Abstract
Using the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) as an analytical tool, this work examines the sustainability decision making in an Indian village. Kuthambakkam – through the efforts of Elango Rangasamy – has become a site of value for understanding how sustainable development concepts can be applied successfully in an actual developing world scenario. The FSSD, including the concepts of ‘The Funnel’, back-casting and the principle based definition are used to analyse the Kuthambakkam case. This identifies how the decision-making process and actions in the panchayat provide a unique and valuable model of leadership for sustainability – with well-being as a goal. A decentralised, solar-powered disinfectant production method pioneered by Elango is the main project that is examined for this article. The model is currently operated by women’s self help groups in several locations within and nearby to the village – including a large scale production at a vital vegetable market. As the priority of the leadership – or end goal of the funnel – is the well-being of disadvantaged people, the results show superior alignment with sustainability principles compared to decisions made by leaders in corporations and the developed world.
Highlights
There is much discussion in academia, the political world and more recently in the mainstream media regarding the effective course of action to adapt to and mitigate the oncoming risks caused by anthropogenic climate change
When the decision making in Kuthambakkam is compared to the other examples of the FSSD in practice – what is found is that the decision-making process in Kuthambakkam leads to outcomes that have far-reaching benefits
When sustainability leaders focus on empowerment, horizontal growth and improving well-being, the outcomes have far greater potential for true sustainability
Summary
There is much discussion in academia, the political world and more recently in the mainstream media regarding the effective course of action to adapt to and mitigate the oncoming risks caused by anthropogenic climate change. International regulatory bodies have progressively turned their attention to the push on governments to create more effective policy (Masson-Delmotte, et al, 2018) (Beck & Mahoney, 2018) – in response to the increasingly uncertain threats caused by ongoing increase of emissions (Xu, Ramanathan & Victor, 2018). Several nations provide a road map for the supposed carbon-neutral future, such as Costa Rica (Godinez, 2020) and Iceland (Clarke, 2017), but these show that a simple de-escalation of carbon reliant energy systems is not sufficient (Kristjansdottir & Busch, 2014). Things need to change and there is a growing wave of understanding that this is the case (Dankelmann, 2010) (Llavador, Roemer & Silvistre 2015) (Matson, Clarke & Andersson 2016) (Wapner & Elver, 2016)
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