Page 49 - CARILEC CE Journal Nov 21

3. Results: The Ballast Model of Dynamic for care of infants, elderly and infirm, without
Economic Sustainability monetary transaction, but through sharing of
goods, tools and labour. Social capacity also
3.1.Identification of the nine ballasts includes culture, religion, governance organisation,
The nine ballasts required to maintain dynamic respect, and shared knowledge .
19
balance are shown in Figure 1. The social ballasts
are organised into two groups; four in which surplus Thus, bio-capacity and social capacity in abundance
capacity is ideal, and five in which surplus represents support resilience and re- sourcefulness that form
overshoot, particularly incurring unmanageable the foundation for sustainability. Remote residents
debt. The further characterisation of the ballasts recognise income inequality and social inequity as
levels followed from the review with the community a threat to sustainability when the gap between
to adequately translate the data gathered so as to highest and lowest is too large. In the ballast model,
better inform engineering design. large inequality: puts unsustainable pressure on
relationships, pushes more people into poverty,
We propose that sustainability logically requires that while, egalitarianism brings prosperity for the
the results of both enterprise and cultural activities majority. Surplus equity represents a fluidity of
provide for subsistence at a minimum. A community benefits between haves and have-nots according
below the poverty line is not sustainable and may to need. This is the type of “giving” economic
fall further into decline. behaviour observed amongst many indigenous
groups . Autonomy is a new idea proposed in this
20
Bio-capacity is the source of food, water, fibres, work, and derived from observations made in the
building materials and tools. Social capacity provides case study described in Section 4.

Figure 2. The village of Kabakaburi located on the Pomeroon River in the North Western Guyana. Top left – the village office
and community market. Top centre – the location on the hill where the residents go to get cellphone coverage. Top right –
the Angelica church that was established in the 1800s and the primary school which houses 110 pupils and staff. Bottom
left – some of the family members in a typical household. Bottom centre – one of the domestic dwellings.
Bottom right – local resident displaying the art and craft developed for sale.

19. Skoufias, E.; Lunde, T.; Patrinos, H.A. Social Networks Among Indigenous Peoples In Mexico: Social Networks Among Indigenous Peoples In Mexico; The World
Bank, 2009; [https://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/pdf/10.1596/1813-9450-4949].
20. Raworth, K. Doughnut Economics. 7 ways to think like a 21st Century Economist. Chelsea Green Publ., Vermont 2017.

49