An ecosystem approach to design and management for sustainable development

This paper is an exploration of some design and management issues relating to sustainable development. Our approach is to view an economy as a sector within an ecosystem. Ecosystems and economies are described in terms of dynamics, thermodynamics, and adaptability theory. Development is one phase of a cycle of dynamic system behaviour. Since the cycle also includes a destructive release phase, development of this type is seen to be unsustainable. Development is then redefined as a set of societal goals rather than in terms of the dynamics of the system. In this view, sustainability requires adaptability, which always has a cost in terms of reduced short-run competitive efficiency. Adaptability theory suggests that an important element of design should be the potential to respond to an uncertain environment, but that this can only be done by relinquishing some predictability and efficiency. Sustainable development is seen as a contradiction for which there are no "in principle" solutions.