Part 2:
Environmental, Economic, and Social Sustainability

As we learned in part 1, sustainability is not a destination but an ongoing process—one that evolves in light of new scientific understandings about how ecological and human systems interact. Its conceptually fluid nature means that defining and planning for sustainability must be an ongoing process. It demands that we look beyond government to collaborative cross-sector governance because effective sustainability efforts require all community change actors to contribute meaningfully to decision-making processes and action in pursuit of sustainable community development. 

Based on part 1, we know why we need to pursue sustainable community development. The challenge is knowing what destinations we need to target and how to actually make progress toward sustainability. Part 2 covers in greater specificity how sustainable community development is pursued at the local level. 

Each chapter covers key stocks  in one form of community capital and how investments can increase their sustainability. An online compendium adds myriad examples to illustrate these methods. The chapters are organized into three sections. Section 1 covers the forms of capital that contribute to environmental sustainability: natural and built. Section 2 covers the forms of capital that contribute to economic sustainability: organizational, political, and financial. Section 3 covers the forms of capital that contribute to social sustainability: cultural, human, and relational. Ending on relational capital sets up the discussion of mobilizing locally for sustainability through comprehensive initiatives in Part 3.

Part 2: Environmental, Economic, and Social Sustainability