Given the wide diversity of cultures on this one small planet, is there a definition of what deems a society sustainable? As each society and culture has evolved according to its unique location and circumstances, a concrete description of 'the sustainable society' is impossible. I think there is a way to describe a sustainable society, but it is not able to be discussed in specifics, rather a sustainable society can only be expressed in general terms.

Humans are governed by the same system thresholds as all other species: interdependence, self-organization and diversity. Because of the complexity of our societies and capacity to create, I also think that there are further characteristics for our social system of cooperation and recognized integration of systems within systems.

Since most societies embody these characteristics, yet are far from what we would call 'sustainable,' there must be something more. It is not the presence of these characteristics that determine whether or not a society is sustainability, rather it is the nature of the processes within that society.

I think that is is through the restructuring of our societal processes to, for example, elicit active participation, engender greater trust (in one another, corporations and government), be more transparent, take a 'whole systems perspective' and align the purposes of stakeholders towards a common goal that our global society can become sustainable.