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Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0, Open Access
Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0, Open
Journal article
Conceptualising Sustainability Using a Cognitive Mapping Method
Sustainability, Vol.12(5), pp.1-20
05/03/2020
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Abstract
Many different interpretations of the meaning of sustainability has the potential to cause dilution of meaning, as well as ambiguity and confusion, and a reduction in the use of sustainability as a relevant global objective. In this research, we examine these different interpretations using a cognitive mapping method, where 12 sustainability experts provide their own unique conceptualisations of sustainability. Our research objective is to develop a conceptual tool that explains differences in these many sustainability meanings. The experts’ conceptualisations reveal worldviews that are predominantly anthropocentric, but which also contain principles consistent with the sustaincentrism paradigm. We observe that each expert’s worldview, together with the assumed primary objective of sustainability, and the type of actions recommended to achieve sustainability, are central to understanding the diversity of sustainability conceptualisations. This insight leads to the development of a framework that infers sustainability can be conceptualised to consist of three distinct layers consisting of a core objective, or what is to be sustained; a worldview that underpins the conceptualisation; and actions aimed at achieving sustainability. By clarifying the multiple layers contained within sustainability conceptualisations, competing and contested versions of sustainability can be clarified within a common theoretical framework. The sustainability framework should also assist educators and students navigate through the multiplicity of sustainability meanings, and enable new context-specific definitions to be developed, such as those used in business and government.
Details
- Title
- Conceptualising Sustainability Using a Cognitive Mapping Method
- Creators
- Patrina Whyte - Southern Cross UniversityGeoffrey Lamberton - Southern Cross University
- Publication Details
- Sustainability, Vol.12(5), pp.1-20
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Identifiers
- 991012927078802368
- Copyright
- © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Academic Unit
- Management; Faculty of Business, Law and Arts
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article