Sustainability is a systemic concept, relating to the continuity of economic, social, institutional and environmental aspects of human society. It is intended to be a means of configuring civilization and human activity so that society, its members and its economies are able to meet their needs and express their greatest potential in the present, while preserving biodiversity and natural ecosystems, and planning and acting for the ability to maintain these ideals indefinitely. Sustainability affects every level of organization, from the local neighborhood to the entire planet.
Sustainability can be defined both qualitatively in words, and more quantitatively rigorous as a ratio. Put in qualitative terms, sustainability seeks to provide the best of all possible worlds for people and the environment both now and into the indefinite future. In the terms of the 1987 Brundtland Report, sustainable development is development that: "Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs." This is very much like the seventh generation philosophy of the Native American Iroquois Confederacy, mandating that chiefs always consider the effects of their actions on their descendants through the seventh generation in the future. The original term was "sustainable development", a term adopted by the Agenda 21 program of the United Nations. Some people now consider the term "sustainable development" as too closely linked with continued physical development, and prefer to use terms like "Sustainability", "Sustainable Prosperity" and "Sustainable Genuine Progress" as the umbrella terms. The Natural Step has conducted a research effort to produce a robust, consensus-based, peer reviewed, operational principle definition of sustainanility, known as "The System Conditions of sustainability." Despite differences, a number of common principles are embedded in most charters or action programmes to achieve sustainable development, sustainability or sustainable prosperity. These include (Hargroves & Smith 2005):
1. dealing cautiously with risk, uncertainty and irreversibility;
2. ensuring appropriate valuation, appreciation and restoration of nature;
3. integration of environmental, social and economic goals in policies and activities;
4. equal opportunity and community participation;
5. conservation of biodiversity and ecological integrity;
6. ensuring inter-generational equity;
7. recognizing the global dimension;
8. a commitment to best practice;
9. no net loss of human or natural capital;
10. the principle of continuous improvement; and
11. the need for good governance.

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