| Welcome to the Center for Sustainable Design at Mississippi State University |
| Sustainable Development: "Development
that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs."
World Commission on Environment
and Development, 1987 (FAO)
|
use
of non-renewable resources and irresponsible disposal of wastes are simply
not fair to the generations that will follow us. Our technological development
coupled with our growing population has given us the capacity to inflict great
damage on the natural systems which sustain us. That same technological development,
coupled with creativity and imagination, has given us the capacity to understand
and adapt natural systems to meet many of our needs. As a species, we will
continue to grow in numbers for the foreseeable future. Consequently "development"
(i.e., the creation of systems and structures to meet our needs) will continue.
Our job is to develop, systemetize, and promulgate the methods that will allow
the inevitable to coexist with the essential.