At Semente – Association for Cooperation to Sustainable Development we perceive the concept of Sustainable Development as integral. It should be noted that this terminology associated with environmental issues, first appeared only in 1974 in the Cocoyoto Declaration, and began to circulate at public sphere only in 1980 with the publication of the World Conservation Strategy (1980).
Returning to the perception of sustainable development, it means that we try to reconcile the different dimensions of Sustainability – Environmental, Social and Economic. This reconciliation without ever discouraging the local Culture that will always aggregate the different activities.
Thus, it is important to specify the three dimensions:
- Environmental – According to Ekins (2000), this dimension considers economic growth incompatible with the maintenance of nature, since natural resources are finite, and there is a need to warn of the impact of human activity on natural resources;
- Social – also according to Ekins (2000) this dimension is defined as the ability of society to maintain the conditions necessary for the reproduction, construction, and maintenance of social cohesion, being guided by a culture of peace and human values;
- Economic – this dimension is assumed to be the ability to maintain a non-declining profit condition, projected indefinitely in the future, always with equity in perspective.
As can be seen, the Environmental dimension can be perceived as antagonistic of the Economic. This is because for the economy to work, there must always be an impact on the environment. What we advocate is that this impact is minimized as much as possible and that the different human actions always have different dimensions of sustainability in mind as guiding them. Conscious of the need to rethink the globalized economy in which we live, its impact on the planet and the excessive consumption of natural resources.
We believe that the basis for achieving a society that assumes Sustainable Development as a way of life, at the bottom our most noble goal, will always be Education and the reinforcement of practices aimed at the implementation of this type of Education in different contexts.
We are, of course, aware of the arduous task that will be a paradigm shift of this dimension, but the issues related to Sustainability (in all its dimensions) have never been so touched upon in the public discussion and so many interested in the change.
In conclusion, we will seek to achieve the goals we set ourselves by developing bridges of cooperation with other organizations and institutions that pursue the same goals for a more sustainable society.