Sustainability, Social

This is about creating an infrastructure which is open and engaging to all, provides a foundation of equity, human rights, and a place in which human needs are met and human development can progress, whilst understanding how social aspects bridge the divide with the other dimensions of sustainability.

There are many features which are encompassed within social sustainability, including:
• Improving the quality of human life: health, welfare and well-being.
• Minimise the less beneficial and negative impacts of decisions, products, services and processes on society and communities.
• Provide a diverse, representative, engaged, connected, equitable, empathetic, environment to develop harmonious, inclusive and supportive infrastructures.
• Community involvement, support and funding.
• Eliminate poverty.
• Maintaining intergenerational equity.
• Supporting and maintaining cultural diversity.
• Providing suitable and enduring work opportunities and progressions.
• Providing suitable working conditions.
• Providing workplace benefits.
• Having a social conscience.
• Encouraging social innovations.
• Providing support and life opportunities to have an enriched and worthwhile quality of life.
• Promoting active stakeholder involvement and decision making.
• Supporting and developing qualitative growth in human understanding and skills; providing accessible and wide-ranging opportunities for continued education and learning.
• Social recognition.
• Provide a safe and secure living, recreational, leisure and working environment.
• Providing an infrastructure which is resilient to natural disasters and emergencies.
• Living in harmony with the local and wider natural environment.
• Promoting a sense of community.
• Encouraging social cohesion.
• Measuring perceived health, of employees and within a community.
• Ensuring supply chain practices support social sustainability outcomes.
• Providing workplace representation and support.
• Meeting current social needs without compromising the social needs (expected or perceived) of future generations.
• Understanding interconnections with environmental sustainability and economic sustainability.