Operationalizing Sustainability

General Conclusion – Where Are We Now?

C.1. Introduction

Throughout this book, we have seen how to drive and manage a system created and developed by human beings. In the beginning, we have detailed the five following elements able to unify the construction of the world, several thousand years ago: earth, fire, water, air, including Quintessence, also called Aether in Ancient Greece and India.

Indeed, they first correspond to the four states-of-matter, and which is beyond the material world. They reflect the simplest and main parts, mechanisms and underlying principles of which anything consists, its organization, properties and fundamental capabilities.

Unfortunately, for sustainability purposes, they do not integrate some theories and underpinning mechanisms required by the current evolution of products, processes and services. For these reasons, we have had to reconsider a study approach based upon new sciences and paradigms.

What we can see today is that sustainability of a system is based on the following five complementary codes:

• 1) the code of matter which is the source of any aggregation, growth, gravitation now subject to quantum physics;
• 2) the code of life with DNA biology, etc.;
• 3) the code of thought with the brain, its capability to reason and develop consciousness; ...