ABSTRACT
The term “sustainability” has a long and storied cultural history (see Grober, 2010). For example, one of the reasons Venice was able to remain such a formidable economic power for so long was because it was well aware that timber was a finite resource and instituted sustainable management of its vast forestland; the abandonment of this principle of sustainable management of timber resources subsequently precipitated the fall of Venice. The term sustainability was coined in 1713 by Hans Carl von Carlowitz in Freiberg, Saxony, now one of the 16 federated states (Länder) of Germany. His ideas regarding sustainability derived from the forestry industry and the contemporary timber shortage. Nonetheless, the connections and estimations that Carlowitz formulated can be applied to a number of other areas. He called for more efficient use of scarce resources, systematic securing of natural resources, and investigation of alternatives (see Grober, 1999).
