The complexity of multidimensional realities, where social, environmental, physical, economic and political aspects intertwine, poses great challenges for incorporating considerations of human development to sustainable development initiatives. The authors, social scientists formally trained in the environmental field, who have been involved in socio-environmental projects, dissert on sustainability, and the human development and capability approach as alternatives to the Welfarist notion of development. They emphasize the need for new analytical frameworks and propose tools that conceive human agency, valuative appropriation of the environment and institutionalization of processes of change as key notions for the advancement of integrative processes of interventions by environmental implementation agencies. This work should be especially useful to socio-environmental and sustainable development fields’ practitioners or those who may be considering implementing intervention projects.
