Making Sustainable Development Ideas Operational: a General Technique for Policy Development

Sustainable Development is a much misused term; many think it an oxymoron, other think it is about maintaining current developments. Despite these abuses, the term still has currency, perhaps because people see it as a guide for surviving the massive growth in human population and technologies and the consequent massive changes to the planet. This book rescues the term Sustainable Development by distinguishing Sustainable Development Ideas from Sustainable Development Actions. It discusses the meaning of both terms and develops a General Technique for applying Sustainable Development Ideas to issues in order to create Sustainable Development Actions. The General Technique has a preliminary step followed by 4 tasks. The General Technique is an approach, or mental model, that allows the lofty ideals within sustainable development to be scaled down to a level that is appropriate for the individual family or scaled up to deal with issues at a global level. The book uses six projects to illustrate the General Technique and sets out a Stumbling Block Kit on how to identify and then circumvent problems that may prevent the creation of Sustainable Development Actions.