Case Studies in Sustainability Management: The Oikos Collection Volume 3

Sustainable management concepts and practices evolved in the 1980s in response to the incessant trends of higher consumption and less conservation of natural and material resources. These trends focused on current consumption as against conservation for the future generations which in turn led to significant resource depletion. This implied critical issues of inter-general equity and social justice. The earth's carrying capacity (footprint) got eroded manifold since the 1970s as industrialized nations consumed more natural resources. The UN World Commission defined sustainable development as the ability of nations to take care of the future generations without sacrificing the needs of the present generations (1987). The resource seeking international investment since last few decades has spotlighted such issues as: poverty, public health, environmental degradation and violation of human rights among others.