sustinre

Sustinre is a neologism used in sustainability science to denote a framework for evaluating long-term viability of systems, especially socio-ecological systems. The term combines ideas of sustaining essential functions with resilience to change.

Definition and core ideas: It describes a system's capacity to persist in its identity and function under stress while adapting its structure and governance across scales. Indicators include functional redundancy, modularity, adaptive governance, learning capacity, and social capital.

Applications: Used to inform policy design, risk assessment, and scenario planning. It guides performance metrics that balance short-term efficiency with long-term durability. It supports cross-disciplinary methods spanning ecology, economics, and governance.

Debates: Discussion centers on definitional boundaries with sustainability and resilience, measurement challenges, and risk of overgeneralization. Critics argue for precise operationalization and context-specific frameworks.

See also: In scholarly use, sustinre is often discussed alongside sustainability and resilience, with ongoing debates about its scope and practical use.