Die Konferenz, an der 500 TeilnehmerInnen aus 40 Ländern teilnahmen, wurde vom "International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility (INES)" in Zusammenarbeit mit der Universität Amsterdam und weiteren Organisationen veranstaltet. Zusätzlich zu den Beiträgen der Plenarsitzungen dokumentiert der Band die Ergebnisse der 20 abgehaltenen Workshops der Konferenz. Inhalt: Part I - Plenary Sessions: Jan Karel Gevers: Welcoming address (17-18); Samir Amin: Economic, social and political distorsions in the modern world (19-25); Nikita Moiseyev: Co-evolution of nature and society: Developmental prospects for noospherogenesis (27-33); Jan Pronk: Visions of sustainability (35-46); Pentti Malaska / Jari Kaivo-oja: Science and technology for sustainable development (47-67); Friedrich Schmidt-Bleek: The ecological reform of the economy (69-80); Manfred Max Neef: Community empowerment and alternative development (81-86); Ervin Laszlo: On the need for a new spirit of sustainability (87-93); Philip B. Smith: Summing up. Summary of the Challenges Congress (95-98); Joseph Rotblat: Closing words (99-103). Part 2 - Workshops: 1. Ethical foundations and basic attitudes: 1. Ethical dimension of sustainability; 2. Sustainable lifestyles and underlying human attitudes; 3. Social problems of sustainability; 4. Education for sustainable development. 2. Challenges to economy: concepts and strategies for sustainable economies: 1. Economic dimension of sustainability: challenges to the world economic order; 2. Criteria and indicators for sustainability; 3. Industry and sustainability; 4. Management of material flows and energy supply; 5. Evaluation of personal and institutional energy and resource budgets; 6. Sustainable agriculture and forestry; 7. Management of water and waste water. 3. Sustainable development on a local, regional and global space: 1. Transportation and mobility; 2. Telecommunication and sustainability; 3. Case studies for successful development through sustainability; 4. Confronting unequal development; 5. The politics of sustainability: challenges to democracy. 4. Elements of a safe and secure world: 1. Peaceful resolution of social, ethnonational and environmental conflicts; 2. Nuclear weapons abolition and nuclear waste storage; 3. Chemical and biological disarmament; 4. Conventional disarmament and conversion of military resources and production.