1. Introduction
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2. Concept of Sustainable Development
The theoretical framework of for “Sustainable Development”(SD) evolved between 1972 and 1992 through a series of international conferences and initiatives. The first time the term “Sustainable” was used “in modern sense” was as part of Club Rome, 1972. This came to fare as a part of the publication of “Limit to growth”, written by a group of scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). (Report that described a particular state in which the global population would achieve the balance of equilibrium. “ Describing the desirable “state of global equilibrium” the author use the words "Sustainable": We are searching for a model output that represents a world system that is: 1. Sustainable without sudden and uncontrolled collapse; and 2. Capable of satisfying the basic material requirement of all of its people.”(Meadow and Meadow 1972, Finn (2009), pp. 3–8).
The second step that paved the way for the concept of sustainability and sustainable development is United Nations (UN) conference on Human Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972, was truly international conference devoted exclusively to environmental issues. There, a group of 27 experts articulated (expressed) the links between environment and development, stating that although in individual instances there are conflicts between environmental and economic priorities, they were intrinsically two sides of the same chain” (Vogler, 2007 P. 452).
Another important result of the conference was the establishment of UN Environment Program (UNEP) which has the mission to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and people to improve their quality of life without compromising those future generations (www.unep.org).
In 1983, UN convened the World Commission on Environment on Development (WCED), which was later known as a Brundtland Commission, named after its Gro Harlem Brundtland chaired by Norwegian Prime Minister.
UN commissioned a group of 22 people from developed and developing countries to identify long-term environment strategy for the international community. This WCED, better known Brundtland Commission submitted their report in 1987, entitled “Our Common Future”. The report popularized the most commonly used definition as sustainable development and it built upon what had to be achieved at Stockholm and most politically significant all definitions as SD.:“Development that meets the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987, p. 45).
The report focused primarily on needs and interest on human and was concerned with securing a global equity for future generations by redisturbing resources towards poorer nations to encourage their economic growth. It was the wish of the Report that all human beings to achieve their basic needs. The report also suggested that social equity, economic growth, and environmental maintenance are simultaneously possible, this highlighting three fundamental component of SD; the environment, the economy, society, which later became known as the triple bottom line (Defra,2017).
Subsequently, The Brundtland Commission pave the way for The UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), otherwise known as The Earth Summit in 1992 Rio de Janerio, Brasil. This conference approved a set of five agreements;
The Earth Summit adopted the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and Agenda 21, a global plan of action for sustainable development. The Rio Declaration contained 27 principles of sustainable development; including principle 7 on “common but differentiated responsibilities,” Agenda 21 included 40 separate chapters, setting out actions in regard to the social and economic dimensions of sustainable development, conservation and management of natural resources, the role of major groups, and means of implementation.
During the 1992 conference, it was agreed to implementation Agenda 21, countries should prepare a national sustainable development strategy (Paul, 2008).
Following a recommendation in Agenda 21, UN General Assembly officially created the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) later that year. The Rio Summit was very successful from a political standpoint: it had the world’s attention and active engagement and attendance by virtually every national leader. Its challenges lay in two areas: first, too much of an emphasis on the “environment pillar” in the negotiations and secondly, all too little implementation of goals established
under Agenda 21, particularly those related to development aid and cooperation (Dexhage and Murphy 2010 ).
As it mentioned above, since the Rio Summit a number of important international conferences on sustainable development have been held— including the 1997 Earth Summit+5 in New York and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg.
These meetings were primarily reviews of progress; and reported that a number of positive results had been achieved, but implementation efforts largely had been unsuccessful at the national and international level.
In September 2000, world leaders came to together at UN in New York to adopt the UN millennium declaration, community their nations to new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time bound targets –with a deadline of 2015 – that become as the Millennium Developments Goals (MDGs).
Since 2000, governments have worked to achieve The MDGs with mixed results. According to Blancfield C., Lousan M. (2010), experts generally agreed that while some MDG’s are on track to be met, the majority of goals are unlikely to be achieved by 2015. However, many have also found that progress toward at the Goals is unevenly distributed across regions and countries. For example, India and China have made considerable progress in achieving the MDGs, while many countries in Africa have failed to meet almost all of the goals.
