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Hawaii 2050 Sustainability Plan
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What is Sustainability? The People’s Definition
When the Hawai‘i 2050 Sustainability Task Force first asked the public what “sustainability” meant, it received a variety of answers. To some, it was about protecting the environment. To others, it meant creating agricultural self-sufficiency and self-reliance – living in a self-contained system. Others viewed it as a matter of economic resilience.

We needed a common language and understanding. To achieve this, thousands of residents participated in nearly fifty public meetings across the state. Citizens from neighborhood boards, businesses, environmental groups, labor unions, high schools and colleges came out after work and on weekends to offer their vision for a sustainable Hawai‘i in 2050.

The meetings revealed that most Hawai‘i residents want balance between economic, cultural and environmental concerns because they understand that these three parts of our society are interdependent.

In a sustainable society, systems replenish themselves. They don’t rely on the consumption of economic, social and environmental assets for progress. Focusing on Hawai‘i’s main assets – economy, society and environment – and how to make them self-sustaining is not an academic or political exercise; it is a matter of the survival of Hawai‘i as we know it.

The following definition, vision and guiding principles of Hawai‘i 2050 are deeply grounded in the voices of our citizenry. They were not conjured by a blue-ribbon committee or adapted from another state, but given to us by Hawai‘i’s people.


Definition of Sustainability in Hawai`i

A Hawai‘i that achieves the following:
  • Respects the culture, character, beauty and history of our state’s island communities

  • Strikes a balance between economic, social and community, and environmental priorities

  • Meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs





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