Defining and measuring sustainability: a systematic review of studies in rural Latin America and the Caribbean

Social Sustainability?: Exploring the Relationship between Community Experience and Perceptions of the Environment

“…Sustainability is a widely used but still poorly developed concept. Recently, to better understand the term, researchers began a more systematic revision of it [6]. For example, Rogge et al [7] define sustainability as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" [7]; that is, the principal goal of sustainability is to use existing resources without negatively influencing their future supply [8].…”

“…As we have seen, the concept of sustainability now rests on three pillars [11]: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, and social sustainability [1,[4][5][6]12]. It is asserted that all three are necessary for sustainability to succeed [6], but while this claim is plausible, it is also contentious because, as Purvis et al [4] suggests, it depends on whether researchers view sustainability as either a single integrated system or as three separate parts [4]. We will begin by considering the parts separately.…”

“…Economic sustainability is the best known and understood of the three sustainability domains. Gibbes et al [6] define it as the preservation and renewal of resources [6], a definition that came about, in part, because of the 2008 Wall Street financial crash that underscored the finiteness of all economic resources [13]. For this reason, economic sustainability now concentrates on sustaining capital resources [14], whether manufacturing, natural, or financial [4] and is a major goal of most economic sustainability policies [4].…”

“…While the three domains overlap and are interrelated, social sustainability has received much less attention than the others. Among researchers, there is still no agreement about its definition [4][5][6][7][8] or even its precise domain, which has "never actually been agreed upon" [9] (p. 612). While social sustainability is, for some researchers, the ability of a community-or group of people-to achieve any positive result related to sustainability goals, it is more generally agreed to be the "ability of society itself, or its manifestation as local community, to sustain and reproduce itself at an acceptable level of functioning" [2] (p. 293).…”

Sustainability and the Digital transition: a literature review

“…It also aims to balance environmental protection and economic growth. With the increased awareness of the need for sustainability, progress has been made, including increased use of renewable energy, strengthened protections for endangered species, and improved measures of environmental protection [2]. However, Fischer and Riechers [3] note that problems such as ongoing anthropogenic climate change, poverty, high rates of species extinction, and lack of equal opportunities continue to persist.…”