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Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is about balancing our economic, social and environmental goals.
The development of the Northern Ireland economy is important but it must not be our only consideration. There needs to be a balance between prosperity, people, and our environment. We are building a society not only for ourselves, but for our children and our children’s children. What this means is that we must ensure that all of our actions take account of their economic, social and environmental consequences.  
For the average person in the street, sustainable living means considering every decision we make in day to day life ensuring that we do not use more than we need to and considering other people’s wellbeing.
For government, sustainable development means creating policies and making decisions on behalf of the country that equally support our communities, improve our standard of living, and help us to live within environmental limits. For example, in the case of government procurement policy, it means not just buying as cheaply as possible, but seeking to procure so as to generate positive results for the economy, society and environment.
Similarly for other policy areas – policies designed to promote economic growth should seek to promote social development and the achievement of a high level of environmental quality at the same time.
This requires us to consider all the impacts of our policies and actions and to attempt to make strategies and policies across government that are co-ordinated and complementary to achieve the best possible results for the people of Northern Ireland in environmental, social and economic terms.

About Sustainable Development in OFMDFM

OFMDFM oversees the implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy across Government. OFMDFM has responsibility for:
  • The development, oversight and monitoring of the Northern Ireland Sustainable Development Strategy and Implementation Plan;
  • Policy coordination and mainstreaming sustainable development across Government; and,
  • Delivery of a number of key strategy objectives directly.

Everyone's Involved - Sustainable Development Strategy

The Executive published the Sustainable Development Strategy on 27 May 2010.
Since the launch of the Strategy, OFMDFM has been working with government departments and others on the development of an Implementation Plan for the Strategy.
Everyone’s Involved is different from the previously produced Strategy, and we believe that it has the potential to act effectively as an enabling mechanism for the wider sustainable development agenda and, in particular, to inform and assist the development of the second Sustainable Development Implementation Plan.
Access the first Sustainable Development Strategy (PDF 3.75MB) published by the Executive on 9 May 2006.

Sustainable Development Implementation Plan Consultation

A consultation process to inform the development of an Implementation Plan for the Sustainable Development Strategy took place between 26 July and 5 November 2010.  A report summarising the outcomes of that consultation is available for download here (PDF 1.42 MB).
The Implementation Plan has been finalised and can be viewed below;

Sustainable Development Stakeholder Group newsletter

These are a series of sustainable development bulletins from the Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) to keep stakeholders informed of our progress on implementing the Sustainable Development Strategy.

Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate

As part of its leadership role in sustainable development, government is committed to managing the impacts of its own business and estate. To help do this, departments have produced action plans.
Contact the Sustainable Development Policy Team
Sustainable Development
Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister
Block E Castle Buildings
Stormont Estate
Belfast BT4 3SR
Tel: 028 9052 8378

Sustainable Development Links