Carrying Capacity; from weak sustainability to strong sustainability

Although the concept of sustainable development has become an accepted concept, the dominant paradigm of the global economy is indefinite growth, and resource and environmental limits are rarely considered in regional development planning. This fact may happen because of the complexity of achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Achieving SDGs requires an interdisciplinary approach and knowledge. The integration of natural and social sciences to achieve these goals has received much attention in recent years. As it is very complicated and requires a lot of knowledge in both areas, most local communities do not have the tools and knowledge to achieve the SDGs and integrated socio-economic-environmental assessment and management. This study first explains the importance of resource and environmental constraints and incorporates them into regional development plans. To achieve this goal, it uses strong and weak sustainability concepts. This study expresses the differences in views based on strong and weak sustainability. It shows that the cause of many environmental problems today is understanding the activity of the economic subsystem outside the environmental subsystem, the possibility of exchange between different types of capital and believing that economic growth alone can be the solution to environmental problems. These views stem from a belief in weak sustainability. Second, this study describes the concept of carrying capacity. This concept uses a more comprehensive framework than other concepts used in sustainability research. Also, it can be used to integrate the natural and social sciences to achieve the SDGs and the transition from weak sustainability to strong sustainability.