THE RELEVANCE OF GANDHIAN PHILOSOPHY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: A NEED FOR A COMMUNITY-CENTRED APPROACH FOR MEETING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND ITS CHALLENGES

Abstract

Sustainable development is a holistic approach (Linked In, 2023); it covers both eco-centric (environmental) and human aspects of sustainable existence. It tries to study the environmental, economic, and social issues of society. It is a holistic approach to the study of the inter-relations among economic structures, political structures, and social structures and requires collective human efforts to fight against unsustainable human practices and threats to the environment. The challenges to sustainable development are enormous. Millions of people continue to live in poverty and are denied a life of dignity and respect. There are enormous disparities among countries in terms of opportunity, wealth, and power. Gender inequality remains the key concern, rising unemployment, global health threats, violent extremism, related humanitarian crises, environmental degradation, and most significantly Climate change have been one of the serious crises of our times and their adverse impacts undermine the ability of all countries to achieve sustainable development.