Two snapshots reinforcing systemic thinking and responsibility

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the concept of sustainable development through the lens of two United Nations (UN) publications, Our Common Future (1987) and the 25-year update Resilient People: Resilient Planet (2012). The analysis attempts to highlight how sustainable development requires a systemic understanding and this in turn necessitates an imperative of responsibility. To reinforce its case, the paper highlights how sustainable development has never been about saving the environment and to think so is naïve. In the final analysis, the paper outlines how a systemic understanding is a key concern for organisational leaders and in turn a responsible understanding of humanity's entwinement with, rather than separation from, all that surrounds us.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is a discussion paper that weaves together existing literature.

Findings

The aim of the paper is to reinforce systemic thinking and an imperative of responsibility.

Practical implications

The arguments offered highlight how systemic thinking and the associated responsibility that comes with this view are necessary for realising sustainable outcomes.

Originality/value

Weaving together and reinforcing arguments that highlight systemic thinking and responsibility.

Citation

Barter, N. and Russell, S. (2014), "Two snapshots reinforcing systemic thinking and responsibility", Journal of Global Responsibility, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 45-54. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGR-03-2014-0010