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Article as secure sources of livelihood.

Sustainability means meeting our own needs without Social Sustainability: Universal human rights and

compromising the ability of future generations to basic necessities are attainable by all people, who have
meet their own needs. In addition to natural resources, access to enough resources in order to keep their fam-
we also need social and economic resources. Sustaina- ilies and communities healhy and secure. Healthy com-
bility is not just environmentalism. Embedded in most munities have just leaders who ensure personal, labour
definitions of sustainability we also find concerns for and cultural rights are respected and all people are
social equity and economic development. protected from discrimination.

Where does the term come from? In 2012, the university crossed a major milestone by
approving its first Sustainability Plan. It collates the
While the concept of sustainability is a relatively new
idea, the movement as a whole has roots in social jus- many strategic goals, initiatives and practices that
tice, conservationism, internationalism and other past will guide the university toward sustainability leader-
movements with rich histories. By the end of the ship. A variety of different processes plans and peo-
twentieth centuries, many of these ideas had come ple contributed to the development of the Sustaina-
together in the call for ‘sustainable development.’ bility Plan, including student, staff and faculty en-
gagement at many levels. For example, the plan fol-
Our Common Future, sustainable development is de- lowed an award-winning student-initiated public
fined as development that "meets the needs of the deliberation with all stakeholders on campus called
present without compromising the ability of future Deliberation on Campus Sustainability. The docu-
generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable de- ment itself is a comprehensive guide, but also an
velopment may be the organizing principle of sustain- engine for discussion to drive sustainability forward
ability, yet others may view the two terms as paradox- into the future.

ical (seeing development as inherently unsustainable)

Three pillars of sustainability

Environmental Sustainability: Ecological integrity is
maintained, all of earth’s environmental systems are
kept in balance while natural resources within them

are consumed by humans at a rate where they are able Yash Mathur / 6C
to replenish themselves.
Economic Sustainability: Human communities across
the globe are able to maintain their independence and

have access to the resources that they require, finan-
cial and other, to meet their needs. Economic systems
are intact and activities are available to everyone, such