"What we owe learn to Do, we learn by doing."

Aristotle

from the book NICOMACHEAN ETHICS

We talk more and more frequently about environmental sustainability, the correct exploitation of resources and the reduction of polluting emissions. Responsible interaction with the environment is essential to continue producing goods and services and at the same time safeguard the planet, making it available for future generations. Everything revolves around the concept of sustainability and its different declinations.



What is sustainability and what does it mean

The term “sustainability” derives from the Latin “sustinere” (to hold, to hold; sub, below). In environmental and economic sciences, the term sustainability refers to the condition of development capable of ensuring the satisfaction of the needs of the present generation, without compromising the possibility of future generations to realize their own. The concept of sustainability was introduced during the first UN conference on the environment in 1972, although only in 1987, with the publication of the Brundtland Report, was the objective of sustainable development clearly defined which, after the UN conference on the environment and development of 1992, has become the new paradigm of development itself.

What is meant by environmental sustainability: definition, examples, meaning.

In the environmental field, the concept of sustainability indicates the process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the investment plan, the orientation of technological development and institutional changes are all in harmony and enhance the current and future potential in order to make meeting the needs and aspirations of man.

To make the planet more sustainable from an environmental point of view, a series of strategies must be put into practice, such as providing for more green areas and optimizing traffic within urban spaces, the use of a type of industrial production that has an environmental linked to increasingly lower CO2 emissions, the use of green technologies and renewable energy sources, as well as the adoption of individual lifestyles that favor the correct use of available resources, minimize waste and provide for correct disposal and recycling of consumed products. The term "sustainability" derives from the Latin "sustinere" (to hold, to hold; sub, below). In environmental and economic sciences, the term sustainability refers to the condition of development capable of ensuring the satisfaction of the needs of the present generation, without compromising the possibility of future generations to realize their own. The concept of sustainability was introduced during the first UN conference on the environment in 1972, although only in 1987, with the publication of the Brundtland Report, was the objective of sustainable development clearly defined which, after the UN conference on the environment and development of 1992, has become the new paradigm of development itself.

Environmental sustainability, social and economic sustainability.

The guiding principle of sustainability is sustainable development, which concerns, in an interconnected manner, the environmental, economic and social spheres. These three dimensions of sustainability contribute together to the definition of well-being and progress.

With reference to society, the term social sustainability indicates, according to the Brundtland Report of 1987, a "balance between satisfying present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own".

The concept of economic sustainability concerns the analysis and study of an economic process from a financial point of view so that it can last over time. A process can be defined as economically sustainable if it manages to use natural resources at such a rate that they can be regenerated naturally.In the environmental field, the concept of sustainability indicates the process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the investment plan, the orientation of technological development and institutional changes are all in harmony and enhance the current and future potential in order to make meeting the needs and aspirations of man.

Circular Economy, climate change and sustainability.

Various factors jeopardize the achievement of a state of well-being and progress through the three dimensions of sustainability: environmental degradation, climate change, overconsumption, population growth and unlimited economic growth in a closed system.

To avoid this, it is essential that the principles of circularity are applied in the environmental, economic and social fields. A circular economy, in fact, represents an ideal model of production and consumption attentive to reducing waste of natural resources and consisting of sharing, reusing, repairing and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible.