MODULE OUTLINE
• Introduction to Sustainability
• Defining and Understanding the concept of sustainability and sustainable
development. Defining of sustainability related terms
• History of Sustainability
• History of Unsustainability, theoretical advances and institutionalisation of
sustainability
• Global Challenges as ‘Wicked’ Problems
• Principles and Concept of Sustainability
• Sustainability Issues – Social, Economic and Environment
• Frameworks for Strategic Sustainable Development
• Decision Making tools for sustainable development
• Role of the construction industry and civil engineers in sustainable
development
Assessments (continuous)
Test dates
Test 1 - 29th of August 2022 from 10:30 – 12:00
(BUXTON STR ROOM 201)
Test 2 - 17th of October 2022 from 10:30 – 12:00
(to be announced)
Assignment Submission
26th October 2022
(Online)
What is a “wicked problem”?
• A ‘wicked’ problem, is a problem that is either too difficult to
solve or does not have a solution (Horst Rittel, 1970).
• If you do manage to solve one of these problems, they can
often cause or reveal other problems: the solution to a wicked
problem can be other problems.
Some important wicked problems we are currently facing
1. Population growth
2. Food and hunger
3. Natural resources and peak oil
4. Global poverty
5. Global climate change
1. Population Growth
• A ‘natural population increase’ occurs when the birth rate is higher than
the death rate
• In the past 50 years the world has experienced an unprecedented increase
in population growth
• Today’s low-income countries still have the world’s highest birth rates
although women tend to have fewer children than before.
• Current global population of over 8 billion is already 2 to 3 times higher
than the sustainable level
• Earth’s resources are enough to sustain only about 2 billion people at a
European standard of living
Effects of human overpopulation
1. Depletion of natural resources
2. Increased levels of air, water, noise pollution and soil contamination.
3. Deforestation and loss of ecosystems
4. Inadequate fresh water
5. Changes in atmospheric composition and consequent global warming
6. Irreversible loss of arable land
7. Mass species extinctions
8. High infant and child mortality.
9. Intensive factory farming to support large populations.
10.Increased chance of the emergence of new epidemics and pandemics.
11.Starvation and malnutrition
12.Poverty
13.Unhygienic living conditions
14.Elevated crime rate
15.Conflict over scarce resources and crowding, leading to increased levels of
warfare
16.Less Personal Freedom / More Restrictive Laws.
2. Food and Hunger
• Food is essential to the survival of every living organism
• Our food primarily comes from agriculture and harvesting the
oceans
• Food production in most countries has increased since the
green revolution, doubling or tripling in many places
• However, because population has also nearly doubled, the
amount of food produced per person has remained nearly
unchanged in most parts of the world
• At the same time - the green revolution has resulted in damage
to soils, waters, and ecosystems, the final costs of which are not
yet known…
• Humans do not take a sustainable approach to producing food.
• We take more fish, water, forest, and topsoil than nature can
replenish within time scales that are relevant for humans.
1. Overfishing has led to the collapse of marine fisheries;
2. Intensive industrial agriculture and fertilizers are depleting the
soil;
3. Food puts a burden on the world’s fresh water – about 70% of
water use worldwide goes to the production of food (Sachs, 2009)
3. Natural Resources and Peak oil
• Fossil fuel (coal, petroleum, natural gas, oil shales, bitumens, tar
sands, and heavy oils etc) is a non-renewable resource – which
consists of a finite and limited amount
• At some point fossil fuel production will reach a peak quantity
and then start to decline
• That midway point (when half the natural oil reserves have
been used up) is described as ‘peak oil’
• Analysts are concerned about peak oil due to two main trends:
1. Rising human population with growing global economies with
increased consumption
2. Declining oil reserves
• As oil supply declines and population rises - a gap between
supply and demand will appear and grow larger
• As fossil fuels become more scarce - it will become increasingly
expensive
• We therefore need to find a way to move from the current fossil-
fuel dependent economy to a new, more sustainable economy
based on renewable sources of energy
4. Global Climate Change
• Climate change refers to long-term shifts in
temperatures and weather patterns.
• These shifts may be natural, such as through
variations in the solar cycle.
• But since the 1800s, human activities have been the
main driver of climate change, primarily due to
burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.
Impact of climate change
• Glaciers are melting and disappearing, threatening the primary
source of clean water for millions of people
• Mosquitoes are spreading into new places - bringing malaria
with them
• Drought is becoming more common, making food harder to
grow
• Sea levels is rising
• Oceans are growing more acidic - because of the CO2 they are
absorbing
• Extreme weather (like hurricanes, typhoons, blizzards, and
droughts) can lead to conflicts and security issues
5. Global Poverty
• Indicators for measuring the extent of poverty generally rely
on notions of ‘economic development’ to reduce poverty.
• However, while access to paid employment is an important
factor - for some communities, access to safe drinking water
and adequate food supplies may be more important.
• In many parts of the world (Africa, Middle East, Central Asia)
an end to war and conflict is an essential precondition for
trying to battle poverty.
• People need physical security before they can consider
employment.
• Violent conflicts and extreme weather events are forcing
people to become forced migrants or asylum seekers with little
prospect of returning home.
• There are links between social and environmental dimensions
of poverty as a wicked problem
Global Poverty Ranking: African countries will
represent 9 out of the top 10 by 2030
Nine challenges that affect the development of South Africa
National Development Plan 2030
