Ecological Footprint and Sustainable Behavior: The Role of Education, Information, and Lifestyle

The Concept of Sustainability and its Relationship With the Environment

The notion of sustainability became identical with that of sustainable development and its relationship with the environment has been presented by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED, 1987). Sustainable development is defined as the one that meets the needs of the present, without diminishing the ability of future generations of people to meet their own. Thus, its definition includes economic, legal, technological, social, educational and environmental aspects. As far as the environment is concerned, it aims on the security of food production, the protection of soil and natural resources, the minimization of pollutants and energy and the improvement of efficiency through technological advancements (Mebratu, 1998). Therefore, a sustainable environment should avoid the over-exploitation of (non) renewable resources and point out the protection of biodiversity and the stability of the atmosphere’s quality.

Eco-efficiency has been characterized as a measure that describes the relationship between the economy's ability to produce as much product as possible while causing the minimum amount of environmental damage (i.e. Stergiou & Kounetas, 2021a). Although its term was introduced through the Brundtland report at the WCED (Mitcham, 1995; Sneddon et al., 2006) a reference had been also made to the Stockholm Conference in 1972. However, until this day it is still challenging to articulate a strict framework of principles and rules that will be universally accepted.