Sustainable Everything

Sustainable has become one of the most reliable words in development language. Add it to a solution, framework, innovation or impact statement and the idea immediately sounds more responsible.

But sustainability is not a magic quality that appears because we use the word. It depends on money, institutions, behaviour, ownership, incentives and time.

The real test comes later. Who maintains the programme after the grant ends? Who pays? Who owns the work? What happens when the original organisation leaves? A sustainable solution should survive questions like these, not just survive a proposal.