social and economy in relation to Islamic context and its worldview. 2.3.1. This can be seen in Brown et al.’s (1987) considerations of placing limitations on growth, Basiago’s call for economic ‘restructuring’, and Milne’s call for “subordination of traditional economic criteria”. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0195-9255(98)00019-5, Milbrath LW (1989) Envisioning a sustainable society: learning our way out. Volume 170 Volume 170 Issue 6: Themed issue on Zero Energy Mass Custom Home (ZEMCH) (December, 2017, pp. Sustain Sci 14, 681–695 (2019). Barbier and Altieri both reject economic growth as their economic goals, and the IUCN too remains wary of the economic system throughout their literature, instead focusing on the balancing of environmental and social goals. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01867238, Caldwell LK (1984) Political aspects of ecologically sustainable development. This is accomplished by embedding our consideration and understanding of ecological-human-social systems more deeply into our decision-making and institutional processes. For Public Policy to Achieve Sustainability Objectives. Build Res Inf 26:39–45. In this, it’s also useful as a template to guide public policy creation, shape governance structures, and support legal decision-making, particularly related to matching the scope and scale of law to our sustainability challenges. The principle of the four pillars of sustainability states that for complete sustainability problems to be solved in relation to all four pillars of sustainability and then need be maintained. Left, typical representation of sustainability as three intersecting circles. Journal International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology Volume 19, 2012 - Issue 5. Learn More about FrontStream's Workplace Philanthropy Platform . We’re not overlooking the important question regarding whether the way corporations, economic agents, and consumers currently interact has itself become a cause and driver of unsustainable (national and global) trajectories of growth, consumption, and pollution. The three-pillar conception of (social, economic and environmental) sustainability, commonly represented by three intersecting circles with overall sustainability at the centre, has become ubiquitous. Specifically, Article 6 TEU’s recognition of the Charter of Fundamental Rights (“CFR”) includes environmental protection: “A high level of environmental protection and the improvement of the quality of the environment must be integrated into the policies of the Union and ensured in accordance with the principle of sustainable development [24] ”. New digital procedures promise to improve world travel catering. Lélé distinguishes between two competing understandings of sustainable development: sustained growth, which he deems a contradiction; and ecologically sound development with implicit social objectives (Lélé 1991). From the late 1990s, Elkington’s ‘triple bottom line’ (TBL) accounting method gained traction with the publication of his popular book ‘Cannibals With Forks’ (Elkington 1997). These are based on prior stages of scientific knowledge, but are themselves the softest disciplinary set. 2007; Pope et al. 2In fact, ordoliberalism proposes decentralized and competitive economies promote individual liberty in opposition to tendencies towards fascism or dictatorship; individuals controlling and holding their own wealth have power and voice, as opposed to when wealth is held or distributed exclusively by states or kings. Given the world’s rapid pace of urbanization, sustainability policy and planning is now more important than ever for cities, relating in particular to law and policy at regional and local levels. But this distinction is lost when the UN equates development with growth, and the OECD calls for sustainable development for their member countries, i.e. The three pillars strategy framework is a good guide here, too, for shaping many of the key levers of governance. Central to these distinct schools, however, can be seen a broad critique of the economic status quo, both from ecological and social perspectives. 2004; Redclift 2005; etc.). Being supported and built around a framework like the three pillars model is still helpful here, because any changes in research need and priorities will still require inputs and disciplinary support from technological, legal, and economic areas. The popular three circles diagram appears to have been first presented by Barbier (Environ Conserv 14:101, doi: 10.1017/s0376892900011449, 1987), albeit purposed towards developing nations with foci which differ from modern interpretations. Aust J Environ Educ 7:43–62. This highlights the problems of undertheorised calls for ‘integration’ and ‘balancing’ of the pillars without the acknowledgement that any attempt to do so in practice is value driven. https://doi.org/10.1080/01603477.2015.1000173, Boyer R, Peterson N, Arora P, Caldwell K (2016) Five approaches to social sustainability and an integrated way forward. That said, it’s anything but straight forward to describe the multitude of flexible forms, approaches, processes, or entry points that a successful solutions path for a sustainability challenge could take. Glob Environ Change 7:5–24. This issue has been addressed by numerous authors who hold the term ‘sustainable development’, like that of ‘sustainable growth’, to be an oxymoron (Redclift 2005; Johnston et al. Despite the relative dearth of literature probing ‘sustainability’ and ‘sustainable development’ conceptually, one conceptualisation, that of ‘three pillars’, environmental, economic, and social, has gained widespread traction. 