Community self-development and sustainable development: divergence and contact elements (página 2)

The more complete approach that introduces some other aspects such as the economic management or the local and cultural heritage would correspond more to the line of human ecology since it would consider the harmonic development of multiple variables, the naturalist variables such as politics, culture and some other social aspects. It is observed at present a tendency to go beyond the purely environmental sense that the term sustainability has at the beginning which was centered on holding the balance between the human impact mainly made with an economic purpose and the nature"s ability to preserve a favorable ecologic situation. It means that the term "sustainable" that is applied to "development" intended to influence upon the need to develop the societies without affecting the ecologic status of the planet. From this point of view it would be sustainable the development that would make possible the ecologic regeneration of the natural environment.

Sustainability requires that the natural capital do not decrease but stay constant in order to future generations might have the same environmental conditions we had. In this way, it emerges one of the most determinant aspects of sustainable development: the intergenerational solidarity. The most complete and generic sense of sustainability is not only nature but the integral context in which man lives so culture, housing, life conditions in general, social values are also included in what is considered as sustainable. So it is possible to say that it has been produced a parallelism in the evolution of the development and sustainability concepts in the sense that both of them have been enlarging their meanings and fields of interventions almost in a parallel way. In that way the restrictive and classical sense of development that tends to be confused with growth has been moved to a radical qualitative and therefore humanist conception. So, development is not the accumulation of wealth but the improvement of the levels quality of life which can propitiate peace, solidarity, sanity, decent housing, and work retribution with justice, political freedoms, education, consolidation of rights, women emancipation and so forth. The case of sustainability is similar to a pure initial and radically ecological term; it has been moved to a more complete comprehension of the term that at the same time ends in human parameters and characteristics. It must be sustained not only nature but the other elements and conditions that make possible the life of the individuals and the cultural environment in which man lives. It means that as much the sense of sustainability as the sense of development while they have been approached to human conditions, they have been separated from materialist statements either with an economist character in the first case or with a ecologist and naturalist character in the second one. Sustainability implies ecologic, social and economic balance. On the other hand this influences the same as development on the differentiation regarding the policies that look only for economic growth. The social aspect of sustainability implies an adequate and fair distribution of the costs and benefits among the present population and the future generations (intergenerational solidarity), the problem resides on the difficulties that are presented for its concretion in the social practice.

H. Meadows, D. Meadows y J. Randers (1992: 250 y 251) state that a sustainable society would not eternally freeze the present formulas that not only allow but facilitate the distributive inequality, so, first of all, it would make possible the perdurability of poverty. Definitively, the theses about sustainable disease are presented as the most important humanitarian relations at present. A sustainable society would not actually be of unemployment at macroeconomic level, fluctuations and economic crisis, but the society that would make possible the regeneration of man towards qualities of life that are perfectly well distributed. Evidently, all this requires some adaptations and time, as it was already mentioned (A King y B Schneider, 1992: 74): a sustained society implicitly suggested a society that is based on a long term vision, since it should foresee the cycles of renovation; it has to be a society of conservation and generational consideration. However, it does not mean that its beginning should be extremely limited. According to Jiménez Herrero 1996, sustainability as an ethic and radical speech states that it can only be achieved in the context of a democratic political system, a social system without tensions and in international system that promote forces for balanced development through a flexible institutional system with a self-correcting capability.

This is the challenge of the proposal of sustainable development and this is the great role education can play from this very same moment on: to reproduce its principles and values in the new generations. Anyway, education is not omnipotent; it is not the panacea, the main problem of sustainable disease has an economic character to the point that it is necessary to specify clearly that a sustained society could not emerge in the context of an economic system at present which is based on the working of the market"s forces. The technologic solution can actually improve or even eliminate totally any harmful effect, however, they can cause multiple secondary effects that as impacting or more as the one they try to neutralize. In this situation the sustainable development will in turn aimed more than technological solutions to the decreasing of consumptions and to promote among people policies of recycling. Regarding this aspect it is important to remark an element of divergence between the community self-development and the sustainable development since the first one tends to look for new technologies and therefore it will always be compatible with them, on the other hand, the second will only be compatible with these technologies only if they do not affect the environment. In this sense it is evidenced a contradiction between the imposition of technologies and humanism considering that the Leninist denomination is based on the definition of sustainable development stated in our "common future" which reaffirms that it is the kind of development that "satisfies the needs of the present generation without endangering the possibilities of future generations to satisfy their own needs". Brondtland, (cited by Colom A. J. 2000) affirms that: what sustainable development should be is orientated in the following aspects:

• Preservation of the ecologic processes.

• Preservation of the genetic diversity.

• Rational use of resources

• Increasing conscience and social respect.

• Strengthening of the cultural identity.

