Blog / 31 May 2012

A manual for the transition to sustainability

A manual for the transition to sustainability


Those who are ready to embrace sustainability should start by confessing that we haven't yet found the silver bullet that will lead us to a sustainable and just world. Despite their own convictions, Dutch leading figures such as Peter Bakker, Louise Fresco or Hans Wijers do not have the answer either. If we genuinely believe in the need for a transition to a sustainable and fair world, we should stop searching for the ideal solution or telling others what they should do. Instead we should recognize that the first step towards a transition is changing our fixed habits.


So here are some inital ideas to reach that fundamental change:

One: Contrary to what many people like to pretend, no one really knows the definite answer to sustainability challenges. Accept that plans that lead to pre-determined results with high levels of certainty do not exist. We live in an era of great surprises, the age of the unthinkable. So leave theories aside and allow for improvisation. Learn what works step by step. And listen to others and give others the opportunity to try out their ideas.


Two: Step outside your comfort zone. Come out from behind your drawing boards in the boardrooms in the capitals of rich countries and emerging economies. We're never going to succeed in creating a sustainable economy as long as you don't come up with some direct links to the current situation regarding mankind and nature. This is evident from the divergence between theory and practice concerning market mechanisms or corporate social responsibility. Despite the many theories in favor of market mechanisms, until now markets have failed in fairly distributing natural resources and assuring their wise use. Likewise, until criteria for sustainable production chains fail to have significant impacts once they are implemented in situations where governance issues are not in sync.


Three: Listen to people you have never spoken to before. Become aware of your blind spots. Be curious about the ideas that live among the millions of men, but especially women in the world that live and work with nature. Learn to understand how they think and work. Dare to build on their ideas and their concrete experiences with sustainable development. After all, those coming from a totally different perspective and life experience come up with surprising approaches that might work in a wider context.


Rio +20 should serve as an opportunity to make way for new seers and seekers. For visionaries who present inspiring perspectives. For practitioners who explore what is possible and what works. The seers will provide the image of a sustainable world while the seekers provide different pieces of that image. They show that dreams of a green and fair world can be realized. These people could very well be the key to a world where the balance between humans and the environment is restored. 



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