2012; Kajikawa et al. 2.3.3. Westview, Boulder, Altieri MA (1995) Agroecology: the science of sustainable agriculture, 2nd edn. Environ Sci Pollut Res 14:60–66. It should be noted here that these competing terms are primarily used interchangeably, and our preference for ‘pillars’ is largely arbitrary. In fact, the earlier the better when integrating or considering the connections between the three pillars, which usually should also include consideration of laws and governance. Subscribe. Passet’s systems approach emphasises that the sphere of economy is situated within the sphere of human activities, where social welfare is not reduced to the mere accumulation of goods and services, which in turn is situated within the biosphere (pp9–12). In that context, a specific focus is given throughout the discussion sections to the key role of laws and governance in supporting relevant, effective, and sustainable technological and economic development, as well as to highlight the crucial (often final) steps the law plays in successfully implementing new sustainability projects. The largest scale example of this is human made climate change, and the (now) inevitable and massive exposure risks and adaptation costs that nations and cities over the whole world will pay in the decades to come (Figure 3). Sustain Sci 10:385–395. A common critique is of the ‘sufficiently vague’ (Daly 1996) definition promoted by the international mainstream, ambiguous enough to allow for consensus building, but devoid of much substance. This missing link between theory and application is problematised by Barbier and others in a later work (Barbier and Markandya 2013, p38; Barbier and Burgess 2017); it is difficult to make decisions about trade-offs without knowing the implications of such choices and, whilst they offer a utility maximisation approach, it remains value laden. In other words, we are also considering how legal institutions and economic incentives can better support the creation and deployment of new technological solutions. J R Stat Soc 161:281–290, Daly HE (1973) Toward a steady-state economy. If this is frustrating to scientists and engineers, it’s also frustrating to law and policy makers; and we all may, or may not, be comforted by the fact we’re stuck together within this complex, integrated, systems-oriented sustainability challenge. 12,355 Views 82 CrossRef citations to date Altmetric Original Articles Principal sustainability components: empirical analysis of synergies between the three pillars of sustainability. The three pillars model directs both activities in a generally positive trajectory by accounting for feasibility, opportunity, and success for all of the key stakeholders. United Nations, New York, UN (2007) Indicators of sustainable development: guidelines and methodologies, 3rd edn. Tag: three pillars of sustainability . The clearest example of this is given by Barbier (1987) and Cocklin (1989) who both emphasise integration of the systems and management of trade-offs between them. These requirements cohere well with social and environmental aspects, but there is nothing to suggest a predecessor of anything approaching an economic pillar. Alternative manifestations include the three depicted visually as nested concentric circles or literal ‘pillars’, or independent of visual aids as distinct categories for sustainability goals or indicators. Striking similarities can be seen between this nested model and a much earlier one by Renè Passet, a contemporary of Ignacy Sachs (Passet 1979). We believe that sustainability can be broken down into “Three Pillars of Sustainability”. Actually, it’s rarely a question of technology as separate from economics or law, but one of how the three develop together to mutually support social goals for sustainable development and required solutions to given challenges or obstacles (again, at the speed and scale required). Education at all levels contributes to an informed and responsible populace, able to consider multiple social goals (including sustainability) in their daily lives and when choosing their leaders. As the discussion and examples that follow will demonstrate, the three pillars framework is useful in this regard in a number of ways: as a solutions and strategy template; for designing specific and applied solutions that are more likely to be successfully implemented and scalable; as an integrated planning and policy approach; as a decision guide for