The definition and set of five sustainability principles proposed below seeks to advance and restore rigor to the ideas underlying the concept of sustainability. Its development was informed by a number of existing frameworks and was inspired, in particular, by the work of R. Buckminster Fuller.
The principles are articulated in a general fashion but can receive specific operational meaning in relation to particular cases, for example: sectors of the economy, development issues, business strategies, investment guidelines, or initiatives taken by individuals. These principles are expressed in relation to five fundamental domains:
- The Material Domain – Constitutes the basis for regulating the flow of materials and energy that underlie existence.
- The Economic Domain – Provides a guiding framework for defining, creating and managing wealth.
- The Domain of Life – Provides the basis for appropriate behavior in the biosphere with respect to other forms of life.
- The Social Domain – Provides the basis for social interactions.
- The Spiritual Domain – Identifies the necessary attitudinal orientation and provides the basis for a universal code of ethics.