The environment is everything that surrounds us.
The concept of the environment encompasses the natural environment, plant and animal world, including man, in the totality of mutual action and cultural heritage as part of the environment created by man.
The environment is subject to constant changes that can be caused by natural causes such as soil erosion, earthquakes, floods, fires and anthropogens: urbanization, industry, traffic, population growth, accumulation of waste and others. Because of the ubiquitous interaction of man in the environment, most often without the respect for natural rhythm in nature, man changes the environment which can have adverse effects on biological and landscape diversity and often also include negative consequences for human health and quality of life. By neglecting the environment in favour of economic growth and development, this irresponsible behaviour has in a relatively short time changed the environment more than any other biological species. The consequences of such an action are unsustainable and question the future of that same environment. Therefore, the protection and preservation of the environment in all spheres of life and work on the foundations of sustainability become the greatest challenge of modern man and society as a whole.
Environment protection has never been of greater importance than today, as it includes pollution prevention in all environmental components, individually and within other environmental constituents, taking into account their interrelationships.
Environment encompasses:
- air,
- waters,
- sea,
- soil,
- landscape,
- plant and animal life, the Earth's rock crust.
Negative impacts on human health that are due to environmental pollution are most often associated with poor water quality, air pollution and waste management issues.
How to link the development and protection and preservation of the environment in all spheres of life with work on the foundations of sustainability? This has become the greatest challenge for modern man and society as a whole. The solution lies in the globally accepted concept of sustainable development. The definition of the concept of sustainable development is best contained in the sentence: "Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of current generations while at the same time ensuring, in accordance with nature, that the future generations meet their needs."
In fulfilling the conditions for sustainable development, the basic strategic goals of environmental protection are: permanent preservation of originality, biodiversity of natural communities and preservation of ecological stability, preservation of living and non-living quality and rational use of nature and its goods, restoration and preservation of cultural and aesthetic values of landscape, improvement environmental conditions and ensuring better living conditions.
In order to achieve a permanent sustainability process, it is imperative to raise awareness of sustainable development of environment at the level of an individual as well as society as a whole and to develop responsibility for the environment which is lived in and shared with other living beings, primarily for man and the generations to come.
