Abstract:

Explores the nature of relationships between sustainable environmental futures & aging populations, drawing on secondary literature. It is suggested that when sustainability is threatened, the aged population is also threatened with a deterioration in quality of life. At the same time, the aging of the world's population also threatens the sustainability of society by consuming a greater share of resources, eg, health care & other goods & services. It is argued that the old paradigm that envisions elderly people as a dependent population living in a disconnected, diminished state ought to be replaced by a new paradigm that understands this group as a resource population possessing invaluable life experiences. The elderly are encouraged to employ these life experiences in the creation of intergenerational bonds & a sustainable vision of society.