According to Dexhage and Murphy (2010), following 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)” demonstrated a major shift in the perception of sustainable development – away from environmental issues toward social and economic developments. (P.8).” By integrating MDG’s with additional socio-economic aspects, WSDD did make a constructive change by focusing considerably more attention on development issues.
Rio+20 Suumit
Another important summit that contributes to improving development of sustainable development concept is UNSDS in New York 2015.
In this summit, countries adopted a set o
f goals to end poverty protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all as a part of new sustainable development agenda. Each goal has specific targets to be achieved over the next 15 year.
UN member states adopted and louche the 2030 agenda for sustainable development on 25 September 2015. The new Agenda for “People, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership with its 17 goals and 169 targets, its vitally important as it will strongly influence the direction of global and national policies relating to sustainable development for the next 15 years.
The SDG build on the success of Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) and aim to go further to end all forms poverty. The new Goals are unique in that they call for action by all countries, poor, rich and middle-income to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and addresses a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities while tackling climate change and environmental protection.
Goals;
1-End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2-End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3-Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4-Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning
5-Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6-Ensure access to water and sanitation for all
7-Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8-Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all
9-Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
10-Reduce inequality within and among countries
11-Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12-Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13-Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
14-Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources
15-Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss
16-Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies
17-Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
The concept of the SDG’s was born at UN conference on sustainable development Rio +20 in 2012. The objective was to produce a set of universally applicable goals that balances three dimensions of sustainable dimensions of sustainable development; environmental, social and economics.)
1.2. Trends of Sustainable Development in the World
If we follow all the conferences from 1972 to 2015, we observe that there was the shift in the political debate from a primary emphasis environmental issue at the 1972 Stockholm Conference, through a shared focus on environmental, social and economic development at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992, to arguably “primarily emphasis on poverty alleviation at Millennium Summit in 2000 and Johannesburg World Summit in 2002.
Since the Brundtland report and the Rio Summit, sustainable development concept has transitioned from being an interesting idea to a concept that acknowledged goal of by international institutions, governments, businesses, and civil society.
In addition, over the past 20 years governments, businesses, and civil society have accepted sustainable development as a guiding principle, made progress on sustainable development metrics, and improved business and NGO participation in the sustainable development process.
Sustainable development has also gained currency in the private sector—often in the form of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda. Several voluntary initiatives have been formed over the past 20 years, including the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Global Compact, Equator Principles, Global Reporting Initiative, and Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. In addition, various major international NGOs, such as WWF, Oxfam International, and Friends of the Earth, have increased the scale and sophistication of their involvement in sustainability principles. Local NGOs around the world have taken up the cause of sustainable development.
Sustainable development has been integrated into the operations and governing mandate of many
prominent international organizations. These include the World Bank (2010), which has affirmed a commitment to “sustainable globalization” that “enhances growth with care for the environment”; the International Monetary Fund (IMF, 2010), with a commitment to “sustainable economic growth”; as well as the World Trade Organization (WTO, 2010) which endeavors to contribute to sustainable development through the pursuit of open borders and the removals of barriers to trade. Sustainable development is also a prominent component of the MDGs, which have been widely endorsed by national governments and the world’s foremost development organizations since they were adopted at the Millennium Summit in 2000.
Unsustainable trends continue and sustainable development has not found the political entry points to make real progress. As a result, climate change has become the de facto proxy for implementation of the sustainable development agenda; but the framework of the climate change negotiations are not always the appropriate forum for broader strategic discussions of sustainable development. While sustainable development is intended to encompass three pillars, over the past 20 years it has often been compartmentalized as an environmental issue (Drexhage, and Murphy,2010).
The dominant view of governments and businesses is that sustainable development is continued economic growth made more environmentally sensitive in order to raise living standards globally and break the link between poverty and environmental degradation. Economic growth is seen as part of the solution, and markets and technology will produce a richer world that is more ecologically stable (Hopwood, Mellor and O’Brien, 2005). Developed country adherence to this view is being matched by the major developing economies of the Republic of Korea, China, and India; where growing wealth is being followed by efforts to improve environmental performance. Spending on environmental protection in China’s 2010 budget is projected to rise by more than 20 percent, clean energy measures in India amount to over US$ 1 billion, and close to 80 percent of the Republic of Korea’s stimulus funding was directed to the implementation of its Green New Deal (Robins, Clover and Sarawanan, 2010: pp. 3-6).
