‘Our greatest task in the 21st century is to convert an abstract concept – sustainable development – into a reality for all people on the planet.’ Participating in the global market has suddenly become prohibitively expensive for any form of business. As a result, it becomes critical to consider specific marketing ideas and concepts. Sustainability and feasibility are the most fundamental elements in every form of business. In this age of globalisation, it is more important than ever for all ideas and concepts to be realistic and long-term.
By Nidhi Yadav, Founder, Aks Clothings
Being sustainable means having the ability to be sustained with low long-term environmental impact. ‘Sustainable development’, on the other hand, is defined as development that fulfils current demands without undermining future generations’ ability to satisfy their own needs. It’s a complicated idea that assumes resources are finite and should be used cautiously and sensibly in the long run, with long-term objectives and repercussions in mind. Sustainability is described as the act of living within the constraints of existing physical, environmental and social resources in such a manner that the living systems in which people are immersed may live indefinitely.
The Four Pillars of Sustainability
‘Sustainability’ refers to various programmes, efforts and actions focused on preserving a certain resource. It relates to four separate areas: personal, social, economic and environmental sustainability, referred to as the four pillars of sustainability.
HUMAN SUSTAINABILITY
The goal of human sustainability is to preserve and strengthen society’s human capital. Human sustainability refers to developing skills and human capacity to support the organisation’s activities and long-term viability while also promoting community and societal well-being. Investments in health and education systems, access to services, nutrition, knowledge and skills are all examples of human sustainability initiatives. Natural resources and space are limited, therefore, a balance must be struck between continuous growth and improvements in health and economic well-being for everybody. An organisation will regard itself as a member of society and promote business ideals that value human capital. Human sustainability emphasises the significance of everyone who is directly or indirectly involved in creating products, the supply of services or the distribution of goods.
SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
The purpose of social sustainability is to safeguard social capital through investing in and creating services that form the structure of our society. The concept permits a larger view of the world in terms of communities, cultures and globalisation. It requires protecting future generations and admitting that our activities have an impact on people and the Earth as a whole. Social sustainability emphasises sustaining and improving social quality via values such as cohesion, reciprocity and honesty, as well as the necessity of interpersonal connections. Laws, information, and accepted conceptions of equality and rights can all contribute to its development and maintenance. The notion of social sustainability is intertwined with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals’ concept of sustainable development.
ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY
The objective of economic sustainability is to preserve capital. Economic sustainability seeks to improve living standards, whereas social sustainability seeks to improve social equality. In the business provenance, it refers to the efficient use of assets to maintain a company’s profitability over time. One of the prior goals of sustainable development is to maintain high and steady levels of economic growth. It is not possible to stop economic expansion. Sustainable development, on the other hand, is more than simply economic expansion, which means the quality and quantity of growth both matter.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Environmental sustainability can be defined as ‘how businesses may generate beneficial economic outcomes without harming the environment in the short or long term.’ Environmental sustainability strives to increase human well-being by safeguarding natural resources (e.g. land, air, water, minerals, etc.). Initiatives and programmes are described as ecologically sustainable when they ensure that the population’s demands are addressed without jeopardising future generations’ requirements.
Feasibility is about making strategies and practising them for the ultimate goal. The term ‘feasibility’ refers to how complex or straightforward something is to do; while setting a job goal, consider the long-term feasibility of achieving your objectives. It is the chance of anything being done or completed based on the potential, capability of something being performed. To understand in-depth the feasibility of a particular business, a study is needed.
A feasibility study for sustainability evaluates the system’s potential effect and attempts to identify the project’s strengths and limitations. As a result, it must be undertaken objectively to offer data on which decisions may be made. In its most basic form, the two criteria for determining feasibility are the required cost and the value to be obtained. A well-designed feasibility study should include information on the project’s history, operations and management, marketing research and policies, financial statistics, legal needs and tax duties, among other things. This study’s findings might help take more potential decisions that promote sustainability.
Global development and conservation goals together are indeed possible. We can minimise our exploitation of natural capital while encouraging economic growth and can also confront climate change.
