The Sustainable development Portal
Scheme of sustainable development: at the confluence of three preoccupations. Clickable.
Sustainable development has been defined as balancing the fulfillment of human needs with the protection of the natural environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but in the indefinite future. The term was used by the Brundtland Commission
which coined what has become the most often-quoted definition of
sustainable development as development that "meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs."
The field of sustainable development can be conceptually divided
into four general dimensions: social, economic, environmental and
institutional. The first three dimensions address key principles of sustainability, while the final dimension addresses key institutional policy and capacity issues.
The economy of Africa consists of the trade, industry, and resources of the peoples of Africa. As of July 2005, approximately 887 million people were living in 54 different states.
Africa is by far the world's poorest inhabited continent, and it is, on
average, poorer than it was 25 years ago. Of the 175 countries reviewed
in the United Nations' Human Development Report 2003, 25 African nations ranked lowest.
Africa's current poverty is rooted, in part, in its history. The transition from colonialism has been shaky and uncertain. Since mid-20th century the Cold War and increased corruption and despotism have contributed to Africa's poor economy. While China and India have grown rapidly and Latin America
has experienced moderate growth, lifting millions above subsistence
living, Africa has stagnated and even regressed in terms of foreign trade, investment, and per capita income. This poverty has widespread effects, including low life expectancy, violence,
and instability, which in turn perpetuate the continent's poverty. Over
the decades, attempts to improve the economy of Africa have met with
little success.
Findhorn Ecovillage is based at The Park, in Moray, Scotland near the village of Findhorn. The project's main aim is to demonstrate a sustainable development in environmental, social, and economic terms. Work began in the early 1980s under the auspices of the Findhorn Foundation
but now includes a wide diversity of organisations and activities.
Numerous different ecological techniques are in use, and the project
has won a variety of awards, including the UN-Habitat Best Practice Designation in 1998. A recent independent study concludes that the residents have the lowest ecological footprint
of any community measured so far in the industrialised world. Although
the project has attracted some controversy, especially regarding the
spiritual origins of the community, the growing profile of environmental issues such as climate change has led to a degree of mainstream acceptance of its ecological ethos.
The October 1982 Conference ‘Building a Planetary Village’ hosted by the Findhorn Foundation marked the beginning of serious attempts by the intentional community, which had existed at Findhorn since 1962 to demonstrate a human settlement that could be considered sustainable in environmental, social, and economic terms. The term, ecovillage, later came to be used to describe such experiments.
Dr. James E. Hansen (born March 29, 1941 in Denison, Iowa) heads the NASA Institute for Space Studies in New York City, a division of Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, Earth Sciences Directorate. Dr. Hansen is an adjunct professor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences department at Columbia University.
He is best known for his testimony on climate change to congressional
committees in the 1980s that helped raise broad awareness of the global
warming issue. He is a vocal critic of the Bush Administration's
ideology on climate change.
Hansen has focused on planetary research that involves trying to
understand the climate change on earth that will result from
anthropogenic changes of the atmospheric composition. One of his
research interests is radiative transfer in planetary atmospheres,
especially interpreting remote sounding of the earth's atmosphere and
surface from satellites. Such data, appropriately analyzed, may provide
one of the most effective ways to monitor and study global change on
the earth. Dr. Hansen also is interested in the development and
application of global numerical models for the purpose of understanding
current climate trends and projecting humans' potential impacts on
climate.
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The germs of existence contained in this spot of earth, with ample
food, and ample room to expand in, would fill millions of worlds in the
course of a few thousand years.
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