How to improve our communication so we can reach sustainability  

Happy New Year, dear reader! May the 25th year of the second millennium bring you health, wealth, and loving relationships! May you will what you truly need, and live what you so will!

It’s that time of the year again, when we think of what we have accomplished up until now, last year in particular, and formulate some resolutions for the year that is starting.

Preliminary Clarification: No Such Thing as “Unsustainable Development”

Let me start by clarify something important: in my blog, I write about “sustainable development.” I have used these two words since the 1980’s, when we believed that there were forms of development that were unsustainable, as compared to other forms that were sustainable. But over the years I became convinced that there is no such thing as “unsustainable development.” I believe that we are either developing or regressing. We do things that are developmental (like exercising regularly or learning a new language) and things that harm us (like drinking alcohol in excess repeatedly, or sitting on a chair for long hours every day.)

I believe that there is no human development (at all) if humans’ dominant activity patterns lead them, overall, to premature death and species extinction. So, in truth, the word “sustainable” is misplaced in “sustainable development.” It should refer more specifically to patterns of human activity (practices, behavior), not to “development.” EVERYTHING concerns human development, and EVERYTHING we do has to do with what we label with the word “sustainability,” not just a handful of juxtaposed themes like climate, biodiversity, inclusion, etc.         

Now to the Resolutions

Because nothing gets done in this world without communication (including between you and you!), and in view of the globally prevailing through-the-roof misinformation, I suggest we all focus on improving our communication, starting strong in 2025.

Here are a few suggested resolutions. Perhaps just reaffirmations of things we sometimes forget to insure.

• I will seek the truth. I will check the facts about people and events in the news and not consider them true, or judge them, until I am sure enough that I have all the facts. I will seek to learn the facts from several different sources, even sources I never consulted before because I may have judged these negatively in the past. I will check these other sources out too, because I want to form my own opinion.
• I will quote my sources when reporting on something. 
• I will not grip to a piece of information as “absolutely true.” I will keep my mind open to the possibility that it is not so.
• I will do my best to speak and write clearly. Particularly, before I use a big word like “justice,” or “freedom.” I will not take this word for granted. I will force myself to look up its definition in at least two reputable dictionaries and make sure I understand its meaning well. I will then reflect on what this word means for me, very factually: can I describe at least one concrete scene with real people in it, of which I can say “what these people are doing is just,” or “… is bringing more justice to my country?” If I cannot illustrate a big word (like “justice”) with a tangibly described example—something that can be experienced—I will avoid using this word. 

In his “I Have a Dream” address, Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) established concrete visual signs for when “justice” and “freedom” would be factual (would be real). He said we would be able to verify their actuality when, among others, “the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” That table and the people around it are concrete indicators we can all see. MLK also said justice and freedom would be happening when “little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” I can see these children very clearly. Can you? That’s the level of sensory, tangible detail we want in our descriptions of what big words mean, factually. 

For sustainability professionals, there’s a very long list of words we must have very concrete descriptions for: sustainability, development, sustainable development, environment, ecosystem, inclusion, biodiversity, etc. Get started! My blog can help, since it is precisely about clarifying sustainability terms as much as possible.  

• I will seek to understand others by respectfully demanding clarity from them. I will do my best to suspend impulsive judgement, listen carefully to what they say, and ask them questions such as “What do you mean exactly by ___?”, “Can you give me an example of something happening for which we’d use this word?” I will do that not just in oral conversations, but also in social media and the rest of the media whenever possible. 
• I will do my best in conversations until we all see the same reality when we speak about something, in as much detail as possible. Until we agree on tangible facts that can be labeled as “just,” “inclusive,” or “developmental” for human beings. 
• I will listen to others as I would like to be listened to. I will speak to others as I would like them to speak to me. I will seek to have respectful conversations, where each one brings a brick, and where the truth would be the finished building.
• I will make some resolutions my commandments. Later in the year, after I have applied my resolutions, I will be able to see whether they are bringing any improvement. Are people saying joyfully things like “Ah, I see what you are saying!” or “This conversation is so enlightening!” or “This conversation is so liberating!” or “Ah, this conversation showed me exactly what I must do!”? If my resolutions are working for all involved, I can cast my resolutions in stone for a longer usage.      

Here’s a resource that might help: Five Keys to Communicate Sustainability for Success.

I also recommend these two books:

• The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz
• Language and the Pursuit of Happiness: A New Foundation for Designing Your Life, Your Relationships & Your Results, by Chalmers Brothers

Please add and share your own better communication resolutions, or suggested resources, with all of us in the comments!