While material consumption rises in affluent societies, the fate of the planet’s poorest 1-2 billion remains bleak. We must find development pathways that can improve the quality of life for the world’s growing population in the face of the interacting pressures of globalization, urbanization, unsustainable production and consumption and large-scale environmental changes.
- How will these environmental changes affect efforts to alleviate poverty?
- What other metrics for assessing human well-being are needed beyond income and GDP?
- What kinds of cultural, social, technological, economic and political changes have been successful in moving societies towards sustainability?
- What are some new feasible strategies, and what constraints and opportunities will emerge from an active engagement between the global-change research community and stakeholders whose primary concern is improving human well-being?
- How are the engineering and technology sectors responding to the global sustainability challenge?