Appendix: Principles of Sustainable Development

One cannot help but be impressed with the number of different sets of sustainable development principles that can be found in the literature. Some of the better ones are given below.

The Wingspread Principles: A Community Vision for Sustainability

· Sustainability - Disaster mitigation and recovery resources should be invested to improve the quality of life in the areas of public health and safety, environmental stewardship, and social and economic security.

· Planning and Incentives - Plans designed to reduce the impact of disasters and to encourage recovery should provide incentives to individuals, the private sector, and government to pursue sustainable development and redevelopment.

· Partnerships - Individual citizens, the private sector, and local, state, and federal governments should act as partners with shared goals and values to further the capacity of our communities to be self-sufficient.

· Locally Driven Process - Decisions should be driven by a consensus-based, inclusive process that stakeholders use and trust. The process should identify local sustainability priorities, leading to the investment of pre- and post-disaster resources that will meet those needs, emphasizing the need for local responsibility and self-sufficiency.

· Limit our impact on the living world to stay within its carrying capacity.

· Preserve and protect the environment (life support systems, biodiversity and renewable resources.

· Hold to a minimum the depletion of non-renewable resources.

· Promote long-term economic development that increases the benefits from a given stock of resources without drawing down on the stocks of environmental assets (living off the interest of natural resources).

· Meet basic needs and aim for fair distribution of the benefits and the costs of resource use and environmental protection.

· Provide a system of decision-making and governance that is designed to address sustainability - one more proactive, participatory and long-term.

· Promote values that support sustainability through information and education.

· The use made of a resource may not be greater than its capacity to regenerate or the rate at which functional substitutes can be brought into use.

· The release of substances into the environment may not be more than nature's ability to cope with or assimilate them.

· Anthropogenic dangers or unnecessary risks to humans or the environment are to be avoided.

· The time scale of anthropogenic actions affecting the environment must be in balanced proportion to the time required by the environment to react to them.

· Peace - A just, comprehensive and lasting peace is a prerequisite and an essential condition to achieve sustainable human settlements development.

· Family - The family is the basic unit of society, and as such should be strengthened.

· International solidarity, cooperation and assistance - To safeguard the global interest of present and future generations in human settlements development is one of the fundamental duties of the international community.

· Government Responsibility and Civic Engagement - Governments at all levels are responsible for the creation of conditions for meeting the shelter needs of people and for promoting the development of sustainable human settlements.

· Sustainability - All human settlements shall be planned, developed and improved so as to ensure sustainability.

· Equity - The deficiencies of the current global economic system with regard to gender, environmental and poverty issues should be addressed at the community, local and national levels to create a more balanced and equitable global system.

· Livability - Human settlements should be places where individuals and families can live civilized lives in a vibrant cultural environment in conditions of safety and freedom.

· Partnerships - Partnerships between and among all actors from public, private and community organizations and individuals are essential to the development of sustainable human settlements and the provision of adequate shelter and basic services for all, as a means of improving urban management and developing urban and rural production and services.

· That the needs of the future must not be sacrificed to the demands of the present;

· That humanity's economic future is linked to the integrity of natural systems; and

· That protecting the environment is impossible unless we improve the economic prospects of the Earth's poorest peoples.

A sustainable community is one which:

· Recognizes that growth occurs within some limits and is ultimately limited by the carrying capacity of the environment;

· Values cultural diversity;

· Has respect for other life forms and supports biodiversity;

· Has shared values amongst the members of the community (promoted through sustainability education);

· Employs ecological decision-making (e.g., integration of environmental criteria into all municipal government, business and personal decision-making processes);

· Makes decisions and plans in a balanced, open and flexible manner that includes the perspectives from the social, health, economic and environmental sectors of the community;

· Makes best use of local efforts and resources (nurtures solutions at the local level);

· Uses renewable and reliable sources of energy;

· Minimizes harm to the natural environment;

· Fosters activities which use materials in continuous cycles.

· Does not compromise the sustainability of other communities (a geographic perspective);

· Does not compromise the sustainability of future generations by its activities (a temporal perspective).

· Insist on the right of humanity and nature to co-exist in a healthy, supportive, diverse, and sustainable condition.

· Recognize Interdependence. The elements of human design interact with and depend on the natural world, with broad and diverse implications at every scale. Expand design considerations to recognizing even distant effects.

· Respect relationships between spirit and matter. Consider all aspects of human settlement including community, dwelling, industry, and trade in terms of existing and evolving connections between spiritual and material consciousness.

· Accept responsibility for the consequences of design decisions upon human well-being, the viability of natural systems, and their right to co-exist.

· Create safe objects to long-term value. Do not burden future generations with requirements for maintenance or vigilant administration of potential danger due to the careless creations of products, processes, or standards.

· Eliminate the concept of waste. Evaluate and optimize the full life-cycle of products and processes, to approach the state of natural systems in which there is no waste.

· Rely on natural energy flows. Human designs should, like the living world, derive their creative forces from perpetual solar income. Incorporate this energy efficiently and safely for responsible use.

· Understand the limitations of design. No human creation lasts forever and design does not solve all problems. Those who create and plan should practice humility in the face of nature. Treat nature as a model and mentor, not an inconvenience to be evaded or controlled.

· See constant improvements by sharing knowledge. Encourage direct and open communication between colleagues, patrons, manufacturers, and users to link long-term sustainable considerations with ethical responsibility, and reestablish the integral relationship between natural processes and human activity.

· Substances extracted from the Earth's crust must not systematically increase in nature.

· Substances produced by society must not systematically increase in nature.

· The physical basis for the productivity and diversity of nature must not be systematically damaged.

· Resources should be used fairly and efficiently.