Currently, the concept of sustainable development is one of the central in economic science, and therefore one of the most studied and discussed in the scientific and political environment. Such popularity of the ideas of economic development without violation of the natural basis is nothing but inspiring on the one hand, since it serves their promotion to the general public (business environment, education, science, etc.) and should already bear fruit in the form of social responsibility of business, use of resource-saving production technologies, consumption culture, etc. On the other hand, there is a risk that such popularity can entaildevotion to idea for the sake of the idea itself, the risk that not the results of research in this field, but the studies themselves, often not applied, are valuable.
This monograph, as a result ofwork of the group of authors, is a writing united by a central idea - the search for applied tools for managing the economy with the aim of its sustainable development. The real depth of the question lies in its complexity and versatility, while the economic essence of development is largely determined by the results of a complex of natural and human sciences. So the very foundations of the idea of sustainable development laid down in ancient philosophy, which, before acquiring modern features, went through many stages of historical philosophical and methodological evolution. Each of the stages was influenced by a multitude of historical, political, institutional and other factors shaping the guiding, accelerating or slowing down the process.
We consider sustainable development economy as the next stage of evolution, and the transition to it is inevitable, while we are concerned with the question of whether Russia can take a rightful place in this changing world and what tools should be used to make this process effective and manageable.
All of the foregoing predetermines the relevance of this work, not only for the development of the theory of sustainable development, but also for the management of socio-ecological and economic systems.