The Most Commonly Used Definition Of Sustainable Development

Making tourism more sustainable is not just about controlling and managing the negative impacts of the industry. Tourism is in a very special position to benefit local communities, economically and socially, and to raise awareness and support for conservation of the environment.

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (1, 2).

Sustainable Tourism is essentially an industry committed to making a low impact on the natural environment and local culture, while helping to generate income and employment for local people. As Global economists forecast continuing international tourism growth, this continuous growth will place great stress on remaining biologically diverse habitats and indigenous cultures, which are often used to support mass tourism. Therefore it is important that sustainable tourism is promoted and that people are educated about the opportunities provided in order to minimize the effects that tourism poses on the natural environment while helping to benefit

Sustainable development means that the present generations should be able to make use of resources to live better lives in such a manner that it does not compromise the ability of future generations. For sustainable development to occur, there needs to be sustainable economic, ecological and community development. Society needs to be educated about ways in which they can use resources, especially natural, in such a manner that it does not cause harm to the environment and put future generations lives at risk.

Sustainable Development is an ambiguous concept as individuals, governments and environmentalists have different opinions on what true sustainability really is. There are many people that think that it simply cannot be achieved and is just a term thrown around to convince people that development is a good thing, whereas others believe that it is proven to work. Sustainable Development can be seen as two completely different concepts, Visvanathan (1991) says that

Sustainable development is at the heart of the National Planning Policy Framework of 2012, and is defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development includes three key pillars- social, environmental and economic, however in reality these issues often overlap and do not fit directly into one category (Hopwood, Mellor and O’Brien, 2005).

commitment to the principles of sustainable tourism, and to go beyond the extensively used but

The concept of sustainable development has become a major topic among intellectuals from various fields. Sustainable development has gone through various changes in its definitions and at present does not have a commonly accepted definition. The origination of the concept of sustainable development is debatable. In 1974 at a conference on Science and Technology for Human Development by the World Council of Churches the concept of a “sustainable society” is believed to have been first noted. This early concept focused on equitable distribution of scarce resources and the need for democratic decision making. In 1980 the currently used term of sustainable development emerged in the

(Ashley, et al., 2001) The degree of control is significant element of sustainability and the debate is how local communities should be involved in the sustainable development of tourism in their area. If sustainable tourism development is successful, it may help pro-poor tourism to reduce the poverty in different levels. (Mowforth & Munt, 2003) To achieve the sustainable tourism in poor regions tourism development needs to be well planned and managed and the overall environmental quality needs to be maintained and improved. Poverty reduction impacts should be taken into consideration when assessing sustainability. (WTO, 2002)

The concept of Sustainable development dates back to the earth summit in 1992, which paved the way for the formulation and admission of Agenda 21. This was due to the apprehension that human activity was straining the environment as certain species faced extinction, at the same time human wellbeing was at risk and climate change had increased. These global issues resulted in a call of action towards a new accession to development. This culminated a programme for sustainable development, initiated in Rio de

According to the Brundtland Report, sustainable development is defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” In this definition, two challenges are worth nothing: meeting the needs of world’s poor, as well as the environmental limitations brought about by technological advancements and social organizations. According to Ruzevicius (2010), “a country’s social and economic development should be oriented such that the satisfaction of our present day needs would not affect the opportunities for satisfying the needs of future generations”. In the Brundtland Commission’s 1987 report

Sustainable development is defined as “Development that meets the needs of the present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (IISD, par. 1 ).

Sustainability can be defined as the development of present needs that wouldn’t hinder the development of future needs in an environment. Sustainability main focus is on preserving the natural resources of an economy, it is not a fixed state of harmony but a continuous process of change where the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, orientation of technological development and institutional change are made consistent with present and future investments.(UNCED, 1978). Mohan Munasinghe posited that the goal of Sustainable development is to maximize the net welfare of economic activities while maintaining or increasing the stock of economic, ecological and socio cultural assets overtime to ensure the sustainability of income and Intra generational equity and providing a safety net to meet basic needs and protect the poor.

Sustainable development is a relatively new concept, brought about by increasing scientific awareness of the interconnection between the environment and economic development, as discussed at the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. 15 years later in 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development, also known as the Brundtland Commission, took the concept further to fully define sustainable development, which has helped to shape public policy, business strategies, and individual choices . Sustainable development contains two key concepts:

According to International Institute for Sustainable Development (n.d), “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (para. 1). This notion was created in 1992 by Bruntland Report for the World Commission on Environment and Development.