Introduction
PART 1 Sustainable development, the voyage of discovery of the twenty‑first century
1 The adventure: New paradigms
1.1 Part 1: Learning to think differently
1.2 Part 2: Zooming out to the big picture
1.3 Part 3: Zooming in on the three Ps
1.4 Part 4: Zooming out to the Anthropocene
2 The complexity: People, planet and profit
2.1 Everything is interconnected
2.2 Two dimensions: Place and time
2.3 Complexity
2.4 The Tragedy of the Commons
3 The urgency: Climate change has started
3.1 The problem
3.2 Current and foreseeable consequences
3.3 Tipping points: Incalculable consequences
3.4 SDG 13: Climate action
PART 2 Zooming out to global society
4 Now, soon and later: Thinking from visions of the future
4.1 Growth models
4.2 Scenarios
4.3 Dreams and ideals
4.4 Responsibility
5 Here, there and far away: Global entanglement
5.1 The origins of today’s world
5.2 Everything gets bigger
5.3 The shrinking human
5.4 Responsibility
6 Agenda 2030: Global goals
6.1 The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals
6.2 The SDGs: Reliability and validity
6.3 SDG 17: Sincere commitment
6.4 The value of the SDGs
7 Agenda 2100: Global transition
7.1 Improvements, innovations, transitions
7.2 Mitigation: The energy transition in Europe
7.3 Adaptation: Floating cities
7.4 Transition management
PART 3 Zooming in on Planet, Profit, People
8 Planet: Living with nature
8.1 The Sixth Extinction
8.2 SDG 15: The Nature Restoration Agenda
8.3 SDG 2: Sustainable agriculture and food
8.4 SDG 14: Water, fisheries and aquaculture
9 Profit: Sustainable business
9.1 SDG 9: Circular economy, true prices
9.2 SDG 12: Value, profit
9.3 SDG 8: Economic growth, dematerialisation
9.4 SDG 12: ESG, Corporate Social Responsibility
10 People: A dignified life
10.1 SDG 5 and 11: Emancipation, empowerment, resilience
10.2 SDG 1–7: Multidimensional poverty
10.3 SDG 10: Inequality
10.4 SDG 17: The social contract
PART 4 Professional and personal action perspectives
11 Thinking differently: Who owns the Earth?
11.1 The Anthropocene
11.2 Four Spheres: Words, narratives, policies, effects
11.3 Science, ethics and identity
11.4 SDG 16: Peace
12 You, Human
12.1 The dream: Intrinsic Sustainability Goals (ISGS)
12.2 SDG 4: The learning society
12.3 RESFIA+D: The sustainably competent professional
12.4 SDG 5: Self‑actualisation. The Pledge
Biography
Niko Roorda has worked from 1991 as an education developer, author and senior consultant on sustainable development, ESG and change management for companies and universities in several countries. Based on the first 20 years of his experience in these topics, he received his PhD from Maastricht University in 2010. For his achievements, Roorda received the Dutch National Award for Innovation and Sustainable Development. In 2018 he was selected as the Sustainable Teacher of the Year in the Higher Education category in the Netherlands.
"Based on case studies and presented with different examples and colour images, this is a fascinating and well‑written book. After reading, I felt that I learned a lot from it."
Kundan Sagar, District Disaster Management Authority, Madhubani, India
Praise from previous editions
"There is an ever increasingly large number of books on the market dealing with sustainable development, so any new book has to offer something new. Fundamentals of Sustainable Development by Niko Roorda offers just that in a very innovative way. The book really is interdisciplinary, and while challenging in places is truly accessible to readers of all backgrounds. The presentation of the book is excellent, and the format makes this a very attractive paperback. This is a colourful and intriguing textbook which I highly recommend. It is the sort of book you wish you had written yourself, but Niko Roorda has done just that and in the process added a remarkable edition to the sustainability library."
Professor Nick Gray, Trinity College
"The particular strength of Fundamentals of Sustainable Development lies in bringing together issues of equity (among people) arising from insufficient recognition of ecology (around the planet) in the economy of growth (as irresponsible profits). We strongly recommend careful reading – not just by federal and provincial bureaucrats and legislatures but also by organisations of employers and labour."
Dr A. Ercelan and Muhammad Ali Shah, The News on Sunday
