ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the key international events and documents that have molded sustainability’s definitions will be examined, with particular attention paid to the ways in which the word has been used and changed over time. Here, we will use the 1987 Brundtland Report as a point of reference for understanding both the development and popular adoption of the term sustainability and the concept of sustainable development. The UNcommissioned report on global development, titled Our Common Future, was not the first introduction of the sustainable development concept but popularized the term and brought it into the mainstream. We use it as a reference point to demonstrate how the concept evolved in relation to this influential document.
