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Goal 2: Foster Sustainable, Health-enhancing Communities
- Respect “the commons” and its connection to our lives
- Recognize that quality air sheds, watersheds and soils are the foundation of a good life
- Create a balance between urban, suburban and rural communities
- Understand that a healthy environment fosters healthy lives
Sustainability means viewing society organically – respecting our past, understanding the present, and planning for the future. Sustainability calls for policies and strategies that meet society's present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet new challenges.
The concept of sustainability embraces three overlapping ellipses representing social, environmental, and economic arenas that encompass community. Sustainability has both private and public sector applications.
Sustainability requires the satisfaction of basic economic, social, and security needs now and in the future – without undermining the natural resource base and environmental quality on which life depends.
From an economic perspective, the goal of sustainability is to increase long-term stakeholder and social value, while mitigating the marketplace's waste of resources – hence reducing negative impacts on the environment.
Our goal is to move away from short-term thinking and toward long-term thinking. The political process is focused on the 2, 4, or 6 year election cycle, while business decisions are centered on quarterly earnings. What we need is to imagine the impact of our current decisions in a time span of 10-50 years.
A commons-based society refers to a shift in policies and values away from the market-based paradigm that has dominated society for the past two hundred years. A commons-based society focuses on social justice, democratic participation, and environmental protection to balance the marketplace's focus on economic competitiveness and private property.
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