Harald Heinrichs · Pim Martens Gerd Michelsen · Arnim Wiek Editors

Chapter 2
 Sustainable Development – Background 
and Context
Gerd Michelsen , Maik Adomßent , Pim Martens , and Michael von Hauff
Abstract The debate about sustainability can be traced back into the eighteenth 
century. It was revived following the publication of the Brundtland Report “Our 
Common Future” (1987) and the United Nations Conference on Environment and 
Development in Rio de Janeiro (1992). Since then, interest has been focused on 
developing new concepts between the seemingly opposing paradigms of strong and 
weak sustainable development as well as on their application in practice. Moreover, 
sustainable development entails normative implications that affect inter- and intra-
generational justice.
Keywords Sustainable development • Brundtland Report • Strong and weak sus-
tainability • Inter- and intragenerational justice
1 
The Idea and Historical Overview 
Sustainable development is a concept that, since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de 
Janeiro and the Agenda 21 adopted in its wake right up to the present, has been used, 
misused, and sometimes abused. In the concept of sustainable development, a num-
ber of social visions based around the ideas of justice, the frugal life, freedom and 
autonomy, the welfare of humankind, and responsibility for the future can be found 
with varying degrees of importance. Governments, companies, and non- 
governmental organizations, as well as national and international conferences, have 
all emphasized the importance of sustainability. However, one result of 
sustainability being considered in such widely different contexts is that the concept 
has become plagued by inaccuracies, ambiguities, and contradictions.
G. Michelsen (
*
) • M. Adomßent
Faculty of Sustainability , Leuphana University , Scharnhorststraße 1 , 
21335 Lüneburg , Germany
e-mail: 
[e-mail]
; 
[e-mail]
P. Martens
Maastricht University , Maastricht , The Netherlands
M. von Hauff
TU Kaiserslautern, FB Wirtschaftswissenschaften , Gottlieb-Daimler-Str., Geb. 42 , 
D-67663 Kaiserslautern , Germany

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