Pillars of Sustainability

The definition and set of five sustainability principles proposed below seeks to advance and restore rigor to the ideas underlying the concept of sustainability. Its development was informed by a number of existing frameworks and was inspired, in particular, by the work of R. Buckminster Fuller.

The principles are articulated in a general fashion but can receive specific operational meaning in relation to particular cases, for example: sectors of the economy, development issues, business strategies, investment guidelines, or initiatives taken by individuals. These principles are expressed in relation to five fundamental domains:

• The Material Domain – Constitutes the basis for regulating the flow of materials and energy that underlie existence.
• The Economic Domain – Provides a guiding framework for defining, creating and managing wealth.
• The Domain of Life – Provides the basis for appropriate behavior in the biosphere with respect to other forms of life.
• The Social Domain – Provides the basis for social interactions.
• The Spiritual Domain – Identifies the necessary attitudinal orientation and provides the basis for a universal code of ethics.