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1-3 Editorial
Introduction
Growth and development are the permanent
goals of various societies. But, there is a question:
How can we access to development? After World
War II, the improvements of social and econom-
ic situation were followed as a major goal. There-
fore, the developed countries find the way of de-
velopment and innovation in economical devel-
opment, equality and social justice. According to
this viewpoint, development occurs when social
and economic development is sustained. Fig. 1: Key predictors of sustained development (5)
In the last decades, sustainable economic devel-
opment is more attended in most scientific socie- 1- Economic: sustainable economy leads to
ties. Social, political and economic sciences as increase of productions, better and useful
well as biosciences are more focused on sustaina- services for the population and it de-
ble development and its effective factors. Sus- creases imbalance of economy.
tainable development is an organized factor that 2- Society: sustainable society has the fol-
leads to keeping renewable and restricted re- lowing features: justice, useful social ser-
courses on earth (1). vices, gender equality, political stability,
The most common definition of sustainable de- security and cooperation.
velopment is: “Sustainable development is devel- 3- Environment: sustainable environment
opment which meets the needs of the present, leads to keeping and maintaining of re-
without compromising the ability of future gen- sources and prevention of wasting renew-
erations to meet their own needs” (2). able resources (6).
According to this definition, various predictors A great content affect all three key factors called
can be imagined for sustainable development: life style. Life style was attended by researchers
poverty, health, education, demographic charac- and economic experts in 1950s (7). This content
teristics, environmental and natural factors, eco- provides a life model created by people, groups,
nomical development, climate, national produc- governments and societies. Life style depends on
tion as well as happiness or well-being (3, 4). citizens and cultural characteristics of a country.
Traditionally, economic, social and environmen- Today and with globalization, life style cannot be
tal developments are the most important predic- considered local, but time-orientation is more
tors of sustainable development. These factors focused. It is clear that life style can be in the
have a tight relation with each other (Fig. 1).
form of political, economical, cultural and reli- 3- Institutional capitals include academic
gious context (8). cultural capital like, finding an academic
It is necessary to provide a clear definition of life basis for an idea (11).
style for understanding sustainable development. Cultural capital is a factor that shapes life style
There are various definitions; some of them are and affected by life style. For example, when na-
as followed: tional identification of citizens is fading, the gov-
1- Life style is the way of life by people, ernors encourage a kind of life style that people
families and societies. ignore preservation of cultural heritages. In this
2- Life style is a set of behaviors that is pre- society, the museums, galleries and all of the an-
sented by people, families and societies in tiquities will be destroyed.
different situations (physical, psychologi-
cal, social and economical). Life style and economic capital
3- Life style is a branch of habits that in- Life style has a significant impact on economic
cludes social fundamentals (9). capitals. For instance, consumerism as an inade-
Also, various factors are presented for life style. quate life style is a global problem. By consumer-
Edward Fern divides all factors in three catego- ism, each society waste times, money and energy.
ries: Although consumerism is an encouraged political
1- Actions (jobs, hobbies and funs) way, it is a factor to waste economical capitals
2- Communications (families and friends) (12).
3- Believes (political, religious, social) (10). Life style and human & social capitals
Therefore, it can be said that life style includes Unhealthy life style threatens human & social
distinct but clear ways of living that is determined capitals. Inadequate life style replaces human val-
in actions, communications and believes. We be- ues with anti values and then, social relationship
lieve that life style may leads to sustainable devel- networks are interrupted. With unhealthy life
opment by impacts on national capitals. Keeping style, mental & physical health as the forces of
and saving cultural capitals (Antiquities), eco- development and advancement, encounter se-
nomic (oil reserves, precious metals, mines rious challenges (13).
and...), social and humanity (family, juveniles,
scientists and researchers), ethics (conscientious Life style and ethics capital
work, responsibility), environment and physical Ethics capital is a neglected part of national capi-
(industrial machines, materials and buildings), are tal (14). Ethics capital is defined as a complex of
various forms of national capital and so impor- ethics values and ethical characteristics of each
tant in sustainable development. The clear way in one in society. Ethics capital has a clear direct
keeping and saving the national capitals is the and indirect impact on financial aspects (14). The
attention to life style. financial aspects of ethics capital are not every-
thing. The improvement of characteristics hu-
Life style and cultural capital manity depends on ethics capital. Ethics capital
Cultural capital is a concept in sociology and cul- includes 4 categories:
tural studies. Some of researchers divide cultural 1- Ethics integrity
capital in three parts: 2- Ethics Norms
1- Mental capitals include ideas, theories and 3- Critical ethics
great personalities. 4- Religious ethics (14).
2- Visual capitals include cultural products Today, promoting immoral life style and fading
like, books, dictionaries, pictures, draw- of moral values are the significant challenges of
ings… societies that should be considered. For example,
when family as a first place of forming life style
did not train work ethics to children, it leads to