What does it mean to go beyond sustainability? As the title makes clear, it's a concept I explore in my next published title from Moon Books.
Much of the talk around climate chaos focuses on sustainability - which makes some sense. As a species we aren't acting in a way the planet can sustain, and if we don't get on top of that quickly, the prospects are grim.
The issue with this perspective is that it encourages us to see humans as only really capable of being a problem. We need to be able to imagine ourselves as being able to go beyond that. Getting things back on a more balanced footing isn't really enough. If the current culture continues it would likely mean trying to live up to the edges of what's sustainable, with a lot of non-sustainable things being greenwashed as somehow good. Just look at how we're using the term 'sustainable development' at the moment for a sense of how this works.
Humans are capable of moving beyond the idea of being sustainable. We should be thinking about what it would take for us to be restorative. This applies both to our relationship with the planet, and to how we treat each other. So much of what humans are doing to each other right now is toxic. What would it mean to regenerate? What would happen if we started looking at the things we can do - in any area of life - to make things better than they have been.
Sustainability is mostly shooting for being adequate. What if we went further?
Beyond Sustainability is available from the 28th April from the Moon Books website https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/moon-books/our-books/earth-spirit-beyond-sustainability It's up for pre-order on most book selling websites now, and can be ordered from bookshops.
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