The Tetrahedron of Sustainability: Value-based solutions to the conflicts inherent in Sustainable Development

This presentation models a solution to the inherent conflicts in sustainable community development, providing organizations with a framework to guide development toward flourishing and away from conflict. Building on Scott Campbell's Planner’s Triangle, this model identifies three primary conflicts: the resource conflict, which involves balancing economic growth with environmental protection; the property conflict, which entails maintaining natural capital while promoting social sustainability; and the development conflict, which focuses on encouraging economic growth while enhancing equity The Tetrahedron expands this model to transcend conflict and reframe sustainability as flourishing.

Dr. Michael Ferber has been wrestling with the concept of "Sustainability" for decades, beginning from the perspective of a county planner and a Professor in an Urban and Regional Planning course at West Virginia University in the early 2000s. He moved to Canada in 2008 to become Director of Environmental Studies at The King's University in Edmonton, AB, where he continued to help students think through the complexities of environmental, social, and economic sustainability.