Chapter 1

• Environmental Science


  A multifaceted interdisciplinary study of how we humans interact with the living and non-living parts of the natural world
• Environmental Science


  • Integrates areas of life, physical and earth science to study and address problems facing the environment and to implement science-based solutions
• The three main goals of environmental science


  • To learn how the natural world works
  • To understand how humans interact with the environment
  • To find ways to deal with environmental problems and live more sustainably
• Importance of Environmental Science

  • To Realize That Environmental Problems are Global
  • To Understand the Impacts of Development on the Environment
  • To Discover Sustainable Ways of Living
  • To Utilize Natural Resources Efficiently
  • To Shed Light on Contemporary Concepts Such as How to Conserve Biodiversity
  • To Learn and Create Awareness About Environmental Problems at Local, National and International Levels
• Sustainability


  There is no universally agreed definition of sustainability. In fact, there are many different viewpoints on this concept and on how it can be achieved.
• Sustainability (etymology)


  Etymologically, the word sustainability comes from sustainable + ity. And sustainable is, for instance, a composition of sustain + able. So if we start from the beginning, to <sustain> means "give support to", "to hold up", "to bear" or to "keep up".
• Sustainability


  Sustainable is an adjective for something that is able to be sustained, i.e, something that is "bearable" and "capable of being continued at a certain level". In the end, sustainability can perhaps be seen as the process(es) by which something is kept at a certain level.
• Sustainability


  Nowadays, sustainability is usually defined as the processes and actions through which humankind avoids the depletion of natural resources, in order to keep an ecological balance that doesn't allow the quality of life of modern societies to decrease.
• Sustainability vs Sustainable Development

  The views on sustainability seem to have a stronger focus on the present moment and on keeping things above a certain level. By its turn, sustainable development focuses more on a long-term vision.
• Brundtland Report (aka Our Common Future), 1987: 'meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.'
• The United Nations, along with 193 countries of different backgrounds and cultures, adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with 17 SDGs at its core.
• The SDGs is a comprehensive set of goals recognizing the connections between the people and the planet, comprised of targets, integrated and indivisible to balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental.
• LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND. This is what guided world leaders of 193 countries to solving the globe's most pressing problems of today.