Abstract
This chapter pursues the question: how viable is sustainable development? Framed alternatively as, “is sustainable development sustainable?” this question is particularly germane in the early decades of the 21st century, as business and government leaders are challenged by a continuous stream of vexing problems, dramatically-changing strategic landscapes, and the constant need to do more with less. Never before has the need for sustainability been as critically evident as it is at this moment. And, while exemplary achievements in sustainability exist, widespread sustainability remains elusive. To assist leaders to better understand and deal sustainably with contemporary challenges, this chapter introduces the idea of Sustainable Development (SD) as an ecosystem and explains how and why it may be fruitful to conceive of SD in this way and apply ecosystem thinking to organisations and other communities.
Top1. Introduction
Sustainable Development (SD) concerns bearable and sufficient economic and social progress and growth—initiatives and strategies designed to enhance the quality of life of a community’s citizens or, at the minimum, stabilizing or securing the current state whilst not overtaxing the environment. SD is founded on key principles of sustainability as well as assumptions about society, economics, and the environment—basically about our nature, existence, and “how things work”. As commonly understood, Sustainable Development is development that meets today’s demands without compromising the survival of tomorrow (Kates et al., 2016). Thus, Sustainable Development should also be concerned about environmental protection and regeneration, reducing degradation and depletion, finding sustainable alternatives, and restoring what has been spoilt or overexploited. As lofty and “macro” as all this may sound, SD may also be applied at the “micro” level, at the organisational, departmental, or even team level.
At a global level, SD may attempt to address issues of equality, fair distribution, and access, such as championed by the United Nations Global Compact and its 17 sustainable development goals. A prime example is education: a community whose citizens have little chance of becoming educated has slight chance of long-term viability1 beyond bare subsistence. Individuals lacking skills and knowledge cannot, generally, better their personal circumstances nor can they contribute productively to community welfare.2 But whilst the ideals and aspirations of SD are laudable, if not presumed necessary, are they really possible?
This article pursues the question: how viable is Sustainable Development? The question might be framed alternatively as, “Is Sustainable Development sustainable?” To interrogate and explicate this question, the authors present an ecosystem model of Sustainable Development, with “ecosystem” defined for this purpose as the complex of interdependent animate and inanimate constituents of a given, or “bounded” community and their interaction, which, over time, reveals established patterns (Hays, 2010a; Hays, 2010b). By interdependence we mean continuing relationships of influence amongst elements that might be understood as cycles of cause and effect (or stimulus and response). This applies to the elements within the system (the bounded part) as well as with its external environment.
Organisations and institutions may be thought of as ecosystems as well, bounded entities inextricably tied to various stakeholders, vying for resources, and in malleable and evolving relationships with their environment.3 To understand an organization as ecosystem is to fathom its richness, complexity, and dynamism—the see it and its relationships as a complete and functioning system. Conceived thusly, an organization is both separate from its environment (bounded), yet inseparable from its larger system and web of relationships (interconnected).
An ecosystem is inextricably tied to its environment, implying a dependency and continuous exchange. Under normal circumstances, all of these mutual influences promote a dynamic balance in the ecosystem. Things stay pretty much as they are unless disrupted by some unexpected, uncommon, or extreme event (Hays, 2013). In fact, and as we will show in portrayal of the SD ecosystem, knowing the elements in the system and the character of their relationships helps us make sense of the system’s dynamic behaviour, and is what allows us to predict the system’s behaviour under various circumstances. Such is the power of the map: an intervention at a particular point is going to have reasonably predictable outcomes.
We usually think of ecosystems as being impacted by external events, such as a community might be affected by a devastating forest fire. It is also the case, however, that ecosystems may have within them—perhaps unwitting or undetected—the seed, or potential, for spontaneous transformation triggered by some random stimulus. This emergent property might be destructive or may confer some attribute that will ensure the system’s survival, an adaptive quality or resilience suited to shifts in the environment, for example, a threat or opportunity it presents (Walker et al., 2004).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Complex Adaptive System: A system—such as a community or organization—having many elements that continually interact and influence one another in complex and, sometimes, unfathomable ways. Though striving for stability and security, the interactions produce behavior and structure not before seen (emergence and self-organisation).
Sustainability: Thriving into the future. Necessary for survival, sustainability implies cautious use of resources, including curtailing waste and other threats to the environment, production that does not exceed what can be replenished, and cultivation of products, services and lifestyles that enrich rather than exploit.
Relationship Diagram: Otherwise known as Causal Loop or Influence Diagrams, these are “maps” or depictions of the salient elements in a Complex Adaptive System or ecosystem, and their relationships to one another shown as lines (directions) of influence.
Critical Success Factors: CSFs are factors or conditions that must be present in order for an initiative to succeed or a given process or desired condition to sustain. For example, sustainability implies that a system must have within it the capacity to generate its own resources (rather than be wholly dependent on external sources).
Ecosystem: A bounded system of living and interdependent entities in dynamic interaction with their environment, influencing and being influenced by their environment. Here, a socioecological system such as a community or organization.