| Our Common Future, The Report to the United Nations of the Brundtland Commission and the many discussions, articles and books it has provoked since it was published in 1987, have popularized the idea of sustainable development. The Brundtland Report, and much of the literary discussion and debate which it has prompted, concentrates on correcting conditions resulting from economic activity that threatens environmental integrity, and on related human behaviour that must change in the process. It identifies that there must be changes in values, attitudes, emphasis and behaviour, and it is eloquent as to why such changes are important. However, the problem which the Brundtland Report (and its derivative literature) leaves with the reader is that it does not explore the value and attitude systems which underlie societies' decision-making processes. It does not elaborate on what the changes in values and attitudes should be from and what they should be toward. This is the problem addressed in this research.;The research is guided by three assertions. The first assertion is that the world faces economic, environmental and social equity difficulties which are of crisis proportions. The second assertion is that the current patterns of values, attitudes and related behaviour which shape the First World voting and consuming urban marketplace are interconnected and interlocked. Furthermore, in the absence of conscious intervention, they predispose the "invisible hand" of the marketplace to reinforce the same pattern of values, attitudes and related behaviour. Therefore conscious intervention is required. The third assertion is that global economic, political and social systems are driven and constrained primarily by the demands and expectations of the First World voting and consuming marketplace. Therefore, if sustainable development is to become operational, First World cities are requisite fora for the practice of sustainable development.;This research considers the evolution of sustainable development from economic, environmental and social equity themes and examines change in underlying values which are inherent in the concept. Consideration is given to sustainable development as a radical and holistic concept which involves fundamental changes in what people value, perceive and think. It is found to be based on a change in emphasis from egocentric values towards envirocentric values at all levels of society. Achievement at an international level can only be the manifestation of widespread achievement at the local level, especially in First World cities.;A case study carried out in Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario is described which includes an investigation of propensities for change in values, willingness for change and barriers to such change. Data from the case study community demonstrate a healthy awareness of the need for change in values and an even stronger willingness to undertake such change, in spite of barriers. The case study was the basis for a proposed model procedure for designing a community sustainable development program founded on the community's own propensity for change in values. This model is a powerful tool for both top-down and bottom-up processes of sustainable development.;In summary the research recognizes that human society faces many crises, i.e., unstable conditions in which abrupt or decisive changes are pending. It suggests that sustainable development, as a process of changing emphasis from egocentric values to envirocentric values, is a wise and timely choice for policy and action. |
