Definition of sustainability – what is sustainable?
«Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.»
This is probably the most broadly accepted definition of sustainability developed in 1987, by the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission). Instead of sustainability, often terms like sustainable development, sustainable prosperity or sustainable genuine progress are used. They more or less all mean the same as defined above. Details can be found e.g. in Wikipedia .