CHAPTER SEVEN ABSTRACT

Chapter Seven Barriers Hindering Transition to Sustainability Abstract The chapter expands the discussion of the realisation of sustainability. The first part discusses the barriers to sustainable development that are inate in our current societies, covering political, economic, technological as well as cultural aspects. The second part discusses the barriers uncovered in the case studies in the last chapter. Some are clearly defined and visible, others are subtle, indirect and complex. An observation from my research was, that the closer I examined the sustainability construct in the context of the existing societal framework, the more I uncovered barriers against its realisation. The barriers appear to be as interlinked and as interdependent as the sustainability construct itself. Some are broad, difficult obstacles and some are practical and basic, easy to understand and address. The difficulty closing the gap between theory and practical application does therefore not seem to be due to lack of scientific research or technological inventions and knowhow, but due to the magnitude and amount of resistence to a new model, found everywhere in our society. Some of the barriers are of a universal nature and encompass many aspects of our cultural and traditional make-up. Some are specific such as those experienced and recorded in the case stories. The chapter discusses each group of barriers as well as views on overcoming them.