17th Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference

The 17th annual conference of the International Sustainable Development Research Society (ISDRS) will be hosted by the Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.

The conference will take place May 8 to 10, 2011.

The conference theme is "Moving Toward a Sustainable Future: Opportunities and Challenges." Within this theme the 17th International Sustainable Development Research Conference will explore the fundamental question of whether the aspirations of global society to continued growth can be harmonized with the existing limits imposed by Earth's resource base including mineral reserves, capacity for renewable resources and ecosystems. ISDRC17 will explore how progress in the field of sustainable development can be translated into political action in preparation of the Rio+20 conference to be held in 2012.

To address this question the conference will explore what it would take to master the challenge of sustainable development in a future with increasing constraints under the assumption that developing countries will continue to strive for improvements in their standard of living. At the same time the conference will examine opportunities and mechanisms through which global society can move away from a non-sustainable path towards a sustainable future.