Abstract "Sustainability" has become a guiding principle for environmental science even though consensus on the definition of the term has never been reached. That the criteria used by researchers in attempts to define scientific terms are usually not explicitly given or discussed, contributes to the flurry of definitions of sustainability. Thus, this paper suggests criteria for the definition of sustainability and, subsequently, defines sustainability according to these criteria. The result – an analytical definition of sustainability – demonstrates that a majority of scientists has stopped using a narrow concept of sustainability focusing on the ecological dimension. Rather, they more often employ a broader definition. Accordingly, today, sustainability needs to be understood as a concept that measures inter- and intra-generational justice on equal levels. The paper discusses the advantages of an analytical definition, as opposed to definition processes where the criteria used are not revealed. The shift in meaning of "sustainability" implies that this term has lost some of its value for the environmental sciences. The prognosis entails that ecologists might no longer refer to "sustainability," but use alternative terms such as "ecologisation" or "ecological carrying capacity", or amend the term with an adjective and use "ecological sustainability".
Mobil →
↑ "nichtmehrvorhanden!"