Sustainable development and human development. Evolution or transition in the scientific conception of sustainability?

Abstract

The integration of the various ideological views by the academic community around the great problems facing the planet has allowed the establishment of a complex system of practical and theoretical relationships between man and nature, generating a strong connection between sustainable development and human development, and conferring greater prominence to the role of human beings, according to their powers, liberties and actions for achieving and maximizing their individual and collective well-being. In this regard, this chapter aims to analyze the influence of the human context in the historical conceptualization of development and its relation with human and planetary well-being over the past 50 years. We try to prove that when it comes to development from the human perspective or from the perspective of sustainability, it tends towards the same discourse that enables convergence and evolution of the concept of development into a much less utopian trend, with greater scope and application under the scientific paradigm of sustainability in terms of human welfare.