Systems engineering and management for industrial ecology and sustainable development

Sustainable development refers to the fulfilment of human needs through simultaneous socioeconomic and technological progress and conservation of the Earth's natural systems. Industrial ecology represents one of the major approaches to insure high quality products with resource conservation. This paper discusses the key role of systems engineering and systems management as a provider of the knowledge principles and practices that help realize this integration of economic and environmental efficiency and effectiveness to achieve industrial ecology and sustainable development.