• A more efficient identity of the economic management.

Colom Antoni J, 2000 remarks in addition that the harmonic, integrated, global and systemic conjunction of the five kinds of development (biological, political, economic, cultural and human), it is clearly defined his consideration of what sustainable development is and should be. In relation to the economic aspect is to influence in some aspects of the production which take into account some conditionings in relation to nature and culture and help us to enjoy life better.

Regarding the political aspect (it should assure the participation and cooperation in the global solution of the problems of the planet and to propitiate in addition a new cultural development that implies to makes possible the access to the cultural resources of society taking into account the cultural diversity while defending all the cultures). These are the definitions of this kind of development according to this author:

• Systemic dimension.

• Global dimension (it demands to change from a quantitative economy of growth to another economy with a qualitative character; it means to formulate a complete change).

• Ecologic dimension.

• Demographic dimension.

• Local dimension (from the previous moments to planning the member of the localities, it is very important to count on them because sustainable development actually looks for what has been denominated "recognition of local rights". This is an element of coincide with M. Redclift 1995 page. 55.

Local character is an element of contact between community self-development and sustainable development, in both cases, locality and its inhabitants play the main role, and the partner should at most facilitate the appearance of local leaders who are able to head the process. This is the way to propitiate an endogenous sustainable development (to take advantages of all the resources of the locality, especially human resources so the leader of the program and actions should be the community of origin that at the same time must be beneficiated with the results that are obtained).

• Political dimension (to achieve a political system that assigns an effective popular participation in the process of decision-making). This is another element of coincidence between sustainable development and community self-development since both of them require different policies that search not only for economic growth but take into account the human aspect and people"s quality of life.

• Moral dimension

• Technologic dimension. The transition to a new paradigm of sustainable development can not be limited to search for less polluting technologies of production but for the integral conception of a new project of global life. A new approach of the role of technology must be accompanied with a new way to conceive the political management, coexistence, the efficiency and efficacy of economic projects, the pacific solution to violent conflicts, and a recognition integral way of human rights.

Once analyzed the dimensions of sustainable disease and the elements of coincidence with community self-development we will analyze the aspects in which it is concreted the assumption of the concept of community self-development such as:

• Critical conscience as a premise of disposition to the change and a new attitude to face reality.

• The modifications of the community reality as a creative action taking into account the internal circumstances and potentialities of individual and collective subjects.

• The self-management and sustainability conceived in an integral way and in a long term through the use and enhancement of the available resources, as much material as spiritual resources.

• The immediate advance as the realization of the latent potentiality and premise of the future.

The multiconditionality of the community social projects (Alonso, J y other and 2004:32).

The analysis made up to this moment makes possible to understand that all the components of the episteme of community self-development are compatible with sustainable development, in fact, sustainability is considered as an integral part of this episteme. Sustainability also requires a critical revolutionary, self-managing and multifactor conditioned conscience.

Conclusions

The conceptions about sustainable development have been evolving from an ecologist vision to a more complete vision with a cultural, social and political approach. As a result, there are diverse elements of contact between these conceptions and the strategies of community self-development which also covers all these dimensions.

As much community self-development as sustainable development, have a local character.

There is political dimension in the base of both kinds of development that searches for solutions to the problems that deal with the human being and the increasing of the equality of life.

In order to achieve both kinds of development it necessary to implement some strategies, but in the case of community self-development these strategies can be of short, medium or long term. However, in the case of sustainable development must be long term strategies.

The community self-development is compatible, even more, it propitiates the technological development. However, in the case of sustainable development, technologies must take into account the environment which is very difficult to achieve.

The self-development in a community should precede the sustainable development and the policies that are designed in order to achieve the second one should tend or conduct to the first one.

The conception of community self-development assumed by the Community Studies Center is compatible in all its concepts with the sustainable development; in fact, sustainability is considered as an integral part pf this episteme.

Bibliography

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Jiménez, L. Hacia una gestión adecuada del planeta. Instrumentos de gestión ambiental: ¿Qué es el desarrollo sostenible? En Nuño, T. y Martínez de Lagos, K, Educar a favor del medio, Postgrado de educación ambiental, 1995.

——– Desarrollo sostenible y economía ecológica, Madrid, Síntesis, 1996.

King, A. y Schneder, B. La primera revolución global. Informe del consejo al club de Roma, Plaza y Janés, Barcelona, 1992.

Meadows, H, Meadows, D y Randers, J. Más allá de los límites del crecimiento, El país Aguilar, Madrid, 1992.

Educación y desarrollo sustentable. Publicado en Revista Futuros No 12. 2005 Vol.III http://www.revistafuturos.info

Autor:

Dr. Margarita Valdesprieto Roche

MsC Georgina Castro Acebedo

MsC María E. Perdomo López