Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Case study: the guiding principles of one planet living
To achieve a sustainable future, we need to design communities that enable people
to live sustainably, that is, within the limits of the biosphere. Clearly, the situation
in different countries will vary. Factors such as the commuting distance between
home and work, where the food comes from, and how waste is dealt with will be
as important as, if not more important than the energy performance of buildings.
The NGOs BioRegional and WWF aim to build on their work to promote the con-
cepts of sustainable development and ecological footprinting, notably by establishing
a set of sustainable communities in diverse contexts across the globe. Projects are
intended to be delivered via partnerships with private developers, community groups
and the public sector, and must commit to and adopt the guiding principles of One
Planet Living. Via these communities and associated initiatives, the programme aims
to have a transformative effect on the surrounding region and inform policy changes
at national and international levels. The One Planet Living programme is based on
ten guiding principles, which act as a framework to highlight the sustainability chal-
lenge in a given situation and as a mechanism for developing and presenting solutions.
The principles - zero carbon, zero waste, sustainable transport, local and sustainable
materials, local and sustainable food, sustainable water, protection of natural habitats
and wildlife, culture and heritage, equity and fair trade, and health and happiness
- offer a clear direction, and although actions to realize them may vary according
to context or organization, it is clearly possible to develop indicators identifying and
communicating progress in all these areas.
Summary
This chapter examines some of the practical ways in which we can work towards
achieving a greater degree of sustainability in our social and economic practices.
Most of these tools invariably take a systems and a systemic approach to societal
or organizational change, although they may vary in their degree of prescription to
follow a set of steps or in their freedom to innovate and extemporize. Thus, the
practical tools and practical action should not be seen as being divorced from
the values and knowledge that actually informs them for both theory and practice
are reflexively related. They work on each other and we can learn from how the
tools are applied, whether they succeed or fail, in different contexts and specific
circumstances. Ecological principles come to have a practical importance as do ideas
and conceptions of sufficiency, innovation and well-being for without understanding,
these tools and toolkits would be literally meaningless. It is, therefore, important
that we understand what the ideas and concepts refer to and how best to measure
or assess the effects of their implementation. However, measurement can take different
forms and should not be automatically associated with quantification. Not everything
that existed can be weighed or counted.
Thinking questions
1
What are the important advantages and disadvantages of the ecological foot-
printing and environmental space metaphors?
