E3. Sustainability Infographic A00839077

Santiago Macías Benavides A00839077 E3 Sustainability Infographic

Sustainability and Engineering

In conclusion, sustainability is a very important concept with a deep relation with engineering. There are three principal indicators or dimensions of sustainability: Economical, Social, and Environmental. To achieve sustainable development there needs to be an integration of the previously mentioned indicators through a process of decision making that focuses on achieving sustainability.

• Warhurst, A. (2002). Sustainability indicators and sustainability performance management. Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development [MMSD] project report, 43, 129.
• Maynard, D. d. C., Vidigal, M. D., Farage, P., Zandonadi, R. P., Nakano, E. Y., & Botelho, R. B. A. (2020). Environmental, Social and Economic Sustainability Indicators Applied to Food Services: A Systematic Review. Sustainability, 12(5), 1804. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12051804
• Emas, R. (2015). The concept of sustainable development: definition and defining principles. Brief for GSDR, 2015, 10-13140.
• Escap, U. N., & Scientific, C. (2015). Integrating the three dimensions of sustainable development: A framework and tools.

A paper by Rachel Emas perfectly defines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Based on a paper by UN ESCAP, to achieve sustainable development is key to integrate the economical, social and environmental dimensions or indicators discussed previously. Both papers conclude that this integration is crucial and that it is achieved through decision making that ultimately aims to achieve sustainability.

Conclusion

References

Examples

Sustainability can be measured through some indicators, based on two papers, one that focuses on sustainability indicators in the mining industry and another that focuses on food services. We can determine that there are three main sustainability indicators: Environmental, Social, and Economical. Although some of the papers researched also talk about the limitations of these indicators, they also conclude that these are still useful tools to assess at a certain level the sustainability of business, process, etc.

Development

Sustainability is deeply related to engineering because of the current needs to reduce the impact on the environment. Engineers are currently tasked with the objective of analyzing and utilizing criterias to reduce their impact on the environment. It's important to understand and comprehend the different indicators of sustainability and the different dimensions of sustainable development.

Introduction