analyzing and determining priority projects; and, as a problem identification framework. Research agendas and funding of research are also part of public policy, and this is connected to or driven from other stakeholders and market actors. Further, an implicit notion of these three pillars predates this, appearing in work by the IUCN and in consideration of ‘eco-development’. At the same time, it’s important to remind ourselves that developed world consumers and businesses (in North America, Japan, and Europe, but also including parts of the Middle East and Asia like the Gulf States, Singapore, and Taiwan) annually consume multiples (on a per capita basis) of energy and natural resources compared to consumption in developing and emerging economies. In this, the three pillars of sustainability strategy framework may offer a pragmatic refinement to help determine whether claimed public policy exceptions are legitimate or likely to lead to successful project or policy outcomes. This is important for multidisciplinary work and projects. Whilst the IUCN introduced the term ‘sustainable development’ into the mainstream in 1980, it received little conceptualisation in the academic literature prior to the 1987 publication of the Brundtland Report. Multidisciplinary education and research can encourage well considered political negotiations, laws, and agreements. In fact, market actors everywhere in the world follow a predictable (whether rational or not) set of strategies, based largely upon everyday motivations like survival, getting enough to eat, addressing fear and anxiety, seeking pleasure, and accumulating a buffer of resources to cope with an uncertain future. The ‘three-pillar’ formulation itself, however, predates Barbier, at least implicitly, appearing in the IUCN’s 1980 ‘World Conservation Strategy’, O’Riordan (1985), the contemporaneous Brown et al. However, today’s sustainability challenges allow decreasing degrees of freedom for planning in most important areas of public activity, and issues from health care delivery, to immigration policy, to transport, to major infrastructure development projects should become part of policy-making for sustainability planning, and not the other way around. World conservation congress 13–23 October 1996 Montreal. In fact, the connection between the three pillars is made when researchers ask if traditional economic measures like annual GDP growth (which still drives many economic policy decisions) are helpful or even useful indicators of social health, well-being, happiness, human development, or prosperity. By the 1980s, the early environmental movements had lost momentum, as the wave of the radical social movements broke and rolled back (Van Der Heijden 1999). p47). All three pillars of sustainability – economic, societal and environmental. : Urban planning and the contradictions of sustainable development. There remains an urgent need to critically examine the models we employ for understanding. Technology and innovation, in engineering and product development, but also with respect to management structures and entrepreneurship, will continue to be key to our overall sustainability strategy. UK, Edinburgh, pp 1479–1489, Castro CJ (2004) Sustainable development: mainstream and critical perspectives. This approach typically presents three distinct systems with their own ‘goals’, and the interactions of these systems must be managed to meet these goals and the emergent goal of sustainability or sustainable development. defining sustainable development through the three pillars (Stevens and Kanie 2016). Soc Nat Resour An Int J 2:73–84. p72). This graphic is found in various forms as a descriptor of ‘sustainability’ within academic literature, policy documentation, business literature, and online, and whilst often described as a ‘Venn diagram’, it commonly lacks the strict logical properties associated with such a construction. 1972); this, claims Grober (2012, p155), marks the first modern appearance of the term in its broad global context. Sustain Sci 1:1–6. Importantly, we also have to be flexible in addressing these global issues, because we don’t yet know the answers to all our sustainability challenges. Green Books, Totnes, Hammond A, Adriaanse A, Rodenburg E et al (1995) Environmental Indicators: a systematic approach to measuring and reporting on environmental policy performance in the context of sustainable development. Our ultimate goal is to optimize global and social sustainability goals, even if (or especially when) contributions and roles from individual disciplines or stakeholders need to be sub-optimized or scaled back in order to achieve broader social and global objectives. What the three pillars of sustainability strategy framework can contribute here is a supportive refinement that is particularly strong at the local and city level. Be seen in Campbell ’ s true that people and Nations are the... & world Ecology Volume 19, 2012 - Issue 5 least the economic pillar remains a central point from much! 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