Svenska Aralsjösällskapet
Vårt arbete
Svenska Aralsjösällskapet vill bidra till insatser för demokrati och utveckling i Aralsjöområdet. Det övergripande målet för vår verksamhet är att öka kunskapen i Sverige och världen om situationen i Aralsjöområdet. Vi vill påverka politiker och myndigheter, nationella och internationella organisationer till konkret handling till förmån för en hållbar utveckling i Aralsjöområdet.
Idag saknas så gott som helt kunskap och opinion i Sverige. Vi vill också påverka den politiska beslutsprocessen i Sverige. Det sker fortfarande väldigt lite diskussion om Aralsjöområdet och tas få beslut om hjälpinsatser. Vår organisation vill se fler humanitära projekt i Aralsjöområdet.
Genom att ha en effektiv seminarieverksamhet vill vi väcka intresse för området så att projekt för en utveckling som gynnar jämställdhet och en hållbar utveckling kan starta i regionen. Den politiska situationen försvårar insatser men vi anser att det gör det ännu viktigare för vår organisation att fortsätta bedriva vår verksamhet.
Syftet med vårt arbete är att:
- Sprida information om Aralsjöområdet.
- Skapa opinion om miljö- och hälsosituationen i Aralsjöområdet.
- Påverka politiker och myndigheter, nationella och internationell organisationer till konkret handling.
- Genomföra egna projekt.
För den som är nyfiken finns mer att läsa om Aralsjön och miljöproblemen i Aralsjöområdet.
The Baltic University Programme
Sustainable Development Course
This course in an update of the earlier BUP course A Sustainable Baltic Region (SBR). The original SBR course was printed and published in 1996 – 1997.
This update was first published on the internet in 2013. Some links and illustrations have been further updated in 2017 and 2023.
Introducing Sustainable Development
You have certainly already many times encountered the term sustainable development. You see it in newspapers, in political discussions and today even in advertisements. It became well known after the United Nations Conference in Rio de Janeiro, 1992. As this was just at the end of the Cold War the nations of the world were unusually united: both East and West, industrialized and developing nations took part. Since then, sustainable development has increasingly become common vocabulary.
Development is perceived as something positive, a qualitative improvement. Sustainable refers to something that can or should last in the long-term. The first reasons for the concern for sustainable development was the fear that the world would not last, that it was on a wrong track. That fear has since then mounted. We see increasing climate change and its consequences: disasters, such as storms, floods, and draughts and a melting arctic ice. We see declining or collapsing fish stocks, biodiversity decline and deforestation. While greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increase unabated, resources such as oil, phosphorus and several metals seem to approach their end. The situation is already an emergency; no wonder that much despair about the future for themselves and their children.
As a counterforce, the idea of sustainable development has become one of the leading aspirations of humankind in our time. Civil society organizations as well as governments all over the world have embraced the concept. It has become the foremost challenge of the 21st century, and the most important tool to address our problems. What is it actually?
Sustainable development is different from many other concepts, as it is so all-inclusive. It includes everything from personal ideas and perceptions, to technical development and political programs. It is based on knowledge, which partly is age-old, e.g. in agriculture, and partly completely new, such as new technologies and social and economic arrangements. As a knowledge-based undertaking, sustainable development is based on a systems approach. One refers to the dimensions of sustainable development as ecological, social and economic, which all are interdependent and all needs to be included. That makes sustainability as a topic of study challenging. In at least some areas, we are all beginners. It also opens up for dialogue and different views and opinions.
But we need this study. We need an ongoing dialogue to foster a shared vision of how to progress to a better future; we need an established theory and practice of sustainable development. With the present course, offered to anyone interested, the Baltic University Programme aims to contribute to this agenda. You are invited as a student to use a part or all of the material. We sincerely hope that you will join the group of those who contribute to a change, and create a better future.
Contents of the BUP
Sustainable Development Course
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