ABSTRACT
The concepts of sustainability and sustainable development are not the same. Originating in debates about the potential of the ecosystem to subsist over time, sustainability may be defined as the long-term goal to reach the destination of a more sustainable world. Sustainable development may be defined as the processes and pathways to achieve sustainability. However, both are contested concepts and subject to a number of interpretations. Crucially, however, ‘discussion and debate about the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development provide a focus for contact between contending positions (Myerson and Rydin 1996) and so become essential parts of the practice and process of working towards sustainability’ (Disendorf in Dunphy et al. 2000: 21).
