What is Rubicon Contest 2010 about...

In recent days “Sustainability” is often used, by media, politicians, CEOs and many more to give their opinion more importance. Like many of those words, who are quite familiar and known to everybody, there is no proper definition.

We do not have the entitlement to make up a definition during the time the days of Rubicon Contest 2010, while short definitions do exist: In 1987 The United Nations described the word in the following statement “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (United Nations. 1987).

This definition requires to add the factor “time” to the also commonly used fields economic-, social- and environmental issues to define sustainability. Therefore a sustainable decision will not only keep issues of today in mind, it must address potential issues of tomorrow.

At Rubicon Contest 2010 we will discuss your ideas on a “sustainable” future and how the business of tomorrow might look with professionals. But the most important question is, how can we, being students take part in this development.

Reference: United Nations. 1987. Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (A/42/427)