Sustainability

“The term sustainability has a range of definitions running into hundreds, making any preliminary definition necessarily highly abstract, but all cluster around the core idea that some system, process, range of welfare, or set of items can be maintained at a certain rate or level for the long term; the ingredients of this formulation and its applications, however, vary widely, as do their disciplinary roots and practical implications.” - Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy (2009)

“A concept that is used to describe community and economic development in terms of meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” A Dictionary of Environment and Conservation