A Systems Philosophy for Human Sustainability

"A human being is part of the whole called by us universe , a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty... We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive."
Albert Einstein

For several decades the concept of sustainability has been held captive by a limited understanding of the meaning of the term. All too often the focus of human sustainability is in terms of ecological sustainability or, more recently,  eco-footprinting - both of which are admirable and extremely important principles. However, human sustainability also needs to be understood in terms of the human capability to exist / operate in an environment for long periods of time.

In the workplace, for example, we create environments based on artificial lighting, rigid desk layouts and high levels of technology, all of which create in most people a desire to get to the end of the day and get back outside - back to where they feel comfortable. An alternative approach is to view the workplace as an extension of the way of life that an individual has chosen.

One special application of these principles is the work environment in which human crises / natural disasters are managed.  In these environments, individuals will frequently operate for extended periods of time, operating under high workload, with high consequence decisions a key part of their task. Examples of these environments include Emergency Services operations rooms, Casualty wards/ Emergency Rooms and stock trading floors. In these environments it is critical that the design accounts for the human propensity to work long hours during crisis and design appropriately.  The application of a relatively new discipline which has emerged from the Information Technology arena gives us a fresh way to look at these environments and better understand how to design for human sustainable performance.

A detailed discussion of the design of these environments can be found at our Special Case Studies page.

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