English Abstract The concept of Sustainable Development (SD) is
introduced in the context of four socio-cultural paredigms. Next, a few
relevant concepts and issues are discussed: "environmental use space", the
delineation between SD and environmental quality, causality (or
pressure-effect) chains, and the "unpterturbed" sustainable state. Simple
simulation models support the analysis. Indicators for SD are reviewed and
put in the context of interactive simulation models. Finally, three
examples of operationalizing SD are given: the Lakeland-model, Meta-Image
about greenhouse-effect, and a materials balance for Cadmium fluxes in the
Netherlands.