| In spite of approaching what many feel is the brink of destruction, humans continue to invest in systems and the supporting infrastructure that do not appear to be sustainable.;This thesis begins the work of developing a new framework for decision making for sustainability. Understanding the way nature dissipates gradients, efficiently and in small steps may help us develop a basis for a new vision for sustainability. Two gradient-based principles of sustainability are proposed that draw extensively from recent thermodynamic theories of ecosystem development.;An example in urban water management is used to illustrate the potential for developing a new decision support tool based on the qualitative assessment of the size of gradients in the system and the efficiency with which they are dissipated.;The author suggests that the principles of sustainability proposed here may be developed into principles of sustainability that may be applied across much of human society. |
