{"id":95739,"date":"2019-03-05T12:07:41","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T11:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=95739"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:23:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:23:13","slug":"sustainable-really","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2019\/03\/05\/sustainable-really\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainable, really?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you a good person? Difficult question, but here\u2019s a questionnaire to help you answer:<\/p>\n

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  1. Do you hate the current President of the United States but love the previous one?<\/li>\n
  2. Do you think that war, famine and racism are bad?<\/li>\n
  3. Do you lead a sustainable life?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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    \n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBas van der Schot<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

    If your answer is \u201cYes\u201d to all 3, you\u2019re probably a good person. Good for you.<\/p>\n

    I\u2019m not going to discuss #1 or #2, but I\u2019d very much like to address #3 and try to explore this concept of sustainability with you. We can already agree that this word seems to be everywhere nowadays. For instance, just this week, I received an EUR-related email demanding \u201cintegration of sustainability in the teaching programmes but also measures that would enable more sustainable travelling for work.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

    Every business in the world wants to be sustainable and if you\u2019re not sustainable, you\u2019re probably bad. Sustainability is the new trendy word, after diversity<\/em>, a bit like disruptive<\/em> being the magic word in business schools. In propaganda, these terms are called \u201cvirtue words\u201d, positive concepts like independence<\/em> or freedom<\/em> that everyone perceives differently, but you\u2019d better use them here and there to remain in the loop and show your goodness.<\/p>\n

    So what exactly is sustainability? In 2010, the Office of Sustainability at the University of Alberta provided a working definition of sustainability as \u201cthe process of living within the limits of available physical, natural and social resources in ways that allow the living systems in which humans are embedded to thrive in perpetuity\u201d. Perpetuity means \u201cto last forever\u201d, unless you are sent to a Dutch prison, in which case you can get parole after 2 years. In other words, according to our Canadian colleagues, sustainability is making sure that we live forever with limited resources.<\/p>\n

    Is sustainability about conservatism? <\/h2>\n\t
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    Read more<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t