In 1987, the UN Brundtland Report provided one of the most popular definitions of “sustainable development”, which was defined as a “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987 p. 45). Cohen et al...
In 1987, the UN Brundtland Report provided one of the most popular definitions of “sustainable development”, which was defined as a “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987 p. 45). Cohen et al. (1998) highlighted that this definition of sustainable development is part of a broader political discourse that has exposed the concept of sustainability and its components to manipulation and contestation. Laine (2005) also emphasised that the elusiveness of the definition provided by the Brundtland Report has enabled the concept of “sustainability” to gain prominence in environmental and social discourse worldwide, since “it has been possible to define the concept to suit one’s own purposes” (p. 397). According to Bebbington and Larrinaga (2014, p. 398), “while this definition is familiar to many, its radical nature can only be appreciated in the context of the time it was first promulgated” (see also Bebbington, 2001). In their view, “the broad nature of the Brundtland Report definition of sustainable development has allowed a wide coalition to unite under its rhetoric while the implications that arise from its application in particular situations remain contested” (2014, p. 400).
Following the Brundtland Report, institutions and international bodies have further attempted to specify what sustainability means and have tried to capture its main components. For example, at the Johannesburg World Summit in 2002, ‘sustainable development’ was defined as embracing not only environmental aspects but social inclusion and economic development as well (see Drexhage and Murphy, 2010). This definition was further reinforced in 2012 by the United Nations and extended in 2013 by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) with the inclusion of good governance as the fourth pillar and the publication of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The academic literature has also attempted to provide various definitions for the concept of sustainability (more than 70 according to Lozano and Huisingh, 2011). In this respect, Han Onn and Woodley (2014) emphasised that the number of definitions provided, as well as the different ways in which they have been operationalized within organizations, have left the term ‘sustainability’ basically undefined.
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