What Is Sustainability?

  • Cool+
  • Secondary
  • Year 8
  • Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Geography
  • Environmental
  • Social
  • Economic
  • ...

Video summary

It’s a word we’ve all heard, and most of us think it relates only to the environment. But the concept of sustainable development is actually a little more complicated than that. Cool examines the three pillars of sustainability.

Put simply, sustainability means 'enough for everyone, forever'. It describes the ability for things to keep going at the same rate and in just as good condition as before. It is tempting for humans to think that we should be able to do anything we want. Unfortunately nature does not work like this – our planet has limits. Every living system can only take so much use before it starts to weaken and decline. When this decline reaches a tipping point the living system slows down and can never reclaim its former glory.

Curriculum Mapping

Australian Curriculum (v9.0) content description: Year 8 Geography

Strategies to manage the sustainability of Australia’s changing urban places
(AC9HG8K09)

Year 8 Achievement Standards

By the end of Year 8, students explain how the interactions of people and environmental processes impact on the characteristics of places. They explain how the characteristics of places are perceived and valued differently by people. They describe the effects of human activity or hazards on environments. They explain the features of a distribution and identify implications. They explain the interconnections between people and places and environments.

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Want to offer your class a bit more? Here are some presentations, lessons and factsheets that can be used with this video

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