Sustainable Development: A Transdisciplinary Overview of the Literature
Keith Pezzoli reviews the incredibly wide array of literature regarding sustainable development. By analyzing different parts of the discourse, Pezzoli arranges them in his article in a cohesive and interlocked way. He summarizes the origin of such different focuses and how they enter the debate.
Pezzoli classifies literature on sustainable development into 10 different categories (p. 554):
Managerial, policy and planning
Social conditions
Environmental law
Environmental sciences
Eco-design and built environment
Ecological economics
Eco-philosophy and environmental ethics
Environmental history and Human Geography/Ecology
Utopianism, Anarchism and Bioregionalism
Political Ecology
Pezzoli provides highlights of each categories major contributions, by grouping them into super groups. His categories match with Lang’s (2012) work, as they aim to provide an intersecting focus on sustainability research, but Pezzoli incorporates the commercial and political aspects into the equation.
The structure used by Pezzoli in which he highlights what each category has contributed to the overall understanding to sustainable development is notable, as he also provides the reader with a number of publications that are important in each category, so this research works as entry-point for sustainability experts of different areas to dig into another related category. As Pezzoli himself claims, his paper is a useful resource for planners and social activists, as it can function as a tool link knowledge and collaboration.
Pezzoli argues that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, especially in the study of sustainability development, and I agree. Using multiple discipline’s focus when planning sustainability projects can help bring cohesion and effectiveness into the plan, avoiding unforeseen angles.
In the end, Pezzoli focuses on the importance of collaboration between different disciplines so the literature and research produced is not seen as independent from each other.
Works Cited
Lang, Daniel J., et al. "Transdisciplinary research in sustainability science: practice, principles, and challenges." Sustainability science 7.1 (2012): 25-43.
Pezzoli, Keith. "Sustainable development: A transdisciplinary overview of the literature." Journal of Environmental Planning and management 40.5 (1997): …
