Sustainability. A word usually connected to climate change and environment, and to social and economic matters. But is the concept of today truly sustainable?
Most actors today are highly aware of (and many are in fact acting on) the need to develop their businesses and operations towards sustainable solutions from an environmental and climate perspective. In fact, everywhere we turn climate and environmental sustainability is present! This is a positive (albeit too slow) development and crucial for us to have vibrant societies ahead. However, most are not viewing sustainability with preparedness and security lenses. This is problematic, but it also poses interesting opportunities, seeing that preparedness and security on the other hand never can be viable without a sustainability approach.
These two are by necessity interlinked in ways that I feel we have not yet come even close to map out. At least not in policy or strategy work. It simply is not enough to state that they are interlinked on some theoretical level – we must act on it, create concepts and a language that help us do practice of it. This demands much higher degrees of interdisciplinarity, to say something, but also an openmindedness (indeed from both sides of the table) towards other languages and ideas. We must be on each others agenda – and side!
I call for increased and a more vibrant interaction between the sectors that work on climate and environmental sustainability challenges and those that work on preparedness and security from a planning and solution stand-point (we already know that climate change leads to problems and conflicts). We must develop a common language and shared strategies toward a more comprehensive sustainability concept.
The thought of the possibilities related to this brings me joy, energy and hope for both areas. And I really hope that goes for more than me.
Syks försvar 