Socialandeconomicdimensions

Social
and economic dimensions
ofsustainabledevelopment
DrIngridKarlsson
TheBalticUniversityProgramme,UppsalaCentrefor
Sustainable Development
SustainableDevelopment
UppsalaUniversity,Sweden
Ingrid.karlsson@csduppsala.uu.se

Sustainable development theessence

ofit
Susta ab e de e op e t s de ed as
Sustainabledevelopmentisdefinedas
meeting"the
meeting
the[human]needs
[human] needs ofthepresent
of the present
withoutcompromisingtheabilityoffuture
generationstomeettheirownneeds."
ti
t
t th i
d "1

Sustainabledevelopmentandits
threemaincomponents

ecological
g

economical

social

Understandingthelinksandthe
scales global/regional/local2,3
Humanwellbeingbasic
standard,health,good
d d h lh
d socialrelations,
i l l i
security,freedomofchoice oraction

Ecosystemservices:
provisioning
i i i (food,wateretc),
(f d
t
t )
regulating (climate etc),cultural
(recreation etc),supporting (production
etc)

Indirect driversof
change: demographic,economic,
change:
demographic economic
sociopolitical (governance etc),science
andtechnology,cultural andreligious

Direct driversof
change: landuse change,
change:
biodiversity change,technology,inputs
(fertilizers etc)harvest,climate change,
natural
t l disastersetc
di t
t
4

Cont.Understandingthelinks
Cont Understanding the links2
Ecosystem services

Provisioning

Security

Food,water,wood,
fibres
fibres..

Personalsafety,secure
resource access,security from
disasters

Regulating

Basicmaterialfora
good life

Supporting
Nutrient
cycling,soil
li
il
formation,
primary
prod ction
production

Constituents of well-being

Climate,flooding,
Climate
flooding
diseases,water
purification

Cultural
Aesthetic,spiritual,
educational,
recreational

Adequate livelihoods,
sufficient nutrituous food,
shelter,accesstogoods

Health
Strength,feelingwell,access
g ,
g
,
toclean airandwater

Goodsocialrelations

FFreedomof
d
f
choice and
action
Opportunity to
beable to
achieve well
being

Socialcohesion,mutual
respect, ability tohelp
respect,ability
to help others

Definingsocialandeconomicdimensionsneeds
D
fi i
i l d
i di
i
d
crossandmultidisciplinarystudiesandethical
andpoliticalconsiderations
Ethics/rulesforthesociety/legislation/controlmechanisms thealternativeis
collapseofthesociety
Legislationandruleoflawtosettargetsforsocietyvsindividualrightse.g.
needorgreed??
Ethicsforindividualsshouldguideattitudesandbehavioroftheindividualand
asenseofresponsibilitygiventhroughethicaleducation/religion/socialvalues
Itisstronglyarguedthataprerequisiteforatruesustainabledevelopmentis
theinvolvement,theparticipation,fromeveryoneinthesociety

Socialandeconomic dimensionsfor
todays needs
50coreindicatorsforsustainabledevelopmentaccordingtoUnitedNations
50
i di t f
t i bl d l
t
di t U it d N ti
(socialandeconomicindicatorsinred)areagreeduponwithinthefollowing
necessarycomponentsofsustainabledevelopment4:
Poverty
Governance
Health
Health
Education
Demographics
Natural
Naturalhazards
hazards
Atmosphere
Land
Oceans,seasandcoasts
,
Freshwater
Biodiversity
Economicdevelopment
Globaleconomicpartnership
Consumptionandproductionpatterns

Ismoremoneywhatweneed?
Is
more money what we need?5

orcouldweuseourresources
differently?6

forinstanceforbetterhealthcare,acrucial
ingredienceofhumanneeds/wellbeing5

10

Anidentifiedweakpartofthe
sustainabilitychainisconfidenceandtrust
Forinstance,confidencein

ruleoflaw(securityandjusticeforeveryone)
lowlevelsofcorruption7
a well functioning and open society
awellfunctioningandopensociety,
freemedia,
Independentcreativity(researchersandartists
are encouraged and supported)
areencouragedandsupported)
11

12

Examplesofnonsustainablesocial
andeconomicdimensions:

Poverty
High unemployment
Highunemployment
Loweducation
Lowqualityhealthcaresystems
Discrimination (ethnic sex age etc)
Discrimination(ethnic,sex,ageetc)
Informationandcommunicationisrestricted
Criminalityandviolence
Financial mismanagement
Financialmismanagement
Corruption

13

Theworstcasesofunsustainable
d l
developmentatlocalandregionalscales
l l d
i
l
l
areaneffectofthemisruleof
authoritarianregimes
Recent examples of social and economic nonsustainability:
Recentexamplesofsocialandeconomicnon
sustainability:
Destructionofeconomyandagriculture(Zimbabwe)
Destruction of economy and agriculture (Zimbabwe)
Badmanagementinnaturalcatastrophies(Burma/Myanmar)
ThedisappearanceoftheAralSea(Uzbekistan)
The disappearance of the Aral Sea (Uzbekistan)

14

Canwe create
C
t aglobalconsensusonsaving
l b l
i
resources forgenerationstocome:
g
Preservenaturalresourcesandbiodiversity(theenvironmental
dimension but with economic implications)
dimension,butwitheconomicimplications)
Preserveandimproveculturalheritage
Preserve and improve human and material resources for good
Preserveandimprovehumanandmaterialresourcesforgood
healthcareandmedicalsystems
Preserveandimprovehumanandmaterialresourcesforhigh
qualityeducation
Preserveandimprovehumanandmaterialresourcesfor
industry production
industryproduction
Preserveandimprovehumanandmaterialresourcesforfood
p
production
15

16

References
1The

WorldCommissiononEnvironmentandDevelopment.1987.
http://www.wsu.edu/~susdev/WCED87.html

2 Millennium
Mill
i

Ecosystem
E
t
Assessment.
A
t 2005.
2005 Ecosystems
E
t
and
d Human
H
W
Well-being:
ll b i
Synthesis. Washington, DC, Island Press.

3ICSUUNESCOUNU.2008.EcosystemChangeandHumanWellbeing:Researchand

MonitoringPrioritiesBasedontheMillenniumEcosystemAssessment.Paris,International
i i
i ii
d
h
ill
i
i
i
l
CouncilforScience.
http://www.icsu.org/Gestion/img/ICSU_DOC_DOWNLOAD/2350_DD_FILE_ICSUUNESCO
UNU_Ecosystem_Report.pdf
4CSD

indicators for sustainable development. 2009.

http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/dsd_aofw_ind/ind_csdindi.shtml
5 Deaton,

A. Income, Health, and Well-Being Around the World: Evidence From the
Gallup World Poll. 2008. Journal of Economic Perspectives Volume 22, No 2.
(http://www.aeaweb.org/jep )

6Ingleheart,
I l h
t

R. 1999
R
1999. Gl
Globalization
b li ti and
dP
Postmodern
t d
V
Values.
l
Th
The W
Washington
hi t
Quaterly 23:1, p. 219. The center for Strategic and International Studies and the
Massachusetss Institute of Technology.

7Information
I f
ti

Science
S i
for
f Democracy
D
(INDEM )Foundation.
)F
d ti
2009.
2009 Diagnostics
Di
ti off
Corruption in Russia 2001-2005. Preliminary report.
http://www.indem.ru/en/index.shtml

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