Exploring Sustainability Transition: Advancement in Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is in an impasse in either theory or practice. One of important reasons is the ambiguous definition which has resulted in confusion in what should be sustained, what should be developed and for how long. Some serious Western scholars and environmentalists tend to substitute well-defined sustainability for it, which emphasizes the constraints/limits and opportunities/ability/capacity that nature presents to human activities. Sustainable development defined by sustainability should be an ideal state which would be achieved through some of homeostasis and innovation. It is made up of sustainability objectives, sustainability transitions and relevant approaches. Among those components, sustainability transitions are pivotal to link the objectives and approaches. Unfortunately, researches regarding it are quite weak. Current approaches have their own disadvantages. Sustainability science would have more potential to be further developed if its explanation power is strengthened.