Fifteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Within the cannon of sustainability literature, core qualities emerge as potentially foundational components for an integrated and effective approach to a sustainable future. When collectively integrated, these qualities can allow communities not only to become sustainable but also to flourish. As communities move toward more sustainable solutions, their perceptions of the concept of flourishing play a central role in defining that sustainable pathway. Building upon the various components in the literature around the concept of sustainability and flourishing, this study poses the following definition for “sustainably flourishing”: to be better off than we are now by promoting positive collaboration among self, community, and nature. In so doing, the proposed term sustainably flourishing captures a state in which people are better off, but not at the expense of the environment as has often been the case in the industrial past. The interplay of these qualities in places such as Lipari (Roe, 2017), Porto Allegre (Wright, 2010), and L’Aquila (Fois, F., & Forino, G. 2014) provide an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the intersectionality of these core qualities. Further, the role of the concept of “flourishing” within this framework provides with enlightening opportunities to examine the positioning of culture within the local context as communities move toward a sustainably flourishing future.