Others view sustainable development as a balancing act between the economy and the environment—meaning that the economy is an entity that is separate from the environment, where the latter inevitably loses out (Caccia, 2001). Some critics accuse the business community of using sustainable development as a way to paint environmentally destructive practices green—a rationalization for economic growth without due concern for environmental or social imperatives (Corporate Watch, 2006; Greenpeace, 2010).
Some NGOs and academics have argued that sustainable development does not go far enough to create the required lifestyle, consumption, and behavioral changes—that radical changes are needed in the world’s economic order. “Deep ecology” critics argue that the concept of sustainable development is too human-centric, and the paradigm of sustainable development does not adequately challenge the consumer culture.
Others question if sustainable development should continue to support economic growth at all, given the physical limits of the global ecosystem; while others have suggested that the concept does not give enough attention to the poor and their acute vulnerability to environmental degradation (Adams, 2008).
The concept has a
lso become synonymous for some with particular political agendas: in that those most vocal in support of sustainable development often come with political agendas that, at least in North America, are often associated with the left wing of the political spectrum. On the other hand, many developing countries see sustainable development as an ideology developed by developed countries for the purpose of imposing stricter conditions and rules on development aid and international trade. And yet, despite all these detractors, one could argue that sustainable development might be the only “paradigm” of development left standing. With the recent fiscal and financial crises, and the loss of faith in the pure economic growth model of the Washington Consensus, there is renewed interest in the potential of sustainable development as an effective framework and tool to address these core structural challenges.
2.2. Sustainable Development Approach in Turkey
In this process, environmental awareness has been increasing along with environmental politics in Turkey and environmental issues have been taken into every approach and every strategy. On the other hand, the concept of "sustainable" has begun to enter the agenda of Turkey in order to protect the environment, to consume natural resources equally, to defend the rights of future generations, and to avoid the cost of environment.
The first factor in the official documents of the government related to the concept of sustainable development in Turkey has been the environment. "The first development plan, in which the environmental phenomenon is taken up as a broad section, is a" Five-Year Third Development Plan "covering 1973-1977.”(Algan, 2000: 227). The ongoing understanding until the preparation of the Fifth Five Year Development Plan is focused solely on the pollution of the ecological environment. After the Sixth Plan, It was understood to be important the understanding of the effective use of natural resources as well as the approach of removing or reducing the environmental pollution. (Akgül U., 2010).
In the Ninth Five-Year Development Plan, the environmental approach has improved. With a human-oriented development management approach, the protection of natural and cultural assets and the environment is taken into consideration in an understanding that considers future generations. The development and dissemination of environmentally-friendly production processes and technologies that increase productivity has been reflected in the plan.
And the current 10th NDP of Turkey has placed sustainable development at its core with a green growth perspective. Turkey will definitely take the SDGs as a critical input in the process of drafting the vision of the next Plan in 2016 and integrate SDGs into the Plan itself. 2030 report.
The introduction of international approaches to sustainable development for the first time in Turkish legislation was made by signing and enforcing the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, which is one of the two most important documents signed at the Rio Conference in 1992.
The national report presented at the Johannesburg Summit in 2002 included efforts made by Turkey in the context of sustainable development from the 1992 Rio Summit to 2002. The report, which is prepared with the participation of different sectors such as the public sector, private sector, universities and non-governmental organizations, examines the data on Turkey's social, economic and environmental status under six headings:
1-Climate change and sustainable development,
2-Protection of biodiversity and sustainable development,
3-Governance and sustainable development,
4. Fight against poverty and sustainable development,
5-Sustainable Development in the World and Industry,
6-Information and Communication for Sustainable Development.
Parallel to this process, Agenda 21, which is an output of the 1992 Rio Conference, was adopted, with support of UNDP and LA 21 (Local Agenda) applications were initiated, and "Launching and Implementation of LA 21 in Turkey" was put into effect by IULA-EMME (International Union of Local Authorities) co-operation. This project was followed by the "Implementation of Local Agenda 21 in Turkey" project, which took effect in January 2000. Finally, the program "Localization of the UN Millennium Declaration and the Johannesburg Implementation Plan through the Turkey Local Agenda 21 Governance Network" was put into effect.
All of these projects and programs have come to the conclusion that the participating countries have agreed to develop a National Framework Program in order to comply with the goals set out in Agenda 21, the outcome of the 1992 Rio Summit, and in line with the goals set out in the context of sustainable development. In this context, Turkey completed its work in 1998 by preparing the National Environmental Strategy and Action Plan (NESAP) in 1995.
