The sustainable development aims to meet the present needs without compromising the resources of future generations.
It balances three pillars: economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection to ensure a habitable future. Its goal is to improve the quality of life without depleting the environment.
The combination of economic, social, environmental, and climate crises we face today demands that perspectives extend beyond the short and medium term.
Argentina seeks to balance economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection. Despite being a major global supplier of natural resources, the country faces structural challenges of environmental degradation, poverty, and the need to diversify its energy matrix towards cleaner sources.
The development of production and employment must be supported by a framework of sustainable patterns that have as main axes the care of the environment and the quality of life of the population.
The environment is generally seen as a realm where ex post problem-solving needs arise, most of which are avoidable.
Today it is said that Argentina has the potential to provide food for 400 million people.
Unfortunately, we do not feed 47 million well. The structural poverty in our country subjects between a quarter and a third of the population for more than 30 years, mainly affecting children, severely violating their right to adequate nutrition in quality and quantity that ensures their good growth, development, and health,” explained Osvaldo Roby, Academic Director of Postgraduates in areas such as Sustainable Development at the National University of Cuyo (UNCuyo).
Sustainable Development
The key is to articulate assets under an integral vision that aligns economic, social, and environmental objectives. We must move from discourse to implementation, from diagnosis to execution.
With precise diagnoses, clear goals, and the reconstruction of state and private capacity, aiming to generate a virtuous circle of development.
All civilizations have a characteristic worldview. Peoples develop within a set of beliefs, assumptions, and ways of interpreting reality that serve as references to understand life.
This includes both the way of contemplating human nature and the way of conceiving the social order, moral values, or their own conceptions.
Sometimes everything takes a turn, and people appear who revolutionize this specific way of conceiving the world.
The good management of water is essential for sustainable development. The undeniable benefits that water has for health, food security, and energy, among others, have led to the consideration that without ensuring access to basic water services, and its good management in quality and quantity, sustainable development is not possible.
Can river water be decontaminated using artificial wetlands? Yes, artificial wetlands are a highly effective, sustainable, and economical technology for decontaminating river, stream, and effluent waters, functioning as “kidneys” of the ecosystem. They use aquatic plants, microorganisms, and gravel to remove organic pollutants, nutrients (nitrogen/phosphorus), and sediments without using chemicals.
The importance and significance of artificial wetlands lie fundamentally in their being a viable and sustainable alternative for the treatment of industrial, agricultural, and domestic wastewater.
Their implementation has a lower cost compared to conventional treatment systems, they are friendly to the landscape environment, do not generate harmful by-products, and adapt to both climatic and urban conditions in Argentina.
“Wetlands have very important ecological and environmental functions. They host and are a refuge for a great diversity of species; they store and purify water; and they play an essential role in flood control, as they reduce the speed of water circulation during flood periods. Additionally, they act as barriers against storm effects and control coastal erosion,” explains Jezabel Primost, PhD in Exact Sciences and member of the Environmental Research Center (CIM), UNLP-CONICET.
Deserving the river means knowing how to use it, loving it, loving its inhabitants, its environment, and fundamentally wishing that it never ceases to be what it is today, for our children and grandchildren; and acting accordingly. Deserving the river means respecting the regulations, educating oneself to adopt an attitude that contributes to improving its conditions.
By: Cristián Frers – Senior Technician in Environmental Management and Senior Technician in Social Communication (Journalist).
