Sustainablity as a learning process

The ARIES 2005 National Review of Environmental Education and its Contribution to Sustainability (ARIES 2005) notes that sustainable development is hard to define as a concept, notwithstanding the generally common acceptance of the Brundtland Definition ("Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs").
The Review envisions sustainability as "essentially an ongoing learning process that actively involves stakeholders in creating their vision, action and reviewing changes": that is, there is no one thing, action or set of practices which is 'sustainability', only a state in which capacity has and is being built to critically analyse our current practices and to bring about change for a more economically, socially and environmentally sustainable future.

The Review notes that problems may arise from the lack of an agreed common definition of sustainability. It argues that the focus on the debate around the meaning of the term may lead to 'paralysis by analysis' ("focus on the debate at the expense of action"). The Review suggests that one way to avoid this situation is to focus on developing shared visions of sustainable futures, and to maintain dialogue and partnership as a key focus of sustainable action.