Nachhaltigen

Nachhaltigen is the inflected form of the German adjective nachhaltig, meaning sustainable or durable. It is used to describe practices, policies, products, or systems that aim to meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. The corresponding noun is Nachhaltigkeit, or sustainability.

In use, nachhaltig appears across environmental, economic, and social contexts. It is central to the idea of sustainability (Nachhaltigkeit), which seeks to integrate ecological protection, long-term economic viability, and social equity. Common applications include sustainable development (eine nachhaltige Entwicklung), sustainable energy (nachhaltige Energieversorgung), sustainable agriculture (nachhaltige Landwirtschaft), and sustainable business models (nachhaltige Geschäftsmodelle).

Morphology and grammar: as with other German adjectives, nachhaltig takes different endings depending on case, gender, number, and determiner. The form nachhaltig itself is the base form; in attributive position it becomes nachhaltige (singular feminine/neutral and plural), while nachhaltigen occurs in plural and in certain singular contexts such as with some determiners or cases (for example, eines nachhaltigen Projekts or den nachhaltigen Anforderungen). In practice, you will often see phrases like die nachhaltigen Maßnahmen or den nachhaltigen Ansprüchen.

Related terms and notes: the noun Nachhaltigkeit conveys the broader concept, while synonyms and related expressions include umweltverträglich, zukunftsfähig, and dauerhaft. The term Nachhaltigkeit gained wide prominence in the environmental discourse of the late 20th century, notably in the Brundtland Report, and remains a standard framing in policy, business, and academia.