ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some of the theoretical background to sustainability and sustainable development which in turn underpins the public policy framework within which organisations and individuals undertake actions in pursuit of sustainability and sustainable development. In economic and social terms, traces of what sustainable development is about can be seen through a great variety of works. Sustainable development is therefore about maintaining the vitality of our environment in order that we may maintain the vitality of our civilisation. The concept of sustainable development has already been alluded to in terms of its planetary dimension. The need for the developed world to encourage and assist poorer nations in their search for sustainable development becomes ever more necessary. Sustainable development does not necessarily lie in the ability to solve multi-faceted economic, environmental and social problems in a precise fashion, nor even the ability to determine exactly the nature of relationships between these three spheres.