Finally, the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey and its affiliated laws, regulations, and regulations have been made necessary and the issue has been settled on a legal basis.
Again, in this process, sustainability in Turkey is not a goal that businesses can achieve with individual efforts, but it is a reality that the goal of sustainability can be achieved in cooperation with governments, businesses, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in the global sense. In Turkey, a lot of organizations have been set up in different ways.
One of them is the Environmental Platform for Sustainable Development. This platform was established in 2003 by Environment Protection and Packaging Waste Evaluation Foundation, Denizbestiz Association, Istanbul Chamber of Industry, Turkish Quality Association, Turkish Chemical Industry Associations, TEMA and TÜSİAD in order to contribute to the realization of a sustainable development compatible with the environment. In addition, the Regional Environmental Center (REC), operating in 2004 in Ankara, supports Turkey's facilitation of the EU accession process and encourages sustainable development efforts in the region as set out in the 6th Environmental Action Plan conventions and recommendations adopted at the Rio Earth Summit (Serban, 2002).
In addition, sustainability index has been established in Borsa Istanbul in order to increase understanding, knowledge, and applications on sustainability in Turkey and especially in Borsa Istanbul companies.
3. Development and Regional (Local) Development Concept
As a result of the globalization, the reliability of trends of traditional development models that began after 1980s all over the world and, especially, in Turkey, begun to be questioned. Meanwhile, the regional development approach came to the forefront. Innovative, bottom-up development policies and strategies have been identified and put into practice in order to achieve economic development. In this context, it has been observed that a number of strategies and policies have been developed by many international organizations within the framework of local economic development approach.
Many countries, including Turkey, have not been successful in achieving balanced economic development and have faced the challenges posed by regional imbalances. As a result, the regional development disparities caused significant social, economic and environmental problems. Instead of thinking of the state's resources only to overcome regional inequalities, the idea of using of regional own resources came to the forefront, so regional development approach based on an evaluation of local resources and potential has gained importance (Pehlivan, 2013:412).
Regional development has made it necessary not only to strive for underdeveloped regions, but to implement all regions in a sustainable and global competitive development effort, as well as implement a policy of localization and regionalization that will enable the private sector, local governments and o
ther regional actors to take part in the process (Akın, 2006: 295).
In addition to determining what local needs and challenges are, the most important factor in ensuring that local resources and potential is identified in a more realistic way by the Regional Development Agencies (RDA). As a driving force of local development, RDA’s play a pioneering and influential role in development of underdeveloped regions and are regarded as important policy tools in addressing regional disparities in development.
After 1960s, Turkey started regional implementation of the "Five-Year Development Plan" in order to achieve economic and social development welfare and eliminate regional inequalities. Initial work for development agencies in Turkey began in the 1990s in the context of alignment with the European Union (EU). Within the framework of harmonization with the EU, the "Statistical Region Unit Classification" study has been conducted by TURKSTAT and the required base for development agencies was prepared. In this context, Law No. 5449 on the Establishment, Coordination and Duties of Development Agencies was adopted on 25.01.2006 and 26 Development Agencies were established in Level 2 in Turkey.
Development refers to the per capita national income increase in real, continuous and balanced manner. (Karaduman,1992: 16). At the same time, the development includes an inherent change that creates an environment in which all people benefit from advantages provided by the development (Demirci and Arıkan, 1998: 343). Increasing national income per production and per capita, changing and renewing the economic and sociocultural structure also refers to the meaning of development (Türk, 1970: 55).
Economic development, on the other hand, acquires a local dimension, such as creating jobs by local employment, directing local people to production, and increasing national income per capita on a local basis (Beer and Maude, 1996: 2). Development, perceived as economic growth, is actually a quantitative transformation. Economic development is defined as economic growth accompanied by quantitative changes in production and employment structure (Kuznets, 1966: 8).
Regional planning refers to the coordination of a region in economic, social and physical terms. The main objective of regional planning is to eliminate imbalances between regions. (DPT, 2004: 20). Appearing of diversity in the level of development of the regions necessitated the implementation of centralized and regional development policies. This concept of development aims to make the most of the local opportunities through the mobilization of the human, natural, economic, technological and cultural resources of the region.