Vision on sustainability

The issue of sustainability found its way amongst others in the policies of the governments, the management of companies and in a number of research and education programmes. The concept of sustainable development primarily refers to a development of our economy and society that can be maintained.

Innovation

The issue is not so much finding final situations in which sustainability is realized, as there is no fixed final situation. Innovation plays a crucial role in this development. Striving for economic prosperity is as legitimate as striving to protect nature and the environment and striving for social justice, both across generations and within them.

Integrated approach

For each dimension of the issue of sustainable development – economic, social and ecological – there are questions about which values, goals, and principles are to be used, as well as about the effectiveness, efficiency, and justice of developing and applying options. Exploring sustainable development means investigating these questions in connection to each other. In this context innovation is defined as the process that turns scientific and technological knowledge into products, services and solution to societal problems that contribute to a more sustainable society.

The World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 reaffirmed the need for sustainable development as a central element of the international agenda. It also gave special attention to issues like water-management, energy-demand and supply and biodiversity and ecosystem management, which are major issues in the research of the Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development and Innovation of Utrecht University.

Multidisciplinary Research

The Copernicus Institute aims to support the search for sustainable development through the development of knowledge, methods and instruments. Research is fundamental and strategic. The Copernicus Institute deals with issues that have a multidisciplinary character. Without exception issues of sustainability are concerned with complex developments, the ramifications of which are felt everywhere. These are issues with a natural science as well as a social science component, whereby the components cannot be looked at separately. The Copernicus Institute strives to achieve an integrated approach to these issues.