Approaching the Intersection of Innovation and Sustainability

Blog post written by anonymous.

It can be said that there are four pillars of sustainability: human, social, environmental, and economic sustainability.  With regards to human and social sustainability, technological innovation is working to equal the playing field and ensure that people have equal opportunities. Additionally, various technologies have been implemented to assist people with disabilities improve their living conditions. Technologies that assist women in reporting domestic violence and detecting spiking in drinks also work to safeguard women’s safety.

When the word sustainability comes to mind, one might immediately think of the environment. Undoubtedly, innovation has played a crucial role in protecting our climate. This includes better waste separation techniques, better means of endangered species and better, more sustainable transportation systems.

As a Maltese citizen, I am very concerned about protecting languages that are so important to people’s cultures. The Maltese language is as symbol of our history and culture and being able to speak the language gives one a sense of community and belonging. Some autistic people experience difficulties learning multiple languages and thus only learn English so that they can communicate with people across the world. However, this often means that they miss out on this sense of belonging. 

Thus, a technology that I would like to create is one that makes language learning accessible and available to autistic people in a way that meets their needs. This would be done through an interactive way that ultimately allows them to fully integrate within society. 

In conclusion, innovation can lead to real and effective change that occurs in a sustainable way in each of the four pillars. Thus, it is important that innovation not only causes sustainability but also supports the sustainable movement.

This article forms part of Project STELLA – Sport as a Tool for Environmental Sustainability Learning, an Erasmus+ cooperation partnership dedicated to empowering young people through sport‑based environmental education.