ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is introduce the concepts of globalization and sustainable development, indicating the complex and contested nature of various debates, actions and practices. The significance and critiques of some key international agreements will be discussed. Sustainable development has developed through political and environmental struggles, through an engagement with the
complexity of contemporary ecological and other problems, and through a vast array of differing perspectives, values and interests. The chapter ends with the suggestion that sustainable development is perhaps best understood as a ‘dialogue of values’ – a way of encouraging people to learn, to discover and to evaluate.
