From a Three-Legged Stool to a Three-Dimensional World: Integrating Rights, Gender and Indigenous Knowledge into Sustainability Practice and Law

Lori DiPrete Brown, Sumudu Atapattu, Valerie Jo Stull, Claudia Irene Calderón, Mariaelena Huambachano, Marie Josée Paula Houénou, Anna Snider and Andrea Monzón
Additional contact information
Lori DiPrete Brown: Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Sumudu Atapattu: 4W Initiative–Women and Wellbeing in Wisconsin and the World, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Valerie Jo Stull: Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Claudia Irene Calderón: 4W Initiative–Women and Wellbeing in Wisconsin and the World, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Mariaelena Huambachano: 4W Initiative–Women and Wellbeing in Wisconsin and the World, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Marie Josée Paula Houénou: Founder of WESISAH, C40 City adviser, Abidjan 22 BP 757, Cote d’Ivoire
Anna Snider: Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
Andrea Monzón: MealFlour Director of Programs, Quetzaltenango 09001, Guatemala

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 22, 1-22

Abstract: “Sustainable Development” has come a long way since the World Commission on Environment and Development first popularized the term in 1987. Virtually everyone is now familiar with the term Sustainable Development, from states to multinational corporations, and from affluent communities in the Global North to impoverished communities in the Global South. It received a new lease of life in 2015 when the United Nations General Assembly adopted Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is recognized that sustainable development requires an inter-disciplinary, multi-level, and bottom-up approach, and that this ideal is easy to state but difficult to operationalize. Pursuant to deliberations at an international workshop at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which aimed at fostering the exchange of ideas among diverse experts and developing solutions for effective inclusion of women and youth in climate change response strategies, we propose an innovative, practical three-dimensional model that enhances sustainability theory and practice with cross-cutting integration of human rights, gender equity, and Indigenous and local knowledge. We evaluate the utility of the model in two ways: First, we analyze how the model informs current approaches to environmental sustainability and human wellbeing including the SDGs, agroecology, de-growth principles, and planetary health metrics. Then, we explore the feasibility and added value of the approach through seven case studies from Guatemala, Sri Lanka, Malawi, Peru, Côte D’Ivoire, and Aotearoa—New Zealand. We conclude that the proposed model is congruent with current theory and practice. It builds on existing principles by identifying and addressing gaps. It enables practical action in a variety of settings and fosters a more integrated approach to sustainable wellbeing for humanity and our earth. We recommend continued development of this theoretical framework and related guidelines for program design, implementation and evaluation.

Keywords: sustainable development; human rights; gender equity; local and Indigenous knowledge; de-growth; planetary health; agroecology; sustainable development goals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/22/9521/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/22/9521/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:22:p:9521-:d:445676

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().