Keywords: Bathing waters, Chile, Germany, sustainable development, water quality, water scarcity

Key topic area: Optimal and sustainable use of water in anthropogenic value
generation
Abstract: Water is a fundamental renewable resource which cannot get lost due to the natural water cycles. Despite this it is scarce in some regions and in many cases water is polluted more and faster than it can purify itself. The following paper plays with a scenario about water in urban areas to achieve a win-win situation for the environment as well as for anthropogenic demands. The idea is assessed by means of the Integrative Sustainability Concept of the German Helmholtz Association (ISCGH). The case of Santiago de Chile serves as an imagination of the nexus between today’s social wants and ecological needs of tomorrow under the framework conditions of a threshold country.

Contribution to the 3rd International Degrowth Conference for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity in Venice in 2012.