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BP: If there was one place in the world thatyou could visit that you have not yet visited,where would it be and why?DC: I’d like to visit China, as it’s so importantin geopolitical terms. It is a hugely interestingplace in terms of its culture. Maybe thereshould be a school cultural expedition to China?I’m sure the Geography department would loveto take that on!BP: Finally, if you could sum up Geography inone word or phrase, what would you say?DC: Three words: fundamental, diverse andimportant.BP: Many thanks for your time, Dr Craig.A Sustainable Society: Do We Really Have ToCompromise? By Alex Caplan, U6J2, Departing DeputyEditorWithin today’s society and in particular withinthe study of Geography, we are constantly surroundedby the term sustainability and howequilibrium needs to be reached between theeconomic and social wellbeing of a specificspace and the needs of the environment. Sustainabledevelopment is, as defined by theBrundtland Commission, “development thatmeets the needs of the present without compromisingthe ability of future generations tomeet their own needs.”From this widely accepted definition, it is clearthat some restraint is needed so that the fragileenvironment is not exhausted of its resourceswhich would compromise future generations.Therefore a trade-off emerges as we try toreach a compromise with our economic wellbeing,luxury standards of living and future stateof the environment.For example, extracting huge amounts of finitenatural resources such as coal to meet our currentenergy demands is clearly not sustainable,as once the coal runs out it takes millions ofyears to re-emerge. Therefore the trade-offcomes back into play with country leaderschanging the energy supply patterns of a nationto renewable sources such as wind or solarenergy at a higher cost to consumers, but thisbenefits the long term health of the environment.Whilst it may be accepted that the current anthropocentricapproach is not sustainable andthat we must compromise our wealth in orderto achieve a sustainable society, this is not alwaysthe case. Within MEDCs, a new businessapproach has emerged known as “ecologicalmodernisation”. Businesses can take advantageof the public’s desire to be eco-friendly by sellinggoods which are specifically made to beecologically responsible.The best example of this is the Body Shop, thenatural beauty product shop with 2400 outletsin 61 countries worldwide. The company pridesitself on the ethical sourcing of its products inboth a social and environmental context andalso highlights other companies’ sustainabilityshortfalls to further enhance their reputation.The result has been huge success; the BodyShop sells an ethical product every 0.4 secondsand in 2010 accumulated profits despite theeconomic downturn. The business is a quintessentialsustainable firm through its responsibleenvironmental resource extraction and themany social campaigns it supports and clearlyshows how a sustainable society does not necessarilymean a compromise in standards.A sustainable society which benefits all is notlimited to simply a single firm scale. In fact, ithas been successfully implemented on a nationalscale. After the fall of the USSR in 1991, Russiaset about a period of transformation but decidedto do so in a sustainable way. Firstly, a8