Part One: Warm Up
Read Wikipedia's definition of sustainability and discuss the questions below with a partner or group.
In ecology, sustainability (from sustain and ability) is the property of biological systems to remain diverse and productive indefinitely. Long-lived and healthy wetlands and forests are examples of sustainable biological systems. In more general terms, sustainability is the endurance of systems and processes. The organizing principle for sustainability is sustainable development, which includes the four interconnected domains: ecology, economics, politics and culture. Sustainability science is the study of sustainable development and environmental science.
Part Two: Discussion
- In your own words, what is sustainability?
- Do you think it's important for businesses to be concerned about sustainability? Why or why not?
- What are some actions your city or country has taken to improve sustainability?
- How is sustainability connected to economics? Politics? Culture?
- Brainstorm examples for the topics below:
- sustainable agriculture
- sustainable architecture
- sustainable development
- sustainable energy
- sustainable population growth