Sustainability rests on the maintenance of the resilience of the natural environment and the realization of stable and acceptable relationships between people. According to the Brundtland definition, a definition that stresses that sustainability is not a condition, but a specific development “which meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own demands. Sustainability requires meeting the basic needs of all and extending to all the opportunity to satisfy their aspirations for a better life” (UNCED1987: 43).
Today, everyone talks about the importance of sustainability, and to an excessive degree, many emphasize the environmental aspect itself. Furthermore, there is a lot of talk about the importance of inclusion and diversity. I believe we must emphasize inclusion and diversity to a much greater extent when it comes to building a sustainable future. It does not help to focus on smaller fossil cars and planes when we have a growing exclusion in society. The growing exclusion we see today we must do something with HERE and NOW. Without our ability to reduce today’s exclusion, we will not have a sustainable society tomorrow.
It is both sad and disturbing that we see an increased degree of those who are not included in the good company, but for some reason are left out. Being left out is obviously not something that only affects a certain group of people, it affects everyone – young children and young people, the unemployed, immigrants and refugees, the sick and disabled, the elderly or single people – people of all ages and completely different life situations.
As with everything else in life, it does not help to talk about importance of sustainability of de do not show it in practise, we must show this practice in our daily lives. In other words, we must start with ourselves and our immediate surroundings. As adults are role models for our children, it is therefore important that we talk about and show in practice the importance of inclusion, diversity and equality already from kindergarten, primary school, secondary school also further up until we become adults.
Firstly, it is sad and sad for those who are left out, finally, this is unfortunate for society. The fact that someone is left out threatens the sustainability of the welfare society through the loss of valuable resources, which society desperately needs. As individuals, as leaders and as parents, we are responsible for how we talk about other people around the dinner table. This is where our children learn to be inclusive and tolerant people. It is the children who are the future and who will build society further. Then they must bring with the breast milk the importance of inclusion, diversity, and equality in society. As adults, we must BE value bearers in promoting mutual respect, the importance of inclusion, diversity, and equality.
The fact that we see that young children fall outside social arenas contributes to the fact that they may not complete school, fall out of working life, have mental problems at an early age and face major challenges throughout life. Mental health problems a growing issue for European teens: WHO One in four teens in Europe has mental health troubles, a new study from the WHO has revealed. Feelings of pressure due to schoolwork have gone up in a third of European countries. It hits hard on those who are left out, and it costs society billions every single year and finally, it costs large amounts of quality of life for the individual who is outside.
We must work preventively so that as few as possible fall outside, at the same time we must realize that not everyone fits into the same tract of society and that in fact a good number of people do not find their place within today’s A4 framework. We need to be more generous with each other and especially with those who do not find their place in society. On the one hand, individualism is encouraged, on the other hand, the current framework is quite narrow and not very adapted to those who do not find their place in society. We must strive to create a society that is generous and has room for not everyone to fit into the standardized A4 framework. We must become better at seeing the capacity of each individual fellow human being, so that the individual sees their value, and has a good life where they feel mastery based on their own preconditions. To achieve a Sustainable future, we need to emphasize and focus on the importance of inclusion, diversity, and equality and perhaps this is one of the most important missions of humanity. It means that we need to build a sustainable foundation for the future today, which will allow all future generations to live with dignity regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion and where you were born in the world.
We ourselves must be the change we want to see in society and be the bearers of values of an inclusive, diverse, and equal society. None of us can do everything, but everyone can do a little and suddenly a little has become significant and important.