2024: Special issue No1
PRAISE FOR THE SHORT TERM, OR RATHER SUSTAINABILITY IN THE PRESENT
Perhaps the most interesting moments in science are the turning points when a truth that is taken as fundamental is questioned when it is discovered that something may not be so fundamental and may not always be true. The evolution of the concept of sustainability could be the subject of a study in itself. There have been changes in emphasis, interpretations, preferred frameworks and proposed solutions. There are many areas where the perception can be highly different from one point of view to another. For example, electric cars, nuclear energy or degradable plastics. However, some conceptual elements are persistently linked to sustainability. Probably, most people think that the central issue of sustainability is long-term thinking. However, despite the unquestionable importance of the long term, undeservedly little attention is paid to short-term solutions and the present choices.
I remember that when I was at school, after hearing the then fashionable educational cliché 'children are preparing for life', my mother - an excellent mathematician and teacher - used to say that 'children are alive, not preparing for life'. Sustainability is like that. Human life should not be made better and more liveable 'in the distant future,' but everything should be done to make it better, more beautiful, and happier now - for as many people as possible and as long as possible. We cannot change the past, the future is uncertain. We have only one moment, the present, to make amends for the mistakes of the past and to steer things towards a happier future to the best of our current knowledge. But as long as we are righting wrongs, learning lessons, building the future, we are living in the present. To survive in the long term, we must not just survive, but live the present with hope for the future.
The articles in this thematic issue provide colourful answers to various questions about endurability, making us think, surprising us, and offering new perspectives. Some of the topics are related to mobility through current issues such as electric cars and railways, but we also meet the hedgehogs of the East, who offer a new perspective on the challenges of urban ecology. An article in English gives us an insight into the Global Hunger Index and its context, while another study gives us an interesting perspective on the relationship between CRM and family happiness. Let's take the time to read, reflect on the issues raised, discuss with the authors and look for ideas that are useful to us.
Don't expect miracles; none of these studies will solve the big problems of sustainability on their own, but any one of them can start a train of thought that will bring us closer to a solution. In the meantime, let's not forget to live the present to the full, have a nice cup of tea, listen to music, use the moments of reading to relax and recharge. With these thoughts in mind, I offer you the latest issue of this magazine and wish you a pleasant and useful reading time.
Cecília Szigeti, PhD Guest Editor of the Special Issue
