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Abstract: “We make a case in this article for re-orienting public health, based on evidence that societies across the globe are now facing inevitable change for which public health remains insufficiently prepared. We focus on the relationship between different sustainability ideals, displayed through rhetoric and discourse and the reality of a number of challenges in the ‘modern’ world. We briefly describe discernible elements of public and policy rhetoric around sustainability, as an important background for public health efforts, and present two significant public health discourses. We then outline some of the challenges to sustainability; some relate to the powerful social systems and cultural values associated with modernity, while others refer to broader environmental issues. These are not unconnected. We conclude by outlining the possibilities for ustainability, which include a transition to a more sustainable form of society that could lessen global inequalities, combat emerging problems, such as obesity, depression and addictive behaviours, and improve individual and social levels of well-being. We believe that this may well require a change of consciousness for a change of age, so the scope and scale of the required response should not be underestimated.”
Health After Oil 
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October 18, 2011 at 5:20 am
Robin Datta
In the context of the heat death of the universe, nothing is sustainable outside its implicit time-frame. And operating in rapidly shifting paradigms in the context of depleting resources on a finite planet, an implicit time-frame in one paradigm may not apply in another.
When speaking of “sustainability” in such circumstances, it is essential to delineate the parameters within which such sustainability is sought. A world without semiconductors? A world without the electrical grid? Or cars & roads?