Abstract
The two subjects — quality of life and sustainable development — have so far mostly been treated separately from each other, although they have a lot in common. Those engaged in either one of these fields typically ask questions like: What is a “good” life characterized by? What dimensions and qualities does it have? What is the importance of material and immaterial aspects for achieving a “good” life, and what interactions are there between them? In both debates the quality of the natural environment plays an important role.
Of course there are also differences in the debates. While the discussion about quality of life concentrates on the present well-being of groups of individuals, a large part of the discussion about sustainable development focuses on a “good” life for all people living today as well as future generations. However, this “good” life can only be maintained in the long run when natural limits — such as the carrying capacity of ecosystems and resource availability — are respected. In this way, the sustainable development concept extends the perspective from “today” to the future, from “here” to the people on the rest of the planet, and from human beings alone to their coexistence with the natural environment.
Within the following article an analytical framework “sustainable wealth” is developed which employs dimensions of the two concepts “quality of life” and “sustainability”.
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Schäfer, M., Nölting, B., Illge, L. (2004). Bringing Together the Concepts of Quality of Life and Sustainability. In: Glatzer, W., Von Below, S., Stoffregen, M. (eds) Challenges for Quality of Life in the Contemporary World. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 24. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2903-5_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2903-5_3
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