Hi Alex here. In today’s video, we are looking at 5 principles for social sustainability.
We know humans are dependent on ecological and social systems to meet their needs. From
previous research we understand fairly well how ecological systems function and the basic
mechanisms by which humanity damages them systematically. But what about social systems?
Some years ago, a group of researchers in Sweden set out to answer this question. Here’s
the story of what they learned.
A social system is made up of individuals connected through relationships and interactions.
Think about a city, for example, from a birds-eye view with people going about their everyday
life. Can you see the intricate web that their interactions is weaving?
This web of relationships is ever-changing, with new properties emerging from individual
interactions that cannot be ascribed to the individuals, and that are hard to predict
in detail. It’s complex.
Individual and collective behaviour mutates and changes. It’s adaptive. Think of how
behaviour has changed along with new possibilities following from technical innovations, for
instance. Today, interaction through advanced Information and Communication Technologies
is common, also among people who have lived most of their lives without computers, tablets
and mobile phones, and many have even begun to forget how daily life was possible without
such interaction possibilities.
So, social systems are complex and adaptive.
This way of looking at social systems can be applied to all scales, from the global
social system to smaller, more specific systems such as nations, communities, companies, and
families. The key feature that allows such systems to function and evolve despite unpredictable
change is called adaptive capacity. Partly this is about the capacity of the system to
withstand stresses up to certain limits, and partly it is about the capacity of the system
to reorganize or transform when such limits are trespassed, and still be able to provide
its essential functions.
The researchers identified a number of essential aspects of adaptive capacity in social systems.
A major aspect is trust. It is impossible for one or a few individuals to fully understand
or control the entire complex system they are part of. We must as individuals often
rely on others to make decisions and choose viable alternatives for collective adaption.
So, for effective adaption, trust between the individuals is needed, and also between
the individuals and their institutions in a community or society. Trust is often termed
the fabric that binds a social system together.
Another important aspect is diversity, here in the sense of different personalities, talents,
fields of expertise, cultural mindsets, gender, ages etc. Such diversity amongst the individuals,
especially if trust between them enables efficient cooperation, implies more variety in response
options to unpredictable change. Since we don't know exactly what will be needed in
the future, having many options is a good strategy.
Other essential aspects include capacity for learning, capacity for self-organization and
common meaning. Complexity and unpredictable change require we learn quickly in order to
be able to adapt flexibly and quickly.
And being able to reorganize without centralized control is important since it also facilitates
quick responses when a sudden change occurs. Finally, as with trust, sharing a common meaning
also binds a social system together. With a strong sense of shared meaning, people can
put up with difficult circumstances for long, and endure in social cohesion to help each
other
Having identified such essential aspects of adaptive capacity of a social system, the
researchers went on by investigating by what mechanisms those aspects can in principle
be degraded so as the system is not sufficiently adaptive anymore? The idea of searching for
such mechanisms was to then put a “not” in front of them, and by doing so, obtain
principles for social sustainability.
Through extensive literature studies, interaction with other scientists in many disciplines
as well as sustainability practitioners, andmodelling of well-functioning as well as ill-functioning
social systems, the researchers derived five such generic mechanisms of destruction, in
the form of social constructions upheld by those with power. By putting a not in front
of those mechanisms, the researchers formed the following basic principles for social
sustainability: In a socially sustainable society, people
are not subject to structural obstacles to...
In a socially sustainable society, people are not subject to structural obstacles to......health.
This means that people are not exposed to social conditions that systematically undermine
their possibilities to avoid injury and illness (physically, mentally or emotionally). For
example by dangerous working conditions or insufficient wages....influence. This means
that people are not systematically hindered from participating in shaping the social systems
they are part of. For example by suppression of free speech or neglect of opinions....competence.
This means that people are not systematically hindered from learning and developing competence
individually and together. For example by obstacles for education or insufficient possibilities
for personal development....impartiality. This means that people are not systematically
exposed to partial treatment. For example by discrimination or unfair selection to job
positions. ...meaning-making. This means that people
are not systematically hindered from creating individual meaning and co-creating common
meaning. For example by suppression of cultural expression or obstacles to co-creation of
purposeful conditions.
For the interpretation and application of these principles, some important points should
be remembered. Structural obstacles in this context mean social constructions - political,
economic and cultural - which are firmly established in society, upheld by those with power (political,
economic or other forms), and which are, due to a variety of dependencies, difficult to
overcome or avoid by the people exposed to them. And it should be emphasized that the
preamble with structural obstacles is critical and belongs to the principles. Everyone having
perfect health, perfect levels of influence, etc., is utopic.
But for a social system to be sustainable, people cannot be exposed to social conditions
that systematically hinder them from avoiding injury and illness, from participating in
shaping the social systems they are part of, etcetera. It is not one-off actions that cause
unsustainability, but the systematic nature of structural obstacles
– obstacles ingrained and upheld in political, economic and cultural systems. Environmental
circumstances that nobody can control, may lead to hard impacts on a society without
people necessarily loosing trust in each other or in their institutions
Finally, a hopeful point. Generally, the social cohesion and the social adaptive capacity
can be strong also in times of environmental difficulties, caused by, for example, natural
catastrophes or other external factors. And in particular in the face of increasing ecological
pressures caused by humanity, we now need leadership that promotes adaptive capacity
in social systems more than ever.
There you have it: 5 principles for social sustainability. Added up to the previously
established 3 principles for ecological sustainability, you have a set of 8 principles for sustainability.
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