Our Approach
SSG understands sustainability as a process, rather than a static outcome. As such we seek human-driven solutions to today’s greatest challenges. We feel sustainability should be used as a lens to create an integrated and effective
approach to addressing these challenges including climate change, economic and social inequities, human health, ecosystem decline, and sustainable community development.
As a framework, sustainability represents the relationships and interdependencies between the economy, society and the ecosystem and illustrates that one of these three aspects cannot be successfully addressed without consideration of the others.
At a macro level, our sustainability approach is characterized by:
Restoration and Repair: Time, energy and space for healing is required to address both ecological destruction and the damage suffered by various cultures and peoples.
Adoption of a Long-term Perspective: Indigenous peoples had a tradition of considering the impacts of a decision on seven generations prior to taking a decision. International legal conventions speak of the Precautionary Principle that advises government to err on the side of caution in cases in which consequences are uncertain.
Meeting Human Needs: Every person needs to have access to food, water, shelter or clothing, that their human rights are respected, that they live in a peaceful society, that they have the opportunity to find meaningful work, and that they are able to celebrate the joy and beauty in the world.
Redefining Prosperity: More and more research is indicating that people's happiness is dependent on the quality of their working life, their family life and their social relationships. We need to define prosperity in terms of happiness, not consumption.
Building the Relationship between People and Places: Modern technologies have allowed human society to become disconnected from natural systems; we believe that the sustainability crisis is due in part to this disassociation. Hence, reconnecting to natural systems allows us to understand our dependency on them.
Participatory Governance Systems: Ensuring that decision-making is in the hands of the people who are affected by the decision is a key element to a just governance system.
Sharing Natural Resources Equally: there can be no peace in a world in which there is extreme wealth and extreme poverty.
Protecting the Global Ecosystem Forever: There is increasing recognition of the services that the ecosystem provides to humans; at the lowest level it only makes sense to safeguard our source of oxygen, water, and soil, while at a higher level, it is preserving the right of other species to exist.
As a clear and delicious approach to introduce the idea of sustainability to clients and partners we offer the Sustainability Lunch: our introductory workshop uses food to illustrate the theory behind Sustainability. The results are delicious.
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