The Process of Sustainable Development and the Linkage to the Social - Ecological Transformation in the World and in Vietnam

Thanh Son V

Published in ‘VNU Journal of Science: Policy and Management Studies’

Abstract

Sustainable development is a global trend to build a prosperous society, especially to promote green growth towards ecological approach and based on sustainable use of natural resources in the context of climate change. This article, therefore, is an attempt to synthesize the sustainable development process in the world, from the initial awareness of the role of the environment in the development process in the 1980s, to the development of Agenda 21 in the 1990s, to develop and implement the 2030 agenda for sustainable development in the present time. The change in awareness and practice of sustainable development also demonstrates the trend of social-ecological transformation as a development trend and is an urgent requirement towards building a prosperous and sustainable society. Integrating sustainable development into international and national development policies can be considered as a form of promoting social-ecological transformation. The UNESCO’ system of Biosphere Reserves as a model for promoting sustainable development initiatives towards harmony between people and nature can be considered as a model of a social-ecological system. Vietnam as a country actively participating the sustainable development process in the world has made great efforts to build a prosperous and sustainable society.