ECC Agenda Packet 8.17.2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

As sustainable development (or sustainability) has grown in prominence; its critics have become more numerous and more vocal. Three major lines of criticism are that the term is "too boring" to command public attention, "too vague" to provide guidance, and "too late" to address the world's problems. Critics suggest goals such as abundance, environmental integrity, and resilience. Beginning with the international agreements that shaped the concept of sustainable development, this Article provides a functional and historical analysis of the meaning of sustainable development. It then analyzes and responds to each of these criticisms in turn. While the critics, understood constructively, suggest ways of strengthening this framework, they do not provide a compelling alternative. The challenge for lawyers, law makers, and others is to use and improve this framework to snake better decisions. (2) What makes a community sustainable? �IMINNESOTA POLLUTION CONTROL AGENCY Sustainability is the commonsense notion that long-term prosperity and ecological health not only go together, but they also depend on one another. Or put another way, sustainability is about actions which are ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially just and humane. Many individuals and organizations throughout the state are working to enhance economic and community vitality while protecting and restoring the natural environment. (3) Definition & policy language adopted by the LMC UM LMCLEAGUE MINNESOTA CITIES SD-28. Sustainable Development Issue: Minnesota cities spend significant time and resources planning for growth, development, and redevelopment that will best serve the future needs of their residents. Numerous factors are considered as part of that process, but an area of increasing interest involves concepts often categorized as "sustainable development." Minn. Stat. § 4A.07, Subd. 1(b), defines this term, as it pertains to local government, to mean "development that maintains or enhances economic opportunity and community wellbeing while protecting and restoring the natural environment upon which people and economies depend. Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."