A Clear Concept On How To Exercise Sustainable Development: First Workshop in Nepal

What is sustainability?

Sustainability is ensuring the future of life on Earth, is an infinite game, the endless expression of generosity on behalf of all - Paul Hawken
He was not very far from the idea!

My first workshop in International Sustainability School was about "Conceptualizing Sustainability" which was taken by Saumitra Neupane.  

Saumitra Neupane

Saumitra Neupane is known as a policy researcher and he is engaged in studying the political economy of energy and policy reform in Nepal associated with Niti Foundation. He is also a graduate in Sustainable Development Practice and has a keen interest in facilitating and contributing to Nepal’s sustainable economic growth through indigenous policy alternatives. He is a faculty at Center for Development Studies, where he lectures on concepts and theories of development.

Sustainability is not part of the system rather sustainability comes when every part of the system connects and works together to bring the change. When you want to sustain a development project you have to connect all the small parts of the system and engage them to perform together so that as long as the system keeps running, the development sustains as well. 

First Workshop on Sustainability

Saumitra compared it with the "Rocket Science". Though rocket science sounds really complicated but it is nothing but a sum up of little parts of the system. Comparing with Sustainability, though it might sound difficult that how to sustain a project or idea of development but all you have to is engage the little parts into the system to make it sustainable.

Finally, he also emphasized the point of team work in sustainability. Here he introduced the "Tuckman Model" which is "Forming >> Storming >>Norming >>Performing"

About Forming, when the team members come to know about each other, share their thoughts and ideas and understanding in order to make their bonding stronger. Storming comes by challenging each other and through this procedure members come to know about each others strong and week points and thus they know how they have to complement each other. 

Finally after the members are well-known to each other, then it comes to work together to reach the ultimate goal. Performing means "Working as one" that means by complementing each other covering each others weakness by utilizing the strong points and thus performing like a team, like the one!

This workshop actually helped a lot to put a transparency on the concept of sustainability which I personally believe helped me to get closer to the idea.

(More Is Coming !!)