Sustainability and sustainable development: unraveling overlays and scope of their meanings

Abstract

The sustainable, sustainability and sustainable development are remarkable and timely terms at the global level. However as they lack an axiomatic concept, they lead to criticism and doubts in their theoretical application and praxis. In this sense, this study aims to analyze the attributes of sustainable, sustainability and sustainable development to contribute to these concepts. This article is typified as a qualitative, bibliographical, and interpretive study. The databases used were Science Direct, Springer Link, Wiley Online Library, and Google Scholar. The main results show that the research term “sustainable” is  used for solutions to the deterioration of the human-environment system with the help of sustainability and sustainable development. Sustainability measures the level of quality of this system in order to evaluate its distance from what is considered ‘sustainable’. Sustainable development includes strategies to bring the level of sustainability closer to the sustainable human-environment system. The attributes of these terms have distinct meanings and relate to specific praxis, but they converge to a single goal. Thus, an axiomatic concept of these terms assists in praxis to make areas with distinct functions accountable, but with a single final attempt to achieve the idea of a sustainable human-environment system. The aim of this article is to prompt further study on these terms and help in understanding their praxis and theoretical application.