Electronic waste: 100,000 migrant workers labour in China's Guiyu province break down imported computers in hundreds of small operations like this one. Image: baselactionnetwork, CC BY-NC 4.0. Some rights reserved.At its core, sustainability simply refers to the ability to live harmoniously within an environment over time. When applied to modern society, humanity’s long-term survival rests not only on environmental and ecological harmonization, but also on our social and cultural harmonization – the ability to collaborate, communicate effectively, resolve conflict peacefully through legitimate and respected institutions, and participate in our socio-political processes. As openDemocracy’s series on Human Rights and the Internet has aptly demonstrated, sustainability is in many ways a fundamental yet unwritten condition of democracy and public policy. Whether it be the sustainability of cities and the policy considerations needed to both maintain them as well as safeguard them for the future, a more sustainable approach to citizen engagement, the intrinsic link between environmental sustainability and social justice, or the inherent relationship between democracy and sustainability, it is difficult if not impossible to separate the notion of environmental sustainability from its socially focused counterpart: democratic governance.
