Context : Societal challenge

Resources : never before has a term been so pro­mi­nent in the ques­tions and ana­ly­ses focu­sing on the deve­lop­ment of contem­po­rary socie­ties, whe­ther they are dea­ling with the eco­nomy, local or pla­ne­tary poli­cies or civil society.

Natural, eco­no­mic, ins­ti­tu­tio­nal or cog­ni­tive resour­ces : the areas embra­ced by this issue are prac­ti­cally unli­mi­ted. Resources are at the heart of eco­lo­gi­cal, geo­po­li­ti­cal or finan­cial conflicts (abun­dance vs. scar­city, rene­wa­ble vs. limi­ted resour­ces ; marine or polar resour­ces, etc.), and they are at the epi­cen­tre of eco­no­mic acti­vity and poli­ti­cal issues, as can be seen in the emer­ging pro­ble­ma­tics of “food sove­rei­gnty” or “cli­ma­tic secu­rity”. From now on, resour­ces cons­ti­tute both a concern and a hori­zon for every society and the­re­fore a major chal­lenge for both the short and long term.

For a dyna­mic pano­rama of some common resour­ces, consult the “real-time global resour­ces” at http://www.worl­do­me­ters.info/.