Inga Carlman

The Rule of Sustainability and Planning Adaptivity

Abstract This article confronts present main stream planning approaches against the perspective of ecological sustainability, as relevant for Rule of Law countries and based on a modern environmental law approach. It discusses the setting and implementation of environmental goals against the general experience of massive implementation deficits regarding environmental policies all over the world. In this confrontation, environmental planning, with at least some principles picked up from New Zealands Resource Management Act, and much more taken from modern environmental law theory on legal operationalisation, is compared to adaptive management approaches which also allow for modifying the environment related goal if implementation fails or seems very difficult. The concept of adaptive environmental planning (AEP) is suggested as a possible road to choose for planning for sustainability, while maximizing development within the framework legally defined by means of environmental limits. This article presents five criteria, all of which must be met by AEP planning. One of these relates to a planning hierarchy which, among other things, leads to the conclusion that coastal planning, if it is intended to aim at sustainability, can not be dealt with in isolation, although such planning might have to meet very complex problems at the regional level.

Control System for Sustainable Development

Ecological sustainability presupposes that a global human population acts in such ways, that their total impact on the biosphere, together with nature’s reactions, keeps the biosphere sufficient for sustaining generations to come. Human conduct is ultimately controlled by means of law. The problem can be summed up as:Controlling system—Population—Sustainable ecosystems This paper discusses two interlinked issues: a) the social scientific need for systems theory in the context of achieving and maintaining sustainable development and b) how theory of anticipatory modelling and computing can be applied when constructing and applying societal controlling systems for ecological sustainability with as much local democracy and economic efficiency as possible.