Types of Feasibility
TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY
This study centres on the technological resources available to the company. It helps businesses determine whether technical resources are sufficient for the project and whether the technical team is capable of translating concepts into operational systems. The hardware, software, and other technical requirements of the proposed system are also assessed for technical viability.
ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY
This study usually includes a cost-benefit analysis of the project, which aids businesses in determining the project’s viability, cost and benefits before allocating financial resources. It also boosts project credibility by assisting decision-makers in recognising the proposed project’s favourable economic advantages to the organisation.
LEGAL FEASIBILITY
This investigation reviews aspects of the proposed project that may be in violation of laws such as zoning requirements, data protection legislation or social media laws. Assuming a business wants to build a new office building in a specific location, a feasibility study may reveal that the company’s planned location is not suitable for that type of business. That organisation has just saved a lot of time and work by recognising that their proposal was not feasible early on.
OPERATIONAL FEASIBILITY
This research study is to see if, and to what extent, the organisation’s needs can be met by completing the project. Operational feasibility studies also examine how a project plan complies with the criteria established during the system development requirements analysis phase.
SCHEDULING FEASIBILITY
This inspection is critical for project success; after all, if a project is not completed on time, it will fail. An organisation predicts the amount of time it will take to execute a project when scheduling feasibility.
Importance of Sustainability and Feasibility
Sustainability strengthens our quality of life while also safeguarding our environment and natural resources for future generations. In the business sector, sustainability is linked to a company’s holistic strategy, which considers everything from manufacturing to logistics to customer service. Going green and sustainable is not just good for business; it also enhances the long-term advantages of an environmental emphasis.
Feasibility is crucial because it enables project managers in determining the feasibility of a project or business endeavour by identifying the variables that can contribute to its success. The analysis also depicts the possible return on investment as well as any threats to the venture’s success.
How Sustainability and Feasibility are Interlinked
Climate change and rising wealth disparity have emerged as two major dangers to modern living standards, peace and democracy. In most policy agendas, these two issues are addressed independently. Well, to manage a fair low-carbon transition, a new generation of innovative approaches has been offered. In this spirit, a dynamic microscopic simulation model is always needed to do feasible study for analysing the long-term implications of three scenarios: green growth, social equality measures and de-growth. Green growth, which is based on technological advancement and environmental laws, significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions at the price of growing economic disparity and unemployment. Direct labour market interventions that result in environmental performance comparable to green growth while maintaining economic development are among the strategies for the social equality scenario. Despite the implementation of a wealth tax, the de-growth scenario adds a fall in consumption and exports, and achieves a bigger reduction in emissions and inequality with a higher public deficit. We believe that revolutionary social policies are both economically and politically feasible and can combine social prosperity with low carbon emissions.
SDGs and the Feasibility of Sustainable Development
Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, the 17 ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs) are the blueprint for achieving a better and more sustainable society for all by 2030. These objectives are a rallying cry for action to solve a slew of global issues, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation and justice.
The best way to predict the future is to create it, and feasibility helps in making strategies that help in creating a sustainable future. Feasibility and sustainability are intertwined. Feasibility aids in the analysis of facts in order to make long- term, sustainable judgments while keeping the goal in mind. These SDGs were formed only as a result of the feasibility research, as the outcomes of this study only assisted in making more possible decisions that support sustainability.
Will SDGs be Relevant Post-pandemic?
Only if governments recast the Goals to be part of the fabric of people’s lives can the SDGs remain relevant during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The SDGs can survive and even thrive feasibly, as they address the dire situation faced by many communities across the world, including people with disabilities, in the same way that the Goals arose from stories at the grassroots level around the world.
Conclusion
Overall, sustainable development is feasible, or we may argue that sustainability and feasibility go hand in hand. Global development and conservation goals together are indeed possible. We can minimise our exploitation of natural capital while encouraging economic growth and can also confront climate change. The human species is the most unstable and possibly disruptive element in the design. Humans, using contemporary technology, can cause far-reaching and irrevocable changes in the environment, whether purposefully or accidentally. If left to its own devices, the environment can sustain life for millions of years.
‘No matter how complicated global issues appear to be, we are the ones who created them. They can’t possibly be beyond our ability to resolve.’
