Toward governance for future generations - How do we change course?

In 1987, the UN World Commission on Environment and Development-perhaps better known as the Brundtland Commission-concluded that our present societal course is irresponsible toward future generations. Ten years later, we have hardly come closer to a solution of our planet's long-range problems. But how do we change the course? Are there viable pathways that can take us from the present stalemate to a society that cares for future generations? The bottleneck is not a lack of good proposals for approaching sustainability. It is rather the lack of strength to implement them. Discussions about strategies and motors of social change have very often been absent on the 'green' agenda, but exceptions do exist. This article will present and analyse main strategic profiles within an expanding flora of literature about sustainability. (C) 1998 published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.