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Sustainable Development

There are many definitions of sustainable development and many discussions and meetings on this topic have been held at the international level. The fundamental aspect of sustainable development is perhaps best captured by the definition from the Report to the UN World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) called Our Common Future, which was submitted by its then chairwoman Gro Harlem Brundtland in 1987.

Sustainable development means development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
A requirement for development is to maintain development opportunities; among such possibilities, a fundamental one is to maintain the natural conditions both on the local scale and in the entire biosphere. Therefore, the entire Report analyses in more detail the natural, social and other conditions and the changes required for sustainable development on Earth. A Czech translation of the report Our Common Future was published in a book form and is available in libraries.

Sustainable development means above all balance – balance between three basic spheres of our lives (economy, social and the environment), and also balance between countries, various social groups, the present and the future etc.

Sustainable development is a complex set of strategies, which make it possible to meet human needs, material, cultural as well as spiritual, through economic means and technology, while fully respecting environmental limits; to make this possible on the global scale of today’s world, their social-political institutions and processes need to be re-defined at the local, regional and global levels. (Ivan Rynda)

According to the definition above, the quality of public administration, which is dealt with at the local and regional levels by local Agenda 21, is a precondition of sustainable development. Problem solving and the creation of development plans intended to promote sustainability require certain principles to be respected. Document Agenda 21 contains the basic principles of sustainable development.

Basic Principles of Sustainable Development

1. interconnection of the basic spheres of life – the economic sphere, social sphere and the environment; solutions allowing for only one or two of these are ineffective in the long run
2. long-term perspective – every decision needs to be assessed in relation to its long-term impacts, strategic planning is necessary
3. the capacity of the environment is limited – not only as the source of raw materials, substances and functions required for life, but also as to the space for waste and pollution of all kinds
4. precaution – the consequences of some of our activities are not always known, because our knowledge of the damage to the environment is incomplete, therefore, caution is prudent
5. prevention – is far more effective than dealing with the impact after the fact; solving problems that have already arisen requires a significantly greater amount of resources (time, financial and human)
6. quality of life – its dimension is not only material, but also social, ethical, aesthetic, spiritual, cultural and other, people have an inherent right to a quality life
7. social equity – opportunities and responsibilities should be shared by countries, regions and different social groups. Poverty is a factor endangering sustainable development; therefore, until it has been eradicated, our responsibility is common yet differentiated. More and more importance is being attributed to the social pillar of sustainable development and sustainable development is increasingly often understood as Continued improvement of social conditions within Earth’s carrying capacity. Within this framework, the economy is a tool intended to improve social conditions.
8. Local-global relationship – activities at the local level affect problems at the global level, they create them or can facilitate to solve them (and vice versa)
9. intra-generation and inter-generation responsibility (or equality of rights), i.e. providing for national, racial and other equality, respecting the rights of all current and future generations to a healthy environment and social justice; we are speaking here of a moral obligation to future generations – are we securing the possibility to live in a healthy environment for them? Will they not have to solve the problems which we are being created today and which we are turning a blind eye to?
10. democratic processes – by means of engaging the public from the very initial stages of planning we create not only more objective plans, but also a general support for their implementation