Wholes, patterns and sustainable development : closing the gap between concern and action

Abstract

The question of what comprises sustainable development is, essentially, a moral one: what should constitute the web of interactions between ourselves, and between ourselves and the non-human world. But questions this large invite fragmentation into even smaller, manageable parts and in turn a predilection for specialisation. Such reductionism is now recognised as an important factor in our current lack of success in 'living more sustainably'. Thus, this research takes the alternate approach: a look at sustainable development from the perspective of the whole. The research reveals that even the complexity of sustainable development can be described, via patterns, in manageable 'chunks' that can both retain the nature of the whole and advise of the necessary changes individuals need to adopt to close the gap between concern and action. Opportunities for further research include the extended use of patterns by practitioners from any field seeking to maintain the whole; and an exploration of the (currently hidden) attribute of time as a key determinate of action related to sustainable development

Date of Award	2004
Original language	English