It’s unforgivable that we humans have to witness a catastrophe like that in Haiti to open our eyes to sustainability and the need for sustainable planning and development.
The situation in Haiti was totally unsustainable before the earthquake! Nothing was substantial and everything was wrong:
- The capital and most populous city was built on a geographic fault that had been know about for generations.
- With no transparency of government massive corruption and lack of accountability and responsibility could go unchecked; no one could be held accountable, no one was responsible for this catastrophe in the making.
- Unchecked population growth was driven by lack of education, healthcare, and low life expectancy.
- Without regulation or the existence of building codes, possibly the most unsustainable buildings in the world were built on the side of steep grades. Buildings simply collapsed in on themselves and its people.
- There was no method for equitable distribution of increasingly scarce resources of every imaginable type.
- There was little or no engagement of the population to find solutions to their problems. It is eerily like the Easter Island population collapse where its people exhausted all their resources to keep building idols; it was all they knew to do, as they were cut off from the world and other ways of thinking. Only in the case of Haiti, the whole world was watching but no one was talking (or listening).
- There was no protection of the natural environment (or respect for its faults), along with loss of almost all natural vegetation driven by the need for basic fuel.
- With what seems to be no concern or the population – with no healthcare, no education, no safety nets, there seemed to be no hope for a better life.
The unsustainable results? Over 200,000 dead, and after a multinational rescue effort, only 133 rescues after 11 days. An entirely devastated country that everyone, including its citizens and the international press, is trying as hard as possible to get away from.
It took a disaster, but every element of sustainability (or lack thereof) became visible on a global scale. And, global warming was never in the mix of potential causes. It was all caused by the way people didn’t think or act – the underlying requirements for sustainability.
The nations and individuals around the globe have taken notice and have come to the aid of Haiti’s short term needs. Most visible has been the outstanding response of the medical profession and its aid organizations who are working tirelessly to “stop the bleeding.”
Now, let’s hope and demand that sustainability, sustainable development, and sustainable institutions guide the recovery of what (judging by the lush landscape of its neighbors) could be a real garden of prosperity. We’ll get a first glimpse of what will or will not take place based on the actions of the international Haitian recovery meetings in Canada this week.
It may take an army of sustainability consultants, developers, educators, and the support of the global community to drive a recovery. Insight Rising’s sustainability consulting services certainly can’t touch the scope of the problem, but we can’t help but be turned inside out about how evident it is that we must work toward changing the way people think and act to create a sustainable future.
We hope that you will comment and join us in the dialogue and the call for sustainable actions.
Insight Rising
January 25, 2010
