Sustainability: A Contested Subject

SUSTAINABILITY - A CONTESTED CONCEPT

A P R E S E N TAT I O N F R A M I N G F U T U R E T H I N K I N G

Sustainable Development (SD) - today we must engage with the concept but howshould we frame our thinking about SD as business leaders or public authorities?Society’s view of SD is evidently polarized. Sustainability is concerned about social,environmental and economic things. A few politicians deny climate change exists.Pope Francis said inequality is the root of all evil. Some institutions predict adoomsday Malthusian Catastrophe for humans towards the end of the century.Cornucopian thinkers believe people have never been so prosperous and there isevery prospect of feeding the world forever. Is the future bleak or will technologyand innovation save us? The presentation summarizes positions of a few leadingscholars on humanity’s future and pioneering science illustrating anthropologicalimpacts. It attempts to broadly assimilate social, environmental and economicconcerns based on the author’s experience and recent studies and incite new thinkingamongst all professions.

Presenter: Richard Evans has practiced environmental sciences in the extractives,metals processing and utilities sectors for nearly 13 years. He has undertaken duediligence and environmental impact assessment and management assignments in 18developing and developed countries. Richard is currently studying a Master’s inCorporate Environmental Management (part time) to advance his understanding ofSD and help bridge social, natural and economic divisions. He is a British and SouthAfrican citizen with interests in aviation, current affairs, running and travel. (LinkedIn :https://uk.linkedin.com/in/richardjevans07; Email: RichardJEvans07@Gmail.com.)

Date: Thur. xxx | Time: xxx | Venue: xxx | Duration: ±30 minutes |