IFLA Global Accord – adaptation for a changing world
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In 2017 the Executive Committee ratified the IFLA Global Accord – adaptation for a changing world. Relying on the principles of resilience, transformation, and sustainability, the Accord reaffirmed the commitment of landscape architects to the well-being of current and future societies and environments.
RESILIENT societies and ecosystems are those with the capacity to absorb the stresses of small scale or temporary changes, those that can rapidly recover from the impacts of stresses, and those that will not be detrimentally affected in the long term by changing environmental conditions. Resilience can be a function of individual and collective diversity and strength, which together offer the greatest potential for creativity and innovation to both meet hardships and to seize opportunities in a changing climate.
TRANSFORMATIVE societies embrace change and are characterized by a philosophical, practical and strategic shift in the way people think, feel, and act. Transformative change continually moves towards a better state of being. Throughout our history, humankind has reacted to social and environmental upheaval by altering behaviour, adapting to new circumstances and/or migrating to better conditions. In these next few decades, society must work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. We must plan and act to conserve and enhance the natural environment. We must build understanding that the world of today will not be the world of tomorrow and act to ensure that cultures, economies and ecosystems continue to thrive.
SUSTAINABLE societies seek to ensure that the decisions they make today to meet their needs do not compromise the capacity of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainability (UN 2016) is the overarching goal for a future in which environmental, social and economic considerations are balanced in the pursuit of an improved quality of life. In a sustainable and prosperous society, humans rely on a healthy environment to provide food and resources, safe drinking water, clean air ad shelter for all its citizens. Healthy and sustainable environments increasingly rely on the protection, conservation and wise use of resources by humans, to protect systems, functions and species and to ensure their continued viability, especially under increasingly trying conditions.
By October of 2017, the Accord had been ratified by all five World Regions and by the World Council.