Sustainability is all about improving quality of life
for everyone in North Somerset now and for generations to
come.
It involves recognising the links between social,
environmental and economic issues and consider what long-terms
impacts our decisions and actions may have beyond our immediate
geographical boundaries and interests.
It is a relatively simple concept but can be very difficult to put
into practice and requires us to think about everything we do on a
much broader scale, to balance conflicting demands and sometimes to
make tough decisions.
In February the Coalition Government published its vision for
sustainable development called
Mainstreaming sustainable development (pdf,
Feb 11, 340KB) and a package of measures to deliver it
through the Green Economy.
It includes action to tackle climate change, protecting and
enhancing the natural environment, and fairness and improving
wellbeing, and building a Big Society.
The five following guiding principles form the basis for
sustainability policy in the UK:
- Living within environmental limits
- Ensuring a strong, healthy and just society
- Achieving a sustainable economy
- Promoting good governance
- Using sound science responsibly
The sustainable communities agenda is the drive to improve
neighbourhood participation, address inequalities and support
delivery at the local level.
The
sustainable communities model (pdf, Nov 06,
363KB) embodies the following principles of sustainable
development:
- Meeting the needs of existing and future generations
- Recognising the cross cutting nature of issues affecting
communities
- Working in a coordinated way with a wide range of interests and
organisations
- Respecting the needs of other communities in the wider region
or internationally also to make their communities sustainable.
- Recognising that sustainable communities are diverse and
reflect their local circumstances. There is no standard
template to fit them all.
For more information contact our
Sustainability
Coordinator.
