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SYSTEMS ENGINEERING APPROACH FOR GETTING SUSTAINABILITY

Ildiko Tulbure

Abstract

In the last time developments in technological field have happened in a pretty rapid tempo, humanity having actually over the years the conviction that these developments will have only positive desired effects. Without any doubt this progress has assured in the past the increase of humanity quality of life by using technologies for different specific human activities. Anyway 1972 after publishing the first report to the Club of Rome ?The Limits to Growth? it was finally understood that besides wanted effects of these developments, undesired environmental and social impacts can appear. Such impacts have been registered especially in environmental field by increased pollution in several regions, see the debates regarding greenhouse effect, global warming, ozone layer thinning or acid rain. As the situation has become pretty complex, it was finally understood that there is a real need for new concepts enabling simultaneously handling interdisciplinary fields. In order to combat strong pollution problems on regional level, the vision of developing technologies for environmental protection has been debated and used in several parts of the world by simultaneously considering social and political aspects. In the process of carrying out sustainability assessment not only knowledge from environmental field is required, but also from physical, chemical, technological, medical, even from social, political and cultural fields. It follows that the process of carrying out such studies is representing a very interdisciplinary process. For making it possible by considering knowledge from different fields, notions concerning Systems Engineering are much needed. Operationalising sustainability is actually requiring the consideration of various criteria from different fields when designing new concepts for cities or regions. For concretely applying Sustainability there is a need for specific Multi-Criteria Process Analysis, which is best carried out by applying Systems Engineering. The decision regarding using one or another Sustainability Strategy on a regional or local level is representing then a result of a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis.

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