Sustainability Strategies: What's in a Name? A Conceptual Restatement of Fundamental Mechanisms Toward Sustainability

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

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Efficiency, consistency, and sufficiency are repeatedly discussed under the umbrella term sustainability strategies. However, their use is rather intuitive yet vague, lacking a conceptual foundation. This is particularly problematic as sustainability challenges necessitate effective and fast implementation of all strategies at hand. A deep conceptual understanding of such strategies is necessary but not yet provided by existing research. Therefore, this paper introduces a framework of sustainability strategies, founded on an explicated working conception of sustainability. On this basis, five intergenerational sustainability strategies targeting environmental impacts are discussed (population reduction, sufficiency, efficiency increase, consistency increase, regeneration expansion). Additionally, the paper introduces five intragenerational sustainability strategies targeting the intragenerational dimension of justice inherent in sustainability (capability empowerment, equalization, eco-efficiency increase, impact expansion, population reduction). For each strategy, potential contributions, limitations, and examples for practical implementation are briefly sketched. The main contribution of this paper is the introduction of a conceptually grounded framework of sustainability strategies. The framework may motivate further empirical studies regarding the importance of sustainability strategies in diverse contexts, as well as the practical implementation of all feasible strategies to face recent sustainability crises.
OriginalspracheEnglisch
Aufsatznummersd.3443
ZeitschriftSustainable Development
ISSN0968-0802
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 2025

DOI