Towards sustainable development : a participatory model for the water services sector in South Africa (original) (raw)
Proceedings of the 28th Annual Conference, of the International Sustainable Development Research Society Stockholm, Sweden, June 15-17, 2022. ISBN: 978-91-89504-17-2, 2022
Since the world adopted sustainable development (SD) as a development philosophy in 1992, SD implementation concepts and strategies have featured in scholarly, policy and development circles. The various creative approaches to SD implementation attest to the diversity of the global context in which implementation occurs. This diversity informed the United Nations’ prescription, exemplified by Local Agenda 21 of 1992, to localize SD implementation. One contention in this paper is that the marginal achievements of the world on numerous SD protocols, e.g., the Millennium Development Goals (20002015), SD Goals (2015-2030, etc., is attributable to various reasons, one of which is the lack or vagueness of the principles of how protocols engage stakeholders in policies, programs and projects. SD initiatives focus on projects which most stakeholders, especially in the grassroots sector, are grossly unaware of and unengaged with. This paper argues that the Brundtland framework is silent, in respect to local context, on the practical Interface between the 3-E pillars and stakeholders in implementation processes. The 3-E pillars are environment, economy and equity, known in business circles as the triple-bottom line (TBL or 3BL), which are people/social, profit/economy, planet/environment. This paper postulates that the interface can be achieved by two additional pillars, which are engagement and enlightenment. This results in a 5-E SD planning and implementation framework dubbed the SD pentagon. The authors of this paper deciphered and vetted the SD pentagon from practical exercises in implementing SD initiatives in grassroots communities in parts of the world, and in teaching SD courses in graduate schools. Using the evidence-based and gedankenexperimental social research methods, this paper found and concluded that, one, the SD pentagon provides a refreshing option to, and builds on, not transplant, the Bruntland framework. Two, the pentagon is explicit on how to achieve the intent of SDG 17. The 17 targets for this SDG were clustered into five categories. One category targeted capacity-building among stakeholders in the SD implementation process. This paper found that inadequate capacity is a formidable challenge in SD implementation worldwide. Three, the SD pentagon provides a universally applicable framework that institutionalizes and normalizes enlightenment and engagement without violating the intent of localization. In this sense, the pentagon respects and is anchored on local culture. From concepts and diction to strategies and dividends, local stakeholders are proprietors of SD planning. Finally, the pentagon facilitates the achievement of several SDGs, specifically goals 3, 5, 6, 7, 12 and 17. It is a powerful SD implementation tool that improves and strengthens a healthier relationship between the environment (life support systems) and all anthropogenic activities. Keywords: Brundtland sustainable development framework, Sustainable development pentagon, Life-support systems, Engagement, Enlightenment