Beyond traditional sustainable development: Stating specific and general sustainability theory and sustainability indices using ideal present-absent qualitative comparative conditions

Nota.-El presente artículo fue enviado por el autor expresamente para el presente número de la Revista Virtual de REDESMA. Abstract Sustainability has become a key concept in development theory, yet a clear and well-organized central body of accepted theory supporting it does not exist. Sustainability goals and issues are being addressed with traditional sustainable development tools and strategies which are based on non-systematic theory. The development of sustainability indicators and indices reflect traditional sustainable development principles and concerns, not accepted sustainability theory. Measurements of progress toward sustainability are based on measurements of progress toward traditional sustained development. All this leads to relevant questions such as the following: Can sustainability goals be achieved based on non-sustainability theories? Can sustainability indicators and indices developed to measure progress toward traditional sustainable development be considered good green lights towards sustainability? It is argued in this paper that the theory-practice consistency principle suggest that sustainability issues should be addressed with policy strategies based on sustainability theory and that sustainability tools are the appropriate means to measure progress toward sustainability. Otherwise, the consistency principle would be broken. Hence, there is a need to provide theoretical support to sustainability ideas and to the preparation of practical and systematic sustainability indices. The goal of this paper is to introduce a present/absence qualitative comparative framework that can be used a) to identify and state different possible models of desired development; b) to develop general and specific sustainability indices to assess them and monitor them; c) to link the traditional concept of sustainability to the notion of fully desired development; d) to provide a clear way to generalize the concept of sustainability consistently and systematically reflecting its